VALORANT Masters Santiago

The first global event of the season, VALORANT Masters Santiago will see 12 of the world’s top sides converge on South America to find out which is the strongest in the early stages of the season. Masters Santiago will mark the second global VCT event on the continent, and the first in Chile.

Masters Santiago Format

Masters Santiago will follow a format similar to other 12-team Masters events in recent years, starting with an eight-team Swiss stage. The eight sides to start the competition are the second and third seeds from each region, with first seeds having received a bye to the playoffs.

The first Swiss matchups were drawn from two pools splitting the second and third seeds. Teams will require two series wins to progress to playoffs, while two losses will confirm elimination. Four teams will advance, and all matchups will be determined via best-of-three series.

Then, in playoffs, enters the top seeds. They’ll each be drawn against one of the sides entering from Swiss into a double-elimination bracket. The bracket will play out through best-of-threes, with only the lower bracket final and grand final decided through best-of-fives.

Masters Santiago Schedule

Saturday 28th February – Swiss R1

• M8 vs EDG
• XLG vs NRG

Sunday 1st March – Swiss R1

• G2 vs PRX
• T1 vs TL

Monday 2nd March – Swiss R2 (1-0)

• TBD
• TBD

Tuesday 3rd March – Swiss R2 (0-1)

• TBD
• TBD

Wednesday 4th March – Swiss R3

• TBD
• TBD

Thursday 5th March

• Down Day

Friday 6th March – Upper QF

• TBD
• TBD

Saturday 7th March – Upper QF

• TBD
• TBD

Sunday 8th March – Lower R1

• TBD
• TBD

Monday 9th March – Upper SF

• TBD
• TBD

Tuesday 10th March – Lower R2

• TBD
• TBD

Wednesday 11th March

• Down Day

Thursday 12th March

• Down Day

Friday 13th March – Upper Final & Lower R3

• TBD
• TBD

Saturday 14th March – Lower Final

• TBD

Sunday 15th March – Grand Final

• TBD

Masters Santiago Teams

With an expanded format compared to Masters Madrid and Masters Bangkok — the equivalent tournaments of prior seasons — Masters Santiago has more exciting teams than ever.

The first seeds have been a complete shock in every region: no exceptions. In Americas, FURIA — winless with their intended rosters last year — emerged upper bracket champions. In EMEA, BBL and their rookie-filled roster hit the ground running and earned top spot.

After a brush with relegation last year, Nongshim started 2026 with completely opposite fortunes as they won in Pacific. And, finally, in China, All Gamers ran through the upper bracket to earn the first global qualification in their history.

Second and third seeds were much more in line with the best-performing teams in recent years. All global champions from last year qualified: T1, Paper Rex, and NRG. Other top sides like G2, EDG, and Team Liquid also qualified.

Of the sides frequently reaching internationals last year, only Sentinels and Fnatic are obvious omissions whose Kickoff runs were not strong enough to see them qualify.

VALORANT Masters Santiago Prize Pool

The total prize pool for VCT Masters Santiago stands at a cool $1m USD. This is split between the twelve teams depending on their finish at the event, starting with $350k for the winners, all the way down to $15k for the bottom two.

Where to watch Masters Santiago

VALORANT Masters Santiago can be watched live on Riot Games official YouTube and Twitch channels, as well as via the stream of a raft of official co-streamers.