VALORANT Masters Santiago teams: Favorites, underdogs & dark horses to back

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Publish Date: February 25, 2026

valorant masters santiago teams: favorites, underdogs and dark horses

VCT Masters Santiago is the first international Valorant tournament in the 2026 calendar. With most teams making significant roster changes, the ball is completely up in the air for any team to win it. However, judging from performances in the regional leagues, some teams clearly look stronger than others. Here are the VCT Masters Santiago 2026 teams to look out for, divided up into three categories: favorites, dark horses and underdogs.

Outright odds

Below are how the Valorant teams are currently stacking up based on odds compiled by GG.Bet:

Team Name	Odds to win
NRG	4
Paper Rex	4.75
G2 Esports	5.5
Nongshim RedForce	5.5
BBL Esports	9
Gentle Mates	10
T1	12
FURIA Esports	19
Team Liquid	26
All Gamers	26
EDward Gaming	34
XLG Esports	41

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Favorites

Here are the teams we expect to make deep runs and realistically contend for the trophy in Santiago.

G2 Esports: G2 made a surprising roster move going into 2026, as they removed their long-time member Jonah “JonahP” Pulice in favor Andrej “babybay” Francisty, who was retired before he joined the team. However, it seems like the change has been panning out, as chemistry has looked better. All of the team’s individuals, with in-game leader Jacob “valyn” Batio in particular, have been shooting on all cylinders. Aside from a single Bo3 loss to FURIA in the Americas Kickoff, G2 steamrolled all of their regional competition and look like serious title contenders in Santiago.
T1: T1 might not have finished as the first seed in APAC, but they still looked extremely convincing. The South Korean squad lost their opening Bo3 series against Nongshim RedForce, but proceeded to handle all of their regional opponents with utter dominance, taking down heavy hitters like Paper Rex and Rex Regum Qeon. We can credit a big part of this resurgence from the addition of Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom, who formerly played for Gen.G and is a world champion. Overall, this T1 lineup has firepower and experienced winners, which is exactly what you need to win tournaments.
BBL Esports: The BBL squad is new to the franchising scene, as they were one of the lineups that got promoted from Ascension EMEA. This roster is filled with young players who are barely old enough to legally buy beer. But, if there’s anything we’ve learned from watching them play, it’s that these kids can really shoot. The team finished as the top seed in EMEA, and their run wasn’t really a fluke. They took down teams like Fnatic and Team Vitality to get to where they are. The only concern is how inexperienced their players are.
Gentle M8s: Another surprise from EMEA was the Gentle M8s. Four out of five members of the team were competing in Tier 2 last year, but the team somehow pulled off a reverse sweep against Fnatic to book tickets to Santiago. The biggest contributor was the team’s duelist, Martin “marteen” Pátek, who broke the VCT kill record in the qualification series against Fnatic. If marteen can continue carrying the team, the Gentle M8s can become a serious threat.

Dark Horses

These teams are not quite the outright Valorant betting favorites, but are dangerous enough if they catch momentum early on.

FURIA: FURIA were hands-down the weakest team in VCT Americas over the past few years, but a full rebuild heading into 2026 completely changed their trajectory. Expectations were still low, but they shocked everyone by taking down teams like G2 Esports and MIBR. Coming into Kickoff, the team has had zero pressure, which allowed them to play confidently. However, they might have built a target on their backs since the whole world is watching them now.
Nongshim RedForce: Nongshim RedForce was relegated back to Ascension Pacific, but easily won it to return to franchising. They used that momentum to beat top teams like T1 and RRQ to secure the top seed. This also means they’ve guaranteed a top eight finish in Santiago. However, their match sample size in Pacific is still pretty small, so it’s hard to label them as a favorite just yet. Though this team has some very talented individuals, they are still relatively inexperienced.
Paper Rex: The fan-favorites, Paper Rex, will be making an appearance in Santiago. But, it’s worth remembering they barely made it and we wondered whether they had what it takes to make it to Masters Santiago. They were on the brink of elimination early in Pacific Kickoff, yet somehow pulled off another classic lower bracket run. Still, Paper Rex haven’t looked too convincing. At times, they even felt a bit unstructured. Based on their Kickoff performance, expectations aren’t too high – but this roster still has individuals who can completely take over a server on a good day.
NRG: The reigning VCT Champions winners are looking for back-to-back international titles with a win in Santiago. But in all honesty, another win might not be too likely. The team didn’t look like the top dogs in Americas, so it’s hard to favor them against the entire world. That said, nobody expected NRG to win Champions before the event started. So, heading into Santiago as a dark horse instead of a favorite might actually be the formula for another deep run.

Underdogs

Below are the teams coming in with lower expectations. However, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

All Gamers: There were many surprises across all Kickoff regions, but we’d argue All Gamers was the biggest one. Neither the organization, nor the players, have achieved much before, but they somehow won China Kickoff and secured the first seed. However, it’s no secret that China is arguably the weakest region in VCT right now, so it’s hard to expect much from the All Gamers squad.
Team Liquid: Team Liquid barely escaped Kickoff EMEA. They were staring down at elimination multiple times, but managed to take down a weakened Fnatic to qualify for Santiago. The roster has some very notable names, but the team structure doesn’t look like it’s quite there yet. To be fair, they did make some significant roster changes, so a slow start is to be expected. Based on their Kickoff performance, expectations should be low unless their star players start heating up.
Xi Lai Gaming: XLG have been one of the more consistent contenders in the Chinese scene over the past year, so it’s no surprise seeing them qualify for another international event. However, historically, they haven’t been too competitive on the global stage. Unless their star duelist Arthur “Rarga” Churyumov pops off, it’s difficult to place high hopes on them to deal some damage.
EDward Gaming: Unfortunately, this isn’t 2024 anymore. EDG look like a shadow of their former selves and barely scraped into Santiago after beating a BLG side that was playing with a stand-in. For Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang and the boys, it feels like an early elimination is right around the corner unless they can pull off a miracle run.