By Levi Wolf
From the greatest players of all time to a pair of sisters with one of the best stories in competitive gaming, here are the names to know ahead of this year’s EWC 2026.
With 24 games and hundreds of teams heading to Riyadh this July, knowing where to look can mean the difference between enjoyment and confusion.
The EWC runs two parallel competitions: individual game tournaments, where teams compete for prize money within their specific title, and the Club Championship. The points are accumulated across all games the team competes in.
Here are the players and teams worth watching.
The big names
Faker – League of Legends, T1
If there’s any name that can transcend esports, it’s Faker. The South Korean has won six World Championships and is widely considered the greatest esports player of all time. So much so that he gets compared to Michael Jordan.
Scouted and signed by 16, Faker has spent his entire career at the same team, even when higher offers were made.
With skill and achievements so highly recognised, he was even granted a military service exemption in 2023, the same exemption previously reserved for Olympic athletes.
T1’s matches remain the “Super Bowl” of the EWC, consistently breaking viewership records, and the most anticipated invite.
ZywOo – Counter Strike 2, Team Vitality
If Faker is the Michael Jordan of esports, ZywOo is prime Novak Djokovic – clinical, record-breaking and somehow still underrated despite the trophies.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut has been named the world’s best CS player four times, a record nobody else has come close to.
Coming off three Major titles with Team Vitality, including back-to-back wins in 2025. He’ll arrive at EWC 2026 as arguably the most in-form player across any game on the lineup.
At 25, he is already being talked about as the greatest CS player of his generation, and he is only getting better.
Magnus Carlsen & Hikaru Nakamura – Chess
This time, a rivalry, one of the most well-known in the world of chess.
Carlsen, widely considered the greatest player of all time, competes for Team Liquid.
Nakamura, his longtime rival and one of the most watched streamers on the internet, plays for Team Falcons.
Think of it like Federer vs Nadal – two completely different styles, both capable of winning on any given day.
Carlsen is described as patient, rarely going for flashy moves, whereas Nakamura has been nicknamed ‘The H Bomb’ for his explosive style.
With Carlsen already confirmed, it’s up to Nakamura to secure his spot through the Chess Championship.
Peterbot – Fortnite, Team Falcons
The Lamine Yamal of Fortnite – barely old enough to drive, and already the best-paid player in the game.
He’s one of the first players already confirmed for the EWC 2026. He was the highest-earning Fortnite player of 2025, winning multiple FNCS Majors and over $300,000 in prize money.
Considered a prodigy after winning his first title at just 14, he’s now a six-time FNCS Champion, and had almost $1,000,000 in career earnings before he turned 18.
Fortnite returns after a two-year absence, which already makes the events highly anticipated, and as a Team Falcons player, every point he earns feeds into the Club Championship race.
The MongolZ – Counter Strike 2
Some stories are too good to be told through one player alone – The MongolZ are one of them.
A squad from Mongolia, in a game historically dominated by European and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) teams. They built one of the most passionate fanbases in a short period of time.
Like Leicester City in 2016, MongolZ are a surprise team that quickly became fan favourites.
They play with an aggression and intensity that makes any match enjoyable despite the scoreline, and while they aren’t yet qualified, as the defending champions, they are among the favourites.
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Rising Stars
Benjyfishy – VALORANT, Team Heretics
Switching games in esports is career suicide for most players. Benjyfishy didn’t get that memo, making the switch from Fortnite, where he was a dominant player and considered the best, to Valorant full-time.
His backstory makes his career even more remarkable; he taught himself Fortnite and even left school to pursue it professionally. By 15, he’d signed with NRG Esport, and qualified for the Fortnite World Cup, where his goal was to win enough money to buy his mum a house.
Rather than trading his name when making his switch, he started from the bottom and worked up, quickly becoming one of the biggest names.
Benjyfishy made his debut in the EWC 2025, where with Team Heretics, he won his largest career prize of $100,000.
As the defending champions, Team Heretics and Benjyfishy are both confirmed to be at the EWC 2026.
Handy – Rainbow Six Siege, FaZe Clan
Named the MVP of the Six Invitational 2026 and ranked the best Rainbow Six player in the world currently. Handy leads the first-ever roster to win back-to-back Six Invitational – a first in the game’s history.
At just 22 years old, he’s already a standout player alongside his twin brother, who also competes on the same circuit at the same time.
Rainbow Six Siege nearly tripled its EWC viewership between 2024 and 2025, with rapidly growing viewership, and a history-making captain. R6 is a game to watch.
Despite FaZe Clan not yet being confirmed, they are among the favourites to breeze through Rainbow Six Siege’s qualifiers.
Cinny & Michelle “Chell” Siswanto – Mobile Legends, Team Vitality
The Williams sisters changed tennis. Cinny and Chell Siswanto might just do the same for Mobile Legends.
Just days before the EWC 2024, the sisters lost their grandfather and still competed. They unfortunately lost in the final. Returning the following year, they went undefeated and took the title.
Cinny is a three-time world champion at just 20 years old.
Their journey is even the subject of an Amazon Prime documentary series called Level Up.
The sisters have already qualified with Team Vitality and are the defending champions.
The 2026 Esports World Cup runs from July 6 to August 23 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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