VCT 2026 has already delivered three big structural shifts: Eternal Fire replacing ULF Esports in VCT EMEA, DRX rebranding to KIWOOM DRX after a new sponsorship deal, and M80 rebuilding around Kaplan and NiSMO in Americas. For players following the Tier‑1 ecosystem, these moves affect who you’ll see on stage in Stage 1, how stable some rosters really are, and which orgs look built to survive the next partnership review window.
Eternal Fire’s situation at a glance
If you just want the quick version: Eternal Fire step into ULF’s EMEA slot while keeping most of the Ascension‑winning core, DRX officially become KIWOOM DRX with the “KRX” tag after a naming sponsorship, and M80’s Americas lineup is now led by Kaplan with NiSMO returning to play after a brief stint as coach. The details below are for players who like to track how that trickles down into future brackets, scrims, and long‑term roster planning.
Why Eternal Fire replaced ULF Esports in VCT EMEA
The short version: ULF Esports were removed from VCT EMEA 2026 after failing to meet league standards, including long‑running payment issues, and Eternal Fire have been approved to take their place while keeping most of the roster intact.
Riot confirmed that ULF’s participation in VCT EMEA was terminated due to “operational challenges” and not operating in line with league standards, against the backdrop of publicly reported failures to pay players and staff. Because the ULF roster earned their slot by winning VCT 2025 Ascension EMEA, Riot’s solution was to let that player core sign with a new organization rather than send them back to Tier 2.
Eternal Fire, a Turkish org with years in Challengers, were selected as the replacement and have signed most of the former ULF lineup while keeping their original roster as a separate academy‑style squad in VALORANT Challengers 2026: Türkiye Birlik. Eternal Fire will appear in VCT 2026: EMEA Stage 1 in Group Omega, with their first match currently set against Fnatic, so you’ll see the same core of players but under a different banner and infrastructure.
Player insight: for fans and ranked grinders who track server identity, this is effectively a jersey swap rather than a full competitive reset. You’ll still see the same general style and map pool the ULF squad used in Ascension, just with different support staff and long‑term backing.
DRX to KIWOOM DRX (KRX): what’s actually official?
The key fact is that DRX have entered a strategic business agreement with Kiwoom Securities that includes naming sponsorship, and they are now competing under the KIWOOM DRX name with the “KRX” tag in official contexts.
Kiwoom Securities announced an MOU with DRX on March 19, 2026, outlining cooperation on joint marketing and confirming that a naming deal was part of the agreement. Shortly after, official social posts and community tracking confirmed that DRX would be known as KIWOOM DRX, with “KRX” adopted as the new tag in LCK listings. This is a continuation of DRX’s history of name changes (from Kingzone DragonX to DRX), but now backed by a major financial brand with existing experience in traditional sports through the Kiwoom Heroes baseball team.
For players, nothing about in‑game mechanics or rules changes; this is about long‑term financial stability, better facilities, and potentially stronger rosters across titles like League of Legends and VALORANT.
M80’s Kaplan and NiSMO era: what’s confirmed?
Right now, the confirmed part of M80’s rebuild is that Adam “kaplan” Kaplan has joined the team and Marc‑Andre “NiSMO” Tayar has returned to the active roster after briefly retiring into a coaching role. M80 publicly announced Kaplan as head coach and NiSMO as a returning player for VCT Americas 2026 after Kaplan’s departure from Sentinels.
Kaplan left Sentinels following a rough start to 2026, including a 9th–10th finish at Americas Kickoff and public criticism from Sentinels’ CEO about roster decisions. NiSMO, a long‑time flex star for M80, had retired earlier in the year to step in as head coach, but the organization has since moved him back to a player role for the new project. VLR’s reporting lists a core that includes Boni, NiSMO, and alvinboy, with Kaplan leading the project, while rumored additional names in various community reports have not all been confirmed in a single official roster graphic.
What about M80 scrim results?
Community coverage and scrim‑tracking accounts have highlighted encouraging early results for M80 against other North American squads, including series against 100 Thieves and other Americas teams.
For ranked grinders and team players looking to learn from them, this still matters: Kaplan‑led teams historically emphasize structure and mid‑round calling, and NiSMO returning to a fragging role usually points toward aggressive space‑taking comps that play well in both ranked and scrims.
