The first global event of the 2026 season for VALORANT is officially locked in. VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 will take place from February 28 to March 15, 2026 in Santiago, Chile, at Espacio Riesco, hosted by Riot Games. Featuring a $1,000,000 prize pool and valuable VCT circuit points, the tournament marks the start of the international race toward Champions. Here are the VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 Teams confirmed so far.
VALORANT Master Santiago 2026: Direct Playoff Teams
These four teams skip the Swiss Stage entirely:
- FURIA Esports: Americas #1 seed
- All Gamers: China #1 seed
- BBL Esports: EMEA #1 seed
- NS RedForce: Pacific #1 seed
These squads enter as early favorites thanks to dominant Kickoff performances in their regions.
Swiss Stage Teams
Currently locked participants include:
- XLG Esports: China #2 seed
- EDward Gaming: China #3 seed
Americas
- MIBR or G2 Esports (2nd seed)
- Third seed TBD
EMEA
- Gentle Mates or Fnatic (2nd seed)
- Third seed TBD
Pacific
- Rex Regum Qeon or T1 (2nd seed)
- Paper Rex potential 3rd seed
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Tournament Format Explained
VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 will be played across two phases: the Swiss Stage and the Playoffs.
The Swiss Stage runs from February 28 to March 4, 2026, and features eight teams competing in a Swiss-system format. Every match in this phase is a Best-of-Three (Bo3). After all rounds are completed, the top four teams move forward to the Playoffs, while the remaining four teams are eliminated from the tournament.
The Playoffs take place from March 6 to March 15, 2026, and include eight teams in total, with four squads advancing from the Swiss Stage and four teams that directly qualified by winning their regional leagues.
The bracket uses a double-elimination format. Most matches are played as a Bo3 series, while the Lower Bracket Final and the Grand Final are contested as Best-of-Five (Bo5).
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