Wolves Esports has been eliminated from the VCT China Kickoff 2026 after suffering a loss to Trace Esports in the Lower Bracket.
As a result, the Chinese organisation is out of the qualification race for the first international VCT event of the year, VALORANT Masters Santiago.
Wolves Esports faced off against Trace Esports for the second time in the tournament after winning its opening match earlier on at Kickoff. This time, however, Trace Esports successfully took revenge and kicked Wolves Esports out with a 2-1 victory.
The first map, Abyss, went to overtime despite being Trace Esports’ pick, and ended with Wolves Esports securing a narrow 14-12 win. The first half of Bind was also closely contested, but Trace dominated the second half to push the best-of-three series to a decider via a 13-8 scoreline.
Unlike the previous two maps, the final clash was a one-sided affair as Trace raced to a 12-2 lead. Although Wolves tried to fight back, it could only manage to generate six rounds on the board before its opponent closed out the map 13-6 and the series 2-1.
Trace Esports’ duelist Lu ‘Kai’ Zhinan was named the MVP of the series with a 274 ACS and a 63/46/11 KDA performance.
2025 was a decent year for Wolves Esports, thanks to the team’s second-place finish at VCT China Stage 1 and a shocking top-three run at Masters Toronto. As a result, the organisation also gained a ton of new fans globally.
That said, Wolves Esports concluded its 2025 VCT campaign on a disappointing note as the roster couldn’t make it to the Stage 2 Playoffs. With the goal to improve results on regional and international stages, the organisation made three changes to its roster during the Off//Season.
While the revamped line-up hasn’t achieved the desired results so far, VCT Kickoff China is just the opening event of a long season still ahead.
Teams Heading to Masters Santiago to Be Decided Soon
VCT China Kickoff 2026 will run until February 9th, with the Upper Grand Final taking place on February 7th between All Gamers and Xi Lai Gaming. The winner of the best-of-five series will be China’s first seed from China at Masters Santiago.
Aside from XLG, the three teams from the region that qualified for Champions Paris – Dragon Ranger Gaming, 2025 VCT China Stage 2 champion Bilibili Gaming, and Champions 2024 winner EDward Gaming – have dropped into the Middle Bracket.
