ZywOo, Caps, Dambi, Nass and Light Dominate Q1 Esports

Five players — Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, Rasmus “Caps” Winther, Lee “Dambi” Hyuk‑kyu, Nassim “Nass” Bali and Dylan Aaron “Light” Poblete Catipon — won tournament MVP honors and helped their teams capture major championships during Q1 2026 across Counter‑Strike, League of Legends, Valorant, Rocket League and Mobile Legends.

In Counter‑Strike, ZywOo, 25, led Team Vitality to international wins at IEM Kraków, PGL Cluj‑Napoca and the BLAST Open Spring. He was named tournament MVP in Kraków and Cluj‑Napoca, bringing his career total to 30 MVP awards. Team Vitality is ranked No. 1 in both HLTV and VRS global rankings through the first quarter of 2026.

In League of Legends, Caps anchored G2 Esports’ run at LEC 2026 Versus. G2 finished sixth in the group stage but advanced through the upper bracket with series wins over Team Heretics, Karmine Corp and Movistar KOI, and then defeated Karmine Corp in the Grand Final. Caps received six MVP awards during the event — three in the regular season and three in the playoffs — including the final’s MVP. Earlier in the year G2 reached the final of the 2026 First Stand Tournament, sweeping FEARX and Gen.G in key matches before losing to Bilibili Gaming in the championship match.

Nongshim RedForce advanced from VALORANT Challengers Korea to the VCT Pacific after progressing through the Ascension Tournament, then won consecutive trophies. The 19‑year‑old Dambi was named MVP at VCT 2026: Pacific Kickoff after standout games against Team Secret and T1, and he earned tournament MVP honors at VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 as RedForce won the international title.

In Rocket League, Gentle Mates won the RLCS 2026 Boston Major at Agganis Arena. The team beat opponents including TSM, NRG and Team Falcons en route to a final against Team Vitality. Nass, a Gentle Mates player, received Major MVP honors. Gentle Mates’ prize for the event was $102,000 and the organization reported a peak concurrent viewership of 624,316.

The M7 World Championship for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang concluded the early season period with Aurora Gaming PH taking the world title. Aurora recovered from a second‑place finish at MPL Philippines Season 16 and a group‑stage loss to Team Liquid PH, then beat Team Liquid in the Knockout Stage and swept Alter Ego 4–0 in the grand final. Edward Jay “Edward” Dapadap and Light both received multiple MVP nods; Light was awarded the grand final MVP and a $5,000 performance bonus.

Q1 2026 included premier international championships in Counter‑Strike and League of Legends, Major‑tier events in Rocket League and Valorant, and the M7 World Championship for Mobile Legends. The named players received MVP awards at those events and their teams secured the respective titles during the first quarter of 2026.