The VCT EMEA Stage 1 group stage is over. After five weeks of competition, eight teams have earned playoff spots in hopes of qualifying to Masters London, while the other four are out of the competition until Stage 2.

Here are the results for week five of EMEA Stage 1:

A rising Heretics squad faced FUT to start the week. With first seed in the group already confirmed for themselves, FUT played a relatively loose game; Heretics mounted a comeback from 0-7 to 13-11 on Lotus and steamrolled Split to qualify for playoffs and knock out NAVI. RieNs had an unbelievable performance, ending the series with a 51/21/14 KDA, a 1.85 rating, and 206 ADR as Fade. Heretics extend their head-to-head record against FUT to 7-0 since 2024 as they continue to fight their way back into regional contention.

RieNs makes something out of nothing with a 1v4 clutch.

After three consecutive losses in the preceding weeks, Vitality broke the streak with a decisive stomp over PCIFIC. The second map, Split, was a 13-0 shutout—the second of the year for Vitality after their first versus GIANTX during Kickoff.

With both teams already out of playoffs, NAVI versus Karmine Corp was a match for pride and one Champions point. NAVI came out on top in a convincing 13-9, 13-9 series, leaving Karmine Corp winless in the stage. Ruxic and hiro continued to shine individually with 39 kills apiece.

hiro locks down the B site alone with an absurd ace.

FNATIC versus BBL was a match that only impacted seeding. While FNATIC had already locked first seed going in, a win for BBL and a win for Eternal Fire later in the week would have lifted BBL out of fourth seed. In the end, FNATIC completely dominated their opponents in 13-5, 13-3 fashion to go undefeated in the group stage; the Duelist duo of kaajak and newest addition CyvOph went on a tear with 40 and 34 kills respectively.

The final playoff team was determined by the outcome of Eternal Fire versus GIANTX. If GIANTX won, they would go through; if Eternal Fire won, Vitality would go through. GIANTX started up 9-3 on Split after an ace from Flickless in the first pistol, but Eternal Fire ran it back all the way to 13-11 with their signature brand of aggression. The Turkish squad kept the momentum going on Breeze with a unique Skye-Tejo composition for a 9-3 attack, eventually closing it out 13-10 and extinguishing GIANTX's playoff hopes.

The final match of groups between Liquid and Gentle Mates determined the final seeding for Group Alpha, with Mates only being able to escape fourth seed if they won 2-0. Liquid won the series 2-0, continuing to look comfortable in the double-Duelist meta while Mates are still struggling to recapture their Kickoff form.

nAts sprays down four with his trusty Phantom to round out a 9-3 defense.

Below are the final standings of the EMEA Stage 1 group stage. As first seeds, FUT and FNATIC will receive a bye heading into playoffs, meaning both are just one win away from Masters London. The fourth seeds of Gentle Mates and BBL will start in the lower bracket.

Group Alpha

  1. FUT Esports FUT Esports Europe Rank #10 s0pp Efe Tur xeus Doğan Gözgen yetujey Eray Budak KROSTALY Okan Alaçam sociablEE Volkan Yonal (4-1)
  2. Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #11 purp0 Semyon Borchev wayne Wayne Chang MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin kamo Kamil Frąckowiak (4-1)
  3. Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 koshmaras Martynas Namikas Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius (3-2)
  4. Gentle Mates Gentle Mates Europe Rank #13 starxo Patryk Kopczynski bipo Taranvir Singh marteen Martin Pátek GLYPH Conner Garcia Minny Patrik Hušek (2-3)
  5. Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #21 Filu Dawid Czarnecki chloric Caide Heaton ExiT Abdullah Al-Twaijri Ruxic Uğur Güç hiro Emirhan Kat ComeBack Berkcan Şentürk stand-in (2-3)
  6. Karmine Corp Karmine Corp Europe Rank #42 dos9 Zhumagali Dastan LewN Burak Alkan Avez Hazem Khaled SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin N4RRATE Marshall Massey (0-5)

Group Omega

  1. FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #3 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski CyvOph Clement Millard Veqaj Sylvain Pattyn Alfajer Emir Ali Beder (5-0)
  2. Eternal Fire Eternal Fire Europe Rank #5 Izzy Baran Yılmaz audaz Soner Ekiz Favian Enes Yiğiter echo Ömür Serkan Şenol nekky Anıl Dağdeviren (4-1)
  3. Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #4 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen PROFEK Dawid Święć Derke Nikita Sirmitev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu (2-3)
  4. BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #8 Crewen Ali Eren Sargin Lar0k Yusuf Kaan Kanber Loita Utku Kart Rosé Eren Erzan lovers rock Umut Pekdoğan (2-3)
  5. GIANTX GIANTX Europe Rank #25 Cloud Kirill Nehozhin grubinho Grzegorz Ryczko westside Miłosz Duda Flickless Karel Maeckelbergh ara Hanceriuc Eduard-George (2-3)
  6. PCIFIC Esports PCIFIC Esports Europe Rank #335 al0rante Felix Brandl cNed Mehmet Yağız İpek qpert Mateja Mijovic NINJA Patryk Koczyba seven Johann Hernandez (0-5)

The EMEA Stage 1 playoffs will begin on Thursday, May 7 with the following matches: