Get our VALORANT Champions 2026 quarterfinal betting tips, predictions and odds for October 7, featuring NRG vs T1 and Paper Rex vs LOUD.
VALORANT Champions 2026 enters the playoff stage on Wednesday, October 7, with the first two upper bracket quarterfinal matches, when NRG face off against T1, followed by a clash between Paper Rex and LOUD.
Esportbet brings you free VALORANT betting predictions and expert picks for the upcoming bouts, along with odds courtesy of the best esports bookmakers.
NRG cruised through Group D, beating Nongshim RedForce and Karmine Corp to take one step closer to defending their VALORANT Champions throne. T1 were not as successful in Group A, where they lost to 100 Thieves, edged past JD Gaming, and swept FUT Esports in the decider match to progress deeper into the tournament.
Both teams showed some good things, but NRG have looked much stronger. Their map pool is also in a very good spot for this game, making Wednesday’s affair a stylistic nightmare for the Korean squad.
T1 have been most efficient on Haven and Lotus; however, NRG have been extremely good on those maps and are arguably the best team in the world specifically on the two maps. Besides that, NRG have also been dominating on Summit.
This gives T1 an impossible task with their map veto. They could opt into Abyss, where NRG are not good. But considering T1 got crushed by JD Gaming on that map, they do not appear to be in a great spot either.
As the odds on the top-rated bookmakers suggest, this is NRG’s game to lose. And it is hard to find a solid argument to go against that.
NRG to win
No odds available.
Paper Rex won Group C with two 2-1 victories against Team Liquid and G2 Esports. On the other side, LOUD placed second in Group B, with one loss against the high-flying Team Vitality and two convincing wins over EDward Gaming and Global Esports.
LOUD have been banning Split, but they looked solid on the map against Global Esports, so they could opt to ban Ascent, which is one of Paper Rex’s best maps. On the other side, Paper Rex will likely want to remove Abyss.
With the two maps out of the picture, there is not much to separate the teams. Paper Rex are slightly better on Lotus and Summit, while LOUD have PR’s number on Split and Sunset, with Haven a 50/50 maps.
While Pape Rex are a more established roster, considering them as clear favorites is wrong. LOUD have been in great shape, they can handle PR on Sunset and Split, and they have a real chance on Lotus and Haven.
LOUD at plus money are a no-brainer pick.
LOUD to win
Mark Prezelj
Esports Betting Analyst
Mark Prezelj is a Slovenian esports betting analyst with over 3,500 articles at EsportBet and the founder of Lines64.com — someone who has been reading odds longer than most readers have been watching esports.
