Brawl Stars World Finals 2026 Tokyo: Groups, Format and LCQ Qualifiers

The field for the 2026 Brawl Stars World Finals is set. The Last Chance Qualifier in Guangzhou (October 17-18) handed out the final two tickets, and NAVI and Team Heretics join the ten teams that earned their spots on the regional leaderboards. Everything kicks off Friday, November 20 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium and runs through Sunday, November 22.

Tokyo, November 20-22: 12 teams, $1 million

Twelve teams are playing for a $1,000,000 USD prize pool, according to Supercell’s official page. Doors open at 10:00 JST and the show starts at 12:00 JST each day. The world title is decided over three days and 24 matches.

Guangzhou LCQ: NAVI first, Heretics through the lower bracket

Eight teams fought for two spots. NAVI took the first by beating Team Heretics 3-0 in the upper-bracket final. Heretics then beat KDS Esports 3-0 in the lower-bracket final to grab the second ticket. Both deciding series ended 3-0, with no game to claw back.

The format: Friday decides who waits for Saturday

On Friday, eight teams play the group stage: two four-team GSL groups, best-of-5 matches, two teams advancing from each. The four regional top seeds (FUT Esports, Tribe Gaming, Bounty Hunters and ZETA DIVISION) do not play that day. They join the four survivors on Saturday for a double-elimination playoff. On Sunday the Grand Final is a best-of-7, and the upper-bracket team starts with a 1-0 lead.

On paper, the real issue is seeding: a top seed skips Friday’s best-of-5 gauntlet entirely, and that is the difference between four fresh teams and four that have already played. The draw puts HMBLE, RED Canids, Totem Esports and Team Heretics in Group A, and Crazy Raccoon, Team Elektros, NOVO Esports and NAVI in Group B. HMBLE beat Crazy Raccoon 3-0 in the 2024 final, and Crazy Raccoon answered with a 3-0 of its own in 2025. The two sides of the last two finals are now split across groups, so they cannot meet before the playoffs, as long as each one gets out of its group.

Crazy Raccoon: defending champions in Tokyo

Japanese side Crazy Raccoon won the 2025 title in Stockholm with a 3-0 over HMBLE in the final. A year later they play in their home country as defending champions, with no top-seed cushion. They share Group B with freshly qualified NAVI: that head-to-head will weigh heavily, but Team Elektros and NOVO Esports are well placed to trip up either side.

What to watch

Friday first: in a four-team GSL, two of the four teams go home, and one lost best-of-5 can be enough to make the rest hard. Then the form of Heretics and NAVI, who had to come through the LCQ while everyone else earned a place on the yearly leaderboard. Finally the best-of-7 Grand Final, where the upper-bracket 1-0 head start rewards an unbeaten run.