SemperFi jump VRS rankings through early 2026 EU roadtrip

There won't be an Australia Day barbeque for OCE squad SemperFi, at least not here at home.

While the Oceanic CS2 season remains on-ice (but not for much longer here at DFRAG!), SemperFi took the plunge overseas this January, entering into several tier 2 and tier 3 events in Europe in order to develop as a squad and build a standing on VRS.

And even though they didn't open the trophy cabinet, the young squad impressed in their first outings at the Urban Riga Open 2 and PLAYR Masters Season 1, before landing a crucial top four finish at United21 Esplay Challenge.

Dual 13-6's over EXEN and INFUR were enough to see SemperFi through to the quarterfinals where they dispatched Lilmix 2-0 (13-10, 13-1), but the squad met their end against HAVU and Alliance in the third-place playoff.

The result followed up several LAN wins in Malmö (PLAYR Masters) and Riga (Urban Riga Open). In all, SemperFi climbed over 20 spots on the VRS ranking into the top 100 globally and top 10 in Asia.

Not to be forgotten is the experience gained from the month-plus bootcamp against EU opposition, which SemperFi will undoubtedly utilise as they aim to extend their dominance at home into the remainder of the 2026 season.

SemperFi has tightened as a squad following the addition of ex-TALON members Christian "ADDICT" Pendleton and Jared "HaZR" O'Bree, and under the tutelage of captain Kristers "keen" Dārznieks, the team is well-poised to remain at the top of OCE heading into the first CS2 Major of 2026.

They'll wrap up their European adventures in the coming weeks before returning to Australia as the competitive season down under kicks off.

The DFRAG Open Series enters its third season in early February before DFRAG hosts the Wildcard LAN live in Brisbane, set to feature the likes of SemperFi, Ground Zero, THUNDERdOWNUNDER, and Mindfreak.