After their shocking start to their VCT 2026 season, Team Heretics fought back and took their first win of the season against the newly promoted ULF Esports, defeating them 2-0 in a somewhat controlled series.

Map one took place on Haven where Team Heretics became pioneers last year with their Iso/ Neon composition allowing them to take home the EWC trophy after dominating on that map. They took up similar roles in this series with Wo0t on the Yoru, and ComeBack this time on the Neon. They started the series off hot with a 9-0 lead in their attack half, to then drop the following three rounds to end the half at 9-3. ULF then brought it back to 9-7, showing signs of life, until eventually losing the map pick 13-7, highlighting Benjyfishy on his defence sided cypher gameplay.

First round and signs of life from @ULFesports_GG pic.twitter.com/hAsoQvUjSU

— VALORANT Esports EMEA (@vct_emea) January 28, 2026

Map 2 took mainstage on Bind, where Team Heretics opted for a composition change, moving Wo0t off of the Yoru and onto the Fade, with RieNs going onto Gekko for a double initiator composition rather than a double duelist. ComeBack also changed from the Raze onto the Waylay, allowing for more space to be taken with less chance of being punished for it.

This change must have shocked ULF, since not many teams change up their composition after just one game. The coaches at Heretics must have seen something that they disliked so much they thought a change was necessary.

The map ended in the favour of Team Heretics with a 13-8 scoreline, where Team Heretics dominated the defence side after a 6-6 half. This map, it was ComeBack who really came into his own flow and took over Bind with his AWP getting the most success out of any challenge they tried to enforce.

benjyfishy took the top spot on the leaderboard for this series with a complete lockdown on Haven and then carrying that form over to Bind to drop a total of 44 frags across the two maps.

With this win, Team Heretics will advance to face GIANTX, who just won their series earlier today, and ULF will face off against PCIFIC Esports, who hand-in-hand lost to GIANTX today.