On Thursday, the VALORANT Challengers EMEA #3 groups have been revealed. The lineup brings together fourteen teams from different regional scenes: France is sending Mandatory and Joblife; Spain, KOI Fénix and DNSTY; DACH, MOUZ and Eintracht Frankfurt; Türkiye sends BBL PCIFIC and ULF Esports; MENA sends Twisted Minds and The Ultimates; and finally, the NORTH//EAST region fields Enterprise Esports, Team Liquid Academy, děti ulice, and Boars Gaming. The distribution maintains two groups of three teams and two groups of four, with the latter hosting the MENA representatives in particular.

Group A brings together BBL PCIFIC, Enterprise Esports, and Mandatory. Between BBL's Turkish intensity, Enterprise's game science, and the French team's positive momentum, the slightest mistake will be costly. Three matches will be enough to separate the contenders, and only the most consistent team will make it to the playoffs.

Group B pits DNSTY against Eintracht Frankfurt and Team Liquid Academy. Buoyed by the momentum of Rising, the Italian team will have to contend with a solid German team and an ambitious Liquid academy, capable of overturning the hierarchy in BO3. In a small group, each map will carry almost as much weight as a series.

Multiple stakes

Group C is one of two groups of four, featuring Boars Gaming, KOI Fénix, MOUZ, and Twisted Minds. Two European heavyweights, MOUZ and KOI, will face off against a tenacious collective and MENA champion Twisted Minds. The dense schedule will require constant consistency to avoid any missteps that could derail their momentum toward first place.

Group D consists of děti ulice, Joblife, The Ultimates, and ULF Esports. The French will have to stand up to the tactical creativity of děti ulice, the controlled aggression of The Ultimates, and the energy of ULF, which is accustomed to high-intensity matches. Here again, advancing to the playoffs will require perfect management of key moments.

The group stage serves as a play-in from September 1 to 5. At the end of these play-in groups, the four leaders will meet in the playoffs from September 6 to 9 to compete for a major regional title, Ascension points, and, most importantly, qualification for EMEA Ascension for the champion. Each group match will be played in a BO3 format, the playoffs will be played in a double elimination format, in BO3 until the final matches, which will be extended to BO5.