Reigning VALORANT Champion NRG and fellow Americas team G2 Esports have secured the final Playoffs slots at VALORANT Masters Santiago.
As a result, their respective Swiss Stage opponents, Team Liquid (EMEA) and T1 (Pacific), have been eliminated from the first global VCT event of the year.
NRG Demoralised Team Liquid
In the first match of the day, reigning VALORANT Champion winner NRG took down Team Liquid 2-0 to secure its shot at a second international trophy.
The series began on Team Liquid’s comfort map pick, Breeze, where EMEA’s third seed delivered a competitive attack half (7-5). Team Liquid won several key aim duels, while NRG executed strong A-site holds and retakes. The map continued in this back-and-forth fashion throughout the second half until a crucial timeout led to an NRG winning streak, resulting in a 13-11 win.
Abyss saw Team Liquid lean into Harbor just like it had done during its previous Pearl showing. And just like on Pearl, its opponent saw through the new Harbor playbook after a couple of rounds to conclude the half 4-8. On its defence, Team Liquid looked fully deflated. Moreover, NRG’s Tejo countered Team Liquid’s Harbor utility, repeatedly denying spike defuses. The Americas third seed won all rounds on attack, securing the map 13-4.
Ironically, it was former Team Liquid member, Georgio ‘keiko’ Sanassy, who contributed massively to his new team’s victory. Playing Jett and Omen, keiko scored a KDA of 43/21/6 and an ACS of 284.
G2 Esports Earned Revenge Against T1
For the final Swiss Stage series in Santiago, VCT fans were treated to a rematch between the two Masters Bangkok 2025 finalists, G2 Esports and T1. Although T1 secured the first Masters trophy last year, G2 took revenge yesterday by sweeping its old rival 2-0.
T1 kicked off its map pick, Breeze, with a pistol-round win and bonus conversion on the defence. However, G2 swiftly retaliated with methodical site hits and deadly backstabs from Nathan ‘leaf’ Orf to achieve a 7-5 half. During its defence half, the Americas second seed also frequently switched up its pace to throw off the opponent. Despite smart strategies based on its ultimates, T1 couldn’t break through G2’s defence setups, losing the map 6-13.
On Haven, T1 decided to play out an Iso/Yoru agent composition to counter G2’s typical Chamber pick. This attempt seemed to work in the first half (10-2), where G2 struggled against the Pacific second seed’s oppressive site hits and Ham ‘iZu’ Woo-Joo’s lethal Cypher.
But on the back of a pistol-round win and bonus conversion in the second half, G2 started an unexpected comeback. G2’s Trent ‘trent’ Cairns went on a killing spree whilst T1 couldn’t convert defence rounds despite investing major ultimates. With T1 running out of steam, G2 stole the map 16-14 in overtime.
Masters Santiago: Playoffs Draw
Following their victories yesterday, NRG and G2 Esports have become the final Swiss Stage competitors to qualify for the VALORANT Masters Santiago Playoffs.
This also means it is time for the four regional first seeds, BBL Esports, FURIA, Nongshim RedForce and All Gamers, to make their debuts on the stage in Chile.
The double-elimination Playoffs will kick off on March 6th at 5 PM GMT with FURIA versus Paper Rex, followed by a clash between Nongshim RedForce and Gentle Mates. One day later (March 7th), BBL Esports will face NRG, while All Gamers will go up against G2 Esports.
