VALORANT Champions Shanghai Showmatch: Full rosters, start time, and how to watch

Ahsan Kabir Published October 14, 2026

The VALORANT Champions Shanghai Showmatch between team Alpha and team Omega will feature many famous personalities from the fields of gaming, music, and streaming. Led by former professional player TenZ and Chinese singer Karry Wang, the match takes place on October 16, 2026.

Guided by fan-voted rules, the event promises plenty of hilarious moments and unexpected plays. Read on for the full schedule, team rosters, voting details, and what fans can expect.

VALORANT Champions Shanghai Showmatch date and full rosters

The match is going to be held on October 16, 2026 at 2 PM China Standard Time (CST), which is 11 PM (PDT) on the previous day, October 15. It is going to be played during the finals weekend of VALORANT Champions Shanghai at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China.

Team Alpha vs Team Omega

Team Alpha represents China, while Team Omega features international personalities from gaming and entertainment scene.

Team Alpha roster

Image Credits: Valorant Esports

• Karry Wang (Captain): Chinese singer, actor, and TFBOYS frontman
• Aijiang: Streamer and content creator.
• HangHang: Chinese creator and player.
• Gus: Streamer.
• Wang “whzy” Haozhe: Professional VALORANT player

Karry Wang took part in a VALORANT showmatch in the VCT China Stage 1 finals in Beijing. Whzy brings professional experience from his time with Bilibili Gaming.

Team Omega roster

Image Credits: Valorant Esports

• TenZ (Captain): Former professional VALORANT player and content creator.
• ohnePixel: Counter-Strike 2 streamer and YouTuber.
• DABIN: DJ and music producer
• Athena: FIFTY FIFTY member and T1 VALORANT ambassador.
• keshi: Singer-songwriter.

TenZ has earned awards at Masters Reykjavík 2021 and Masters Madrid 2024 as a teammate of Sentinels before settling down in esports. DABIN created and released the official remix of Fire Again for Champions 2022, while ohnePixel is bringing his large community of players from Counter-Strike with him.

Fans can vote on special round modifiers

Riot Games is organizing an open vote for particular rules which will be implemented in the showmatch. Ranging from requiring teams to whisper or sing in voice comms to forcing the top or bottom fragger to deliver a brief speech before the round begins, these modifiers are sure to keep things unpredictable. Fans can take part in the vote by visiting the official page and selecting between the available options.

What to expect from Showmatch

Omega can definitely gain from TenZ’s competitive experience; however, Alpha has professional players like whzy. Nonetheless, since the event will mostly focus on entertaining people rather than giving them a serious competition, especially with the round modifiers in play, expect plenty of chaotic and hilarious moments.

In addition, if the rumors about showcasing the upcoming agent by Riot turn out to be true, then the game will definitely be a spectacle to watch.

Regardless of the outcome of the Champions finals, this showmatch carries significant weight as it honors the local heroes. The fact that no Chinese team has been able to make it to the play-offs of Champions Shanghai means this showmatch will give local fans a chance to cheer on home-soil representatives like Karry Wang and whzy on the main stage, going up against global superstars like TenZ.

So this is no filler match, but a reminder of how esports should be celebrated in the first place: bridging global fandoms, leaning into chaotic fun, and giving local audiences a stage to scream for their own.

Now that the playoffs are live, follow up on your favourite teams in VALORANT Champions Shanghai through our VALORANT live section.

Featured image credit: Riot Games