Ukrainian esports organization NAVI claimed its first championship of the Esports World Cup 2026 after Luis «DarkAngel» Castillo Gomez won the FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves tournament. The Mexican player defeated Virtus.pro’s mi2ha4 5-1 in the Grand Final to deliver the club’s opening title of this year’s festival.

The victory awarded NAVI the maximum 1,000 Club Championship points, moving the organization to the top of the overall Esports World Cup standings after the first completed discipline. For NAVI, owned by Ukrainian entrepreneur Maksym Krippa, the title marks the club’s first championship at EWC 2026 and an important step in the race for the overall Club Championship.

Alongside the trophy, DarkAngel earned $250,000 in prize money and secured direct qualification for the SNK World Championship 2026 Finals, where the world’s best FATAL FURY players will compete for a $2.5 million prize pool in Stockholm from November 27 to 29.

DarkAngel’s path to the title was far from straightforward. After losing to Vxbao in the Group CC upper-bracket final, he fought his way through the lower bracket with wins over Pida, mok, SCORE, and Kindevu before reaching the playoffs. He then edged Reynald 5-4, defeated Nemo 5-3, and closed out the tournament with a convincing victory over mi2ha4 in the Grand Final.

The championship also represents a major improvement from last year’s Esports World Cup, where DarkAngel finished in third place. One year later, he returned to claim the title and deliver NAVI’s first gold medal of the 2026 edition.

NAVI’s Esports World Cup campaign will continue across multiple titles. The organization’s next event will be the MLBB Women’s Invitational, which begins on July 14 and features 16 of the world’s best Mobile Legends: Bang Bang women’s teams competing for $525,000 in prize money and valuable Club Championship points.