#VALORANT esports season opening stage has concluded. All four major leagues have determined the top teams that will represent their region at the Masters tournament. Find out the participants' current form and who has the strongest chances of claiming the title in Santiago in this 1xBet review.
Starting in 2026, the top three teams from each regional league qualify for the Masters tournaments instead of the two, competing under a triple-elimination format.
VCT 2026: Pacific Kickoff
For esports fans in our country, the Pacific League is of particular interest, as it features the best Filipino players competing for several teams: Global Esports, Paper Rex, and Team Secret.
Nongshim RedForce sensationally secured the Masters spot through the upper bracket. Last autumn, this young roster advanced to the VCT Pacific 2026 Main League via the VCT Ascension Pacific 2025 qualifier, and just a few months later claimed first place, defeating favorites Team Secret and Rex Regum Qeon along the way. T1 finished second at VCT 2026: Pacific Kickoff, while Paper Rex placed third. Rex Regum Qeon endured the most disappointing run, losing three consecutive bracket finals.
VCT 2026: China Kickoff
The Chinese squad All Gamers captured their first-ever regional league title, despite never finishing higher than fifth in their previous two seasons! XLG Esports secured second place ahead of Bilibili Gaming, while BG ultimately lost momentum and fell in the lower bracket final to the 2024 world champions, EDward Gaming.
VCT 2026: EMEA Kickoff
The EMEA delivered its share of drama as well, with powerhouses Fnatic and Team Heretics failing to qualify for the Masters. The regions’ top representatives were BBL Esports, Gentle Mates, and Team Liquid.
VCT 2026: Americas Kickoff
The VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026, taking place close to home, will feature Brazilian side FURIA, as well as two North American teams, G2 Esports and NRG. Notably, NRG is the reigning world champion, which places significant expectations on their performance.
To the disappointment of local fans, no Chilean esports player qualified for the tournament. However, Mazino from MIBR, whose title sponsor is the international brand 1xBet, came within one step of securing the necessary result.
Regional leagues’ top players
Here are the leading players by ACS (Average Combat Score) during the Kickoff stage:
Pacific:
● Primmie (FULL SENSE) – 259
● Dambi (Nongshim RedForce) – 247
● Meiy (DetonatioN FocusMe) – 241
China:
● Splash (TYLOO) – 248
● happywei (XLG) – 239
● Rarga (XLG) – 237
EMEA:
● marteen (Gentle Mates) – 252
● lovers rock (BBL Esports) – 251
● Derke (Vitality) – 241
Americas:
● dgzin (Evil Geniuses) – 242
● koalanoob (FURIA) – 237
● Demon1 (Cloud9) – 233
These individual statistics clearly demonstrate that even having a standout player on the roster does not guarantee a podium finish in a regional league.
VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 main favorites
In our opinion, the five teams with the strongest chances of winning the first international tournament of 2026 are:
● EDward Gaming
● Paper Rex
● T1
● Team Liquid
● FURIA
We will soon find out whether our prediction proves accurate since VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026, featuring a $1,000,000 prize pool, will be held from February 28 to March 15 in Chile. Follow the top esports tournaments with 1xBet!