NRG, Liquid, and M80 claim invites to CAC 2026

On March 30th, Perfect World announced the invite list for the upcoming CS Asia Championships 2026 in Shanghai. With several teams like Vitality, FURIA, and NaVi declining invites, the door opened for NA's top three to all receive spots through the February Global VRS.

CAC 2026 will run from May 20th to May 24th, just days after the end of IEM Atlanta on May 17th. The event will feature 16 teams and a player prize pool of $400,000.

With the field missing several top teams, the event will be a great opportunity for the lineups to continue gaining experience together and try for a run to the playoffs.

The teams will be split into two groups of eight for double-elimination brackets to determine the top three in each group. Each group's winner will advance directly to the semifinals, while the other two will go to the quarters. The opening matches will be bo1, with the rest in the group stage being bo3.

The final six will face off in a single-elimination bracket to determine the champion. The quarters and semis will be bo3, and the final will be a bo5.

The full team list for CAC 2026 is: