LOUD Are Valorant’s First Two-Time Champions After a 3-1 Win Over Vitality
GAME MODE Staff·Oct 18, 2026· 2m read
Four years after their 2022 title, LOUD beat Team Vitality 3-1 in the Shanghai grand final and became the first team to win Champions twice.
LOUD are Valorant world champions again. They beat Team Vitality 3-1 in the Champions 2026 grand final in Shanghai on October 18, and no team had ever won Champions twice before today.
The grand final, map by map
Vitality took one map off LOUD, and it was their own pick.
| Map | Picked by | LOUD-Vitality |
|---|---|---|
| Summit | LOUD | 13-11 |
| Lotus | Vitality | 8-13 |
| Sunset | LOUD | 13-5 |
| Haven | Vitality | 13-10 |
Abyss, the deciding map, was never needed.
Two titles, and nobody else has that
LOUD won Champions in 2022. Four years later they have a second trophy, which makes them the first two-time champions in the event's history. The win is worth $1 million, out of a $2.25 million prize pool.
For Vitality, this one stings. They've never won Champions, and they had to come the long way for this shot, beating 100 Thieves 3-1 in the lower final on October 17 to earn the rematch.
Three meetings in Shanghai
- September 30: Vitality won the group-stage meeting 2-0, finishing with a 19-17 overtime win on Summit.
- October 16: LOUD won the upper final. They dropped Lotus 8-13 but took Summit 13-5 and Haven 13-11.
- October 18: LOUD won the grand final 3-1.
The playoff pattern held all the way through. Vitality won Lotus 13-8 both times, and LOUD won Summit and Haven both times.
Next stop: São Paulo
Riot also used grand final day to reveal Hush, Valorant's next agent. The season isn't over yet, either: the Game Changers Championship runs October 22 to November 1 at Riot Games Arena São Paulo.
