Group AA at EWC 2026 was a purgatory

The first group stage of the Esports World Cup split the 32 into four groups of eight in double elimination, and the draw threw up an anomaly: Group AA looked like a straight-up Top 8.

Inside it were Daigo, MenaRD, Itabashi Zangief, Kobayan, Big Bird, KilzYou, Hibiki and Micky. Which is to say: two of the best Zangief players in the world, the reigning two-time EVO champion, and a Daigo who at this point only shows up on big stages. Four of the eight were going home.

The price of a stacked group

This is what a group format does that a classic bracket doesn't: you can't hide for three rounds and turn up in the Top 8. That first-stage Daigo against MenaRD would have been the headline act at almost any other tournament on the calendar, and here it was just another match in the afternoon.

The contrast with Group DD — Xiao Hai, Gachikun, Blaz, Phenom, Leshar and company — says plenty about how tight the elite is in 2026: there is no comfortable group, only groups that are uncomfortable in different ways. The sets are in the finder.