It’s going to be a hot start for the first VALORANT Major of the year.
Masters Santiago is the first step to the 2026 VALORANT Championship Tour where 12 of the best teams in the world battle for supremacy. Starting February 28, the best of EMEA, Pacific, China, and the Americas, converge in Santiago Chile to see who gets a head start in the season.
Starting off is the Group Stage which will be an eight team Swiss format. All matches are a best-of-three where only four teams will move through. The champions of each region get pass in this stage, leaving the second and third seeds to fight it out.
Playoffs are a double elimination bracket where each region’s champions choose who they want to face. It’ll be best-of-threes until the lower bracket and grand finals where a best-of-five will determine who’ll raise the Masters Santiago trophy.
Choose Your Champion
But there’s a twist for the first Masters of the year. Instead of side selection being determined by the old-fashioned coin toss, teams can now fight for it.
Before the start of a match, each team picks a representative to face off in a match of Skirmish. Here it’s a true test of marksmanship as abilities are disabled and only guns are allowed. The first player to win five rounds grants their team side selection and their fair share of bragging rights.
Streaming platform Twitch is also implementing Shotcall, a new feature that’ll allow you to predict what’ll happen next live. Earn points by calling maps, rounds, and clutches, and see your name rise on the global leaderboard.
Excited for Masters Santiago? Then make sure to catch it live on the official VALORANT Youtube and Twitch channels.
Banner photo credit: Stefan Wisnoski / Riot Games.
Frequently Asked Questions
Masters Santiago is the first VALORANT Major of the 2026 VALORANT Championship Tour, starting February 28 in Santiago, Chile, featuring 12 of the world’s best teams from EMEA, Pacific, China, and the Americas.
The group stage follows an eight-team Swiss format with best-of-three matches, where only four teams advance. Regional champions receive an automatic pass, leaving second and third seeds to compete for the remaining spots.
Playoffs follow a double-elimination bracket where regional champions choose their opponents. Matches are best-of-three until the lower bracket and grand finals, which are decided in a best-of-five format.
Skirmish replaces the traditional coin toss for side selection. Each team selects a representative to compete in a first-to-five-rounds gunfight with abilities disabled, with the winner earning their team’s side selection.
Twitch is introducing Shotcall, a feature that lets viewers predict live match outcomes such as map results, round wins, and clutch plays, earning points that contribute to a global leaderboard.
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