VALORANT Masters Santiago draw sets round 1 matches

The VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 draw is set ahead of the Feb 28 start. Round 1 features Gentle Mates vs EDG, T1 vs Team Liquid, and more.

eSports Betting News

by Jur Dava

February 16, 2026 0

Following the conclusion of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Kickoff events, the draw for the VALORANT Masters took place, setting the stage for the opening matches of the upcoming tournament.

Scheduled to begin on Saturday, February 28, VALORANT Masters Santiago is the first international event of the season, featuring the world’s best teams who will clash for their share of the US$1,000,000 prize pool.

The #VALORANTMasters Santiago bracket is set! 👇 pic.twitter.com/RZbSv4fweF
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) February 16, 2026

The tournament features 12 squads, three from each region – Americas, EMEA, Pacific, and China – eight of which will begin their campaign in the Swiss Stage.

The draw seeded teams into Pool A and Pool B, with the former featuring four No.2 seeded teams and Pool B featuring four No.3 seeded teams.

For the opening matches, No. 2 seeds were drawn against No. 3 seeds from another region to avoid repeat games from regional leagues in the first round of the Swiss Stage.

The draw concluded by pairing Gentle Mates with EDward Gaming, T1 with Team Liquid, G2 Esports with Paper Rex, and Xi Lai Gaming with NRG.

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The opening matches include some exciting affairs, as two heavyweights, T1 and Team Liquid, face off for the first time in history, and as will NRG and XLG.

Meanwhile, the third match of the day will reignite the old rivalry between G2 Esports and Paper Rex, who have met five times since 2024, more recently in the first round of the VALORANT Champions 2025 playoffs.

The Swiss Stage will continue for three rounds, with all matches played as best-of-three.

The top four teams will advance to a double-elimination playoff bracket, joining regional champions FURIA, All Gamers, BBL Esports, and Nongshim RedForce as four directly invited squads.

VALORANT betting sites have responded to the draw quickly and opened the markets ahead of time, pricing NRG, Paper Rex, T1, and Gentle Mates as favourites to start the tournament with a victory.