Newcomers vs Veterans: VALORANT Masters Santiago Swiss Stage Predictions

VCT’s first global event of the year, VALORANT Masters Santiagois just around the corner, promising three weeks of high-level action and unexpected results.

Starting on 28 February, the Swiss Stage of the Masters Santiago will see two teams from each of the VCT regions (EMEA, Americas, Pacific and China) competing for one of the four coveted spots in the Playoffs bracket.

With an international prize and $1m (~£740,000) in total prize money on the line, the rookie teams will have to be strong, while the veterans look to protect the growing legacies. Esports Insider analyzes the following VALORANT Masters Santiago Swiss Stageand which teams are likely to make it out alive.

Triple VCT Americas 2025 Champion G2 Sports perhaps surprisingly, it faces Chile as the region’s second seed.

Last year, G2 rose to the heights of the region and established themselves as the strongest team in VCT Americas by a large margin. However, despite Masters Santiago being the organization’s eighth VCT event, G2 has yet to lift an international trophy.

In 2025, the list achieved second place at the Bangkok Masters, fourth place at the Toronto Masters, and the top of the Playoffs at Champions Paris.

For the 2026 VCT season, the team made a somewhat controversial move, replacing longtime member Jona’.JonahP‘Police with Andrej’babybay‘ Francis. Babybay had previously joined G2 as Nathan’s representative.a leaf‘ Orf also exceeded expectations due to his agent’s flexibility and high energy.

As the shining star of the region, G2 went to the VCT Americas Kickoff with high expectations. However, already in their second match of the season, G2 lost 1-2 at the hands of FURIA, losing the first regional seed at Masters Santiago.

Although the team must now begin their Masters Santiago tour on the Swiss Stage, G2’s middle bracket run at Kickoff once again demonstrated their ability to diversify their playbook when necessary. As revealed by FURIA, G2’s signature macro gameplay has become obsolete in the new, faster meta.

As a result, G2 decided to rework their gameplay, including a new team composition and a dangerous game to survive in the middle bracket. With this new identity, the VCT veteran is likely to succeed against the chaotic rookie teams at Masters Santiago, giving G2 another chance for global release.

VALORANT Masters Santiago, and especially its Swiss Stage, may be considered one of the most difficult brackets to predict in VCT history.

This is because many of the rookie rosters in the four VCT Kickoff events have successfully relied on their firepower and unique ways to upset the big names in the regions. The American team FURIA dethroned G2 Esports, from China All Gamers upsetting Bilibili Gaming and XLG Esports, and new BBL Sports list surpassed EMEA giant Fnatic.

As a result, many of these big names are now heading to the Swiss Stage at Masters Santiago. Champions winners NRG and EDward Gaming will take on Masters Bangkok and Masters Toronto champions Paper Rex and T1, respectively, creating an incredibly stacked bracket.

In addition, other consistent teams, such as Team Liquid and XLG Esports, have proven to change expectations and will be looking to do the same in Santiago. With this in mind, almost every game in this Swiss division is like a coin flip, making it almost impossible for fans and analysts to predict which teams will advance to the Playoffs.

Despite being released during the VCT OFF//SEASON, VALORANT’s Patch 11.08 was the biggest meta change that hit the pro game during the VCT Kickoff four months later. Many teams in EMEA and America previously relied on slow and active gameplay, as well as double-start comps, were forced to make a complete change of strategy.

Patch 11.08 greatly reduced agent utility while making basic guards, such as Killjoy, Vyse and Cypher, close to unusable outside of certain maps and niche playstyles.

With traditional guards ineffective and flash starters already weak, a new fast-paced, gunplay-oriented meta was born during Kickoff, dominated by dual-control and double-duelist team drafting.

I VCT Pacific the region, however, has always depended on the maturity of individuals and the chaos of established strategies. For example, teams like Paper Rex and T1 used double-duelist comps before it became meta. After years of criticism about the way the Pacific works and behaves, the region’s signature style of play is now being used by the rest of the VCT world.

The three representatives of the Pacific at Masters Santiago, Nonghsim RedForce, T1 and Paper Rex, have the power to dominate the new global meta.

Interestingly, another region that could benefit from the 2026 meta shift is China. Chinese teams like All Gamers and EDward Gaming can only manage subpar macro fundamentals with each outstanding talent to upset favored opponents.

The Swiss Stage at VALORANT Masters Santiago will take place from February 28 to March 4, with eight VCT teams:

The four emerging teams will then advance to the Playoffs to face the four seeds of the first region, BBL Esports, FURIA, Nongshim RedForce and All Gamers.

So, which teams will walk away from the Swiss Stage victorious?

EMEA Ascension Group Gentle Friends will start its Swiss Stage tour with a good draw against Chinese representative EDward Gaming (EDG).

Since lifting the VALORANT Champions trophy two years ago, EDG has struggled to find a replacement for the former Hsieh.S1 Mon‘ Meng-hsun and prepare a new meta for Yoru.

Meanwhile, Gentle Mates play the deadly duo of Taranvir’.bipo‘Singh and Martin’marteen‘ Pátek, who gets a burst of support from versatile controller/players of the list Patrik ‘Minnie‘Hušek and Conner’A GLYPH‘Garcia.

The biggest weakness of Gentle Mates is its small roster, led by an inexperienced game leader (IGL) in Patryk’star‘ Kopczyński, is susceptible to mental stress. But as long as starxo’s direct hitting style cannot be tested by the enemy IGLs, the French team can exit the Swiss Stage undefeated.

The second day at Masters Santiago will begin with an amazing international match between the American representative G2 Sports and the Pacific Paper Rex. These two teams have faced each other in several VCT world events, with Paper Rex taking the win most of the time.

While this matchup has historically been labeled as a clash of play styles, this time around, G2 will likely stick to its newly adopted fast-paced look. The American lineup also used some of the songs from the Phoenix group Paper Rex, which should give Paper Rex a slight edge in the upcoming battle.

On the flipside, the G2 contender had a slow start to the VCT 2026 season, having to polish its decisions to narrowly survive the lower bracket at the Pacific Kickoff. In addition, Paper Rex has not yet unlocked the full potential of its new signing, Adrian’.you are jealousReyes.

Although G2 or Paper Rex will definitely lose at the beginning of the Masters Santiago run, both rosters are still considered favorites to secure a spot in the Playoffs.

In comparison, the reigning VALORANT Champion and American third seed NRG you are already penalized for playing off-meta comps. Except for his big hypeman Sam’s0m‘ Oh, it will be difficult – if not impossible – for NRG to survive the crowded Swiss Stage.

Similar to other legacy organizations throughout the VCT, T1 had trouble finding its footing at Kickoff. In addition to the big meta change, the Korean team had to get used to their new staff, and Byeon’.Munchkin‘ Sang-beom becomes T1’s new IGL.

Its recent regional performance, however, has provided a glimpse into the T1’s impressive ceiling capabilities. Especially, Ham’Sun‘ Woo-Joo impressed the VCT crowd with deadly precision in his new Yoru role. Duelist Yu’Mrs‘ Byung-chul also has the ability to take over team games.

Unless their first Swiss Stage opponent, Team Liquid, can break T1’s mind and pull off another surprise like in the VCT EMEA Kickoff match against Fnatic, T1 should be set for victory, and they are only one win away from qualifying for the Playoffs.

To find out which Swiss Stage teams are advancing to the VALORANT Masters Santiago Playoffs, fans can tune in to the event’s official Twitch and YouTube streams.