Valorant Masters Santiago 2026
Esports competition in Chile
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Valorant Masters Santiago 2026 was a global Valorant tournament organized by publisher Riot Games following the Kickoff stage of the 2026 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT). The tournament was held from February 28 to March 15, 2026 in Santiago, Chile. It was the first Masters tournament for the Kickoff phase to feature twelve teams, with the top three teams from each region competing.
| |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Game | Valorant |
| Location | Santiago, Chile |
| Date | February 28 – March 15, 2026 |
| Administrator | Riot Games |
| Format |
|
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Teams | 12 |
| Purse | US$1,000,000 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Nongshim RedForce |
| Runner-up | Paper Rex |
| Tournament statistics | |
| MVP | Lee "Dambi" Hyuk-kyu (Nongshim RedForce) |
| Highest Kills | Khalish "d4v41" Rusyaidee (371) (Paper Rex) |
| Highest ACS | Martin "marteen" Pátek (268) (Gentle Mates) |
It marked the second international Valorant competition to be held in Latin America since the LOCK//IN Kickoff event in 2023, and the first to be held in Chile.[1]
In the event's first regional grand finals match since the beginning of the partnership era,[a] Nongshim RedForce swept Paper Rex, 3-0, to claim the organization's first trophy and the region's fourth consecutive Masters trophy.[2] This also makes them the first team from the Ascension to win an international tournament.
Before the start of the grand finals, an exhibition match was played to showcase the game's 30th agent and 7th Controller, Miks, as well as a new game mode, Knockout. The showmatch also notably featured Megan of Katseye (members Sophia, Lara, Daniela, and Yoonchae were also in attendance) on team Weones Malos, alongside former player Sacy, TCK, Bstrdd, and furq.
Host selection
On 2 October 2025, in the build-up to the 2025 Valorant Champions Finals in Paris, France, Riot Games announced the host cities for the two Valorant Masters tournaments in 2026, with Santiago, Chile being selected as the host for the first Masters event of the competitive season.[3] The city hosted the first-ever esports competition of the Pan American Games during the 2023 edition.[4]
Qualification
Unlike the previous season's first Masters tournament, number of participants were increased from eight to twelve teams qualified for the tournaments from three international leagues (Americas, EMEA, Pacific) and the China league in Kickoff season.[3] The top-seeded team from each region received a bye and automatically qualified for playoffs, while the remaining eight teams competed in the Swiss Stage to qualify for playoffs.[5]
(*) Non-partner teams in franchise system
| Region | Kickoffs 1st Seed | Kickoffs 2nd Seed | Kickoffs 3rd Seed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Americas | FURIA Esports | G2 Esports* | NRG |
| EMEA | BBL Esports | Gentle Mates | Team Liquid |
| Pacific | Nongshim RedForce* | T1 | Paper Rex |
| China | All Gamers | Xi Lai Gaming* | Edward Gaming |
Venue
Format
The tournament will use the same twelve-team format used in Masters Shanghai 2024 and Masters Toronto 2025. The second and third seeds from each International League compete in a Swiss-system tournament stage. The four teams that achieved two wins would advance to playoffs while those that achieved two losses would be eliminated.
The four teams from the Swiss stage would join the first seeds from each region in the playoffs, a double-elimination tournament to decide the event's champion.
Swiss Stage
Eight teams competed in the Swiss stage, with the four teams that achieved two wins before accruing two losses advancing to playoffs. All matches were best-of-three series.
The draw for the initial matches was held in Los Angeles, United States after the lower bracket finals of the VCT Americas Kickoff. The second-seeded teams were matched against one of the four third-seeded teams, and teams from the same league cannot be drawn against each other for the first match.
All matches on 28 February and 1 March began at 14:00 CLST (17:00 UTC), while matches in the remaining days began at 15:00 CLST (18:00 UTC).
| Advanced to playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1-0 | Paper Rex | |||||||||||||||||
| 0-0 | Paper Rex | 2 | Gentle Mates | Advanced to playoffs | ||||||||||||||
| Gentle Mates | 2 | NRG | 1 | G2 Esports | ||||||||||||||
| Edward Gaming | 0 | Gentle Mates | 2 | 1-1 | NRG | |||||||||||||
| T1 | 0 | Team Liquid | 0 | T1 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Team Liquid | 2 | G2 Esports | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| G2 Esports | 0 | 0-1 | Team Liquid | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Paper Rex | 2 | Edward Gaming | 0 | NRG | 2 | 1-2 | ||||||||||||
| Xi Lai Gaming | 0 | T1 | 2 | T1 | ||||||||||||||
| NRG | 2 | Xi Lai Gaming | 0 | 0-2 | Team Liquid | |||||||||||||
| G2 Esports | 2 | Edward Gaming | ||||||||||||||||
| Xi Lai Gaming | ||||||||||||||||||
Round 1
| 0–0 Match 1 |
28 February | Gentle Mates | 2 | – | 0 | Edward Gaming | Santiago, Chile | |
| 14:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Haven | 11 | ||||||
| 13 | Pearl | 7 | ||||||
| 0–0 Match 2 |
28 February | Xi Lai Gaming | 0 | – | 2 | NRG | Santiago, Chile | |
| 17:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 2 | Haven | 13 | ||||||
| 10 | Abyss | 13 | ||||||
| 0–0 Match 3 |
1 March | G2 Esports | 0 | – | 2 | Paper Rex | Santiago, Chile | |
| 14:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 9 | Split | 13 | ||||||
| 5 | Corrode | 13 | ||||||
| 0–0 Match 4 |
1 March | T1 | 0 | – | 2 | Team Liquid | Santiago, Chile | |
| 17:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 8 | Breeze | 13 | ||||||
| 13 | Split | 15 | ||||||
Round 2
| 1–0 Match 5 |
2 March | Paper Rex | 2 | – | 1 | NRG | Santiago, Chile | |
| 15:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Split | 10 | ||||||
| 10 | Pearl | 13 | ||||||
| 13 | Haven | 11 | ||||||
| 1–0 Match 6 |
2 March | Gentle Mates | 2 | – | 0 | Team Liquid | Santiago, Chile | |
| 18:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Pearl | 11 | ||||||
| 13 | Bind | 3 | ||||||
| 0–1 Match 7 |
3 March | Edward Gaming | 0 | – | 2 | T1 | Santiago, Chile | |
| 15:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 1 | Bind | 13 | ||||||
| 10 | Haven | 13 | ||||||
| 0–1 Match 8 |
3 March | Xi Lai Gaming | 0 | – | 2 | G2 | Santiago, Chile | |
| 18:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 8 | Abyss | 13 | ||||||
| 3 | Haven | 13 | ||||||
Round 3
| 1–1 Match 7 |
4 March | NRG | 2 | – | 0 | Team Liquid | Santiago, Chile | |
| 15:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Breeze | 11 | ||||||
| 13 | Abyss | 4 | ||||||
| 1–1 Match 8 |
4 March | G2 Esports | 2 | – | 0 | T1 | Santiago, Chile | |
| 18:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Breeze | 6 | ||||||
| 16 | Haven | 14 | ||||||
Playoffs
- Date and time: March 6–15, began at 15:00 CLST (18:00 UTC)
- Matches on March 7–8, March 13–15 began at 14:00 CLST (17:00 UTC).
- Seed 1 teams qualified directly to the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, while the other four teams qualified for the playoffs from the Swiss stage.
- Each seed 1 team selected their opponent in a draw once the Swiss stages concluded.
- Order drawn: Nongshim RedForce (picked Gentle Mates), then All Gamers (picked G2 Esports), then FURIA Esports (picked Paper Rex), leaving BBL with last remaining team (NRG).
- All matches were played in a best-of-three series, with the exception of the Lower Bracket Finals and the Grand Finals which were played in a best-of-five
| Upper Bracket Round 1 | Upper Bracket Round 2 | Upper Bracket Final | Grand Final | |||||||||||||||
| March 6, 18:00 CLST | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nongshim RedForce | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| March 9, 15:00 CLST | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gentle Mates | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Nongshim RedForce | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| March 7, 17:00 CLST | ||||||||||||||||||
| G2 Esports | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| All Gamers | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| March 13, 14:00 CLST | ||||||||||||||||||
| G2 Esports | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Nongshim RedForce | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| March 6, 15:00 CLST | ||||||||||||||||||
| NRG | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| FURIA Esports | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| March 9, 18:00 CLST | ||||||||||||||||||
| Paper Rex | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Paper Rex | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| March 7, 14:00 CLST | ||||||||||||||||||
| NRG | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| BBL Esports | 1 | March 15, 14:00 CLST | ||||||||||||||||
| NRG | 2 | Nongshim RedForce | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Paper Rex | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Lower Bracket Round 1 | Lower Bracket Round 2 | Lower Bracket Round 3 | Lower Bracket Final | |||||||||||||||
| March 10, 18:00 CLST | ||||||||||||||||||
| March 8, 17:00 CLST | Paper Rex | 2 | March 14, 14:00 CLST | |||||||||||||||
| Gentle Mates | 1 | All Gamers | 1 | March 13, 17:00 CLST | Paper Rex | 3 | ||||||||||||
| All Gamers | 2 | Paper Rex | 2 | NRG | 1 | |||||||||||||
| March 10, 15:00 CLST | G2 Esports | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| March 8, 14:00 CLST | G2 Esports | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| FURIA Esports | 1 | BBL Esports | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| BBL Esports | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Upper Bracket
Round 1
| Upper Round 1 Match 9 |
6 March | FURIA Esports | 1 | – | 2 | Paper Rex | Santiago, Chile | |
| 15:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Haven | 9 | ||||||
| 4 | Breeze | 13 | ||||||
| 7 | Split | 13 | ||||||
| Upper Round 1 Match 10 |
6 March | Nongshim RedForce | 2 | – | 0 | Gentle Mates | Santiago, Chile | |
| 18:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Haven | 10 | ||||||
| 13 | Corrode | 10 | ||||||
| Upper Round 1 Match 11 |
7 March | BBL Esports | 1 | – | 2 | NRG | Santiago, Chile | |
| 14:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 6 | Pearl | 13 | ||||||
| 13 | Abyss | 6 | ||||||
| 15 | Split | 17 | ||||||
| Upper Round 1 Match 12 |
7 March | All Gamers | 0 | – | 2 | G2 Esports | Santiago, Chile | |
| 17:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 6 | Pearl | 13 | ||||||
| 4 | Abyss | 13 | ||||||
Semifinals
| Upper Round 2 Match 15 |
9 March | Nongshim RedForce | 2 | – | 1 | G2 Esports | Santiago, Chile | |
| 15:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 7 | Abyss | 13 | ||||||
| 13 | Corrode | 7 | ||||||
| 14 | Split | 12 | ||||||
| Upper Round 2 Match 16 |
9 March | Paper Rex | 0 | – | 2 | NRG | Santiago, Chile | |
| 18:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 12 | Pearl | 14 | ||||||
| 11 | Bind | 13 | ||||||
Finals
| Upper Final Match 19 |
13 March | Nongshim RedForce | 2 | – | 0 | NRG | Santiago, Chile | |
| 14:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Bind | 9 | ||||||
| 13 | Abyss | 11 | ||||||
Lower Bracket
Round 1
| Lower Round 1 Match 13 |
8 March | FURIA Esports | 1 | – | 2 | BBL Esports | Santiago, Chile | |
| 14:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 7 | Haven | 13 | ||||||
| 13 | Breeze | 10 | ||||||
| 11 | Abyss | 13 | ||||||
| Lower Round 1 Match 14 |
8 March | Gentle Mates | 1 | – | 2 | All Gamers | Santiago, Chile | |
| 17:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Pearl | 5 | ||||||
| 4 | Split | 13 | ||||||
| 8 | Bind | 13 | ||||||
Round 2
| Lower Round 2 Match 17 |
10 March | G2 Esports | 2 | – | 0 | BBL Esports | Santiago, Chile | |
| 15:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Haven | 5 | ||||||
| 13 | Breeze | 8 | ||||||
| Lower Round 2 Match 18 |
10 March | Paper Rex | 2 | – | 1 | All Gamers | Santiago, Chile | |
| 18:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 10 | Corrode | 13 | ||||||
| 13 | Pearl | 7 | ||||||
| 13 | Split | 4 | ||||||
Semifinals
| Lower Round 3 Match 20 |
13 March | Paper Rex | 2 | – | 1 | G2 Esports | Santiago, Chile | |
| 17:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 11 | Haven | 13 | ||||||
| 13 | Breeze | 9 | ||||||
| 13 | Corrode | 4 | ||||||
Finals
| Lower Final Match 21 |
14 March | Paper Rex | 3 | – | 1 | NRG | Santiago, Chile | |
| 14:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 8 | Pearl | 13 | ||||||
| 13 | Split | 7 | ||||||
| 13 | Corrode | 6 | ||||||
| 13 | Breeze | 9 | ||||||
Grand Finals
The winning team from the Upper Bracket Final will have the two-map ban advantage in map veto as the upper bracket team
| Grand Final Match 22 |
15 March | Nongshim RedForce | 3 | – | 0 | Paper Rex | Santiago, Chile | |
| 14:00 (UTC−3) | Espacio Riesco | |||||||
| 13 | Corrode | 11 | ||||||
| 13 | Split | 4 | ||||||
| 13 | Abyss | 3 | ||||||
Final standings
All participating teams were awarded a share of the US$500,000 prize pool. Additionally, 1st through 6th place teams earned Championship Points to help them qualify for the 2026 Valorant Champions Shanghai, which will be held in September.
| Place | Team | Winnings (USD) | Championship Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1st |
Nongshim RedForce | $350,000 | 6 |
2nd |
Paper Rex | $200,000 | 4 |
3rd |
NRG | $125,000 | 3 |
4th |
G2 Esports | $75,000 | 2 |
5th–6th |
All Gamers | $50,000 | 1 |
| BBL Esports | |||
7th–8th |
Gentle Mates | $35,000 | 0 |
| FURIA Esports | |||
9th–10th |
Team Liquid | $25,000 | 0 |
| T1 | |||
11th–12th |
Edward Gaming | $15,000 | 0 |
| Xi Lai Gaming |
Controversies
Second round draw
After the conclusion of the first round matches on 1 March, the draw for the second round of the swiss stage was conducted immediately afterwards. However, hours after the draw, VCT commissioner Leo Faria announced that the draw would be redone due to an error of putting the first two teams drawn, Paper Rex and Gentle Mates, in the 1-0 bracket, when both teams should've been drawn in separate matchups in the same bracket. A new draw was conducted behind closed doors the night of the incident, but was not streamed live. A full video was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Faria the day after on 2 March.[7]
Note
- Overall, this is the fourth regional match in a VCT event's Grand Final; The first was between EMEA's Acend and Gambit Esports in 2021 Valorant Champions in Berlin. The second and third was between America's Optic Gaming and LOUD Esports in both Masters Reykjavik and 2022 Valorant Champions in Istanbul, though during that time, the Americas region was split between North America (Optic Gaming) and South America (LOUD Esports)