EDward Gaming and Xi Lai Gaming eliminated from VALORANT Masters Santiago

VALORANT Champions 2024 winner EDward Gaming and fellow VCT China representative Xi Lai Gaming have been eliminated from VALORANT Masters Santiago.

The two Chinese teams lost their respective Swiss Stage matches against Pacific’s T1 and Americas team G2 Esports, which remain in the running for the two final Playoffs slots at the event.

The first elimination match in Santiago saw Masters Bangkok champion T1 take down EDward Gaming (EDG) in a confident fashion (2-0).

T1’s map pick, Bind, was absolute domination from the Pacific second seed. Starting on the attack, T1 gained a quick 4-0 lead thanks to a pistol-round win and well-coordinated site hits. EDG, on the other hand, didn’t play around its ultimate abilities effectively. Although Zheng ‘ZmjjKK’ Yongkang hit some great Operator shots on Chamber, T1 heavily avoided his angles. After an 11-1 half, the South Korean team closed out the map 13-1 on the defence.

Haven followed a similar trajectory, despite EDG winning both pistol rounds on its map pick. China’s third seed struggled massively during its attack half (4-8), often looking disjointed and indecisive. Meanwhile, T1 found high value from its Killjoy and Operator setups. In the second half, EDG stabilised for a moment but eventually succumbed to T1’s site hits, losing the map 10-13.

While all T1 members stepped up to deliver high-impact rounds, Yu ‘BuZz’ Byung-chul was the highest-fragging player of the series. Playing Waylay and Neon, BuZz achieved a KDA of 35/25/12 and an ACS of 288.

The day continued with another 2-0 sweep, this time delivered by three-time VCT Americas 2025 champion G2 Esports during its elimination match versus Xi Lai Gaming.

The series kicked off on Abyss, where G2 became the second team to lock in Harbor at Masters Santiago. However, the Americas’ second seed looked out of sync on its site executes with this new team composition. XLG showed excellent awareness of its round-by-round win conditions on the defence, while G2 relied on hero plays to scrape six rounds together. 

In the second half, though, G2’s Harbor utility had a massive impact on the team’s successful site holds and retakes, allowing it to steal XLG’s map pick 13-8.

What started as a close series then turned into a one-sided affair on Haven. Despite winning its attack pistol, XLG quickly found itself on the back foot (3-9). VCT China’s second seed struggled against G2’s confident on-the-fly decision-making and was ultimately overwhelmed in the second half (3-13). 

G2’s Alexander ‘jawgemo’ Mor, in particular, had a big performance on Haven in terms of fragging and Phoenix utility. On the final map, alone, the duelist player scored a KDA of 23/9/1 and an ACS of 394.

Following the elimination of EDward Gaming and Xi Lai Gaming, VCT China’s first seed, All Gamers, is the region’s only remaining representative at Masters Santiago. 

Alongside the other regional first seeds — FURIA, BBL Esports and Nongshim RedForce — All Gamers will start its Masters run in the event’s Playoffs bracket.

The final round of the Swiss Stage will take place on March 4th, where T1 and NRG will go up against G2 Esports and Team Liquid, respectively, for a spot in the Playoffs.

Thanks to their flawless Swiss Stage runs, Paper Rex and Gentle Mates have already advanced to the Playoffs.

To find out which teams will earn the two remaining Playoffs slots at VALORANT Masters Santiago, fans can tune into the event’s official Twitch and YouTube broadcasts.