Valorant Esports News

VALORANT Masters Santiago is almost here, and that means one thing for fans: it's time to put your knowledge to the test with Pick'Ems powered by AWS. The first international tournament of 2026 kicks off on February 28, bringing together twelve of the world's best teams for 16 days of elite competition.

VALORANT patch 12.03 introduces the new queueable 2v2 Skirmish mode alongside minor buffs to Gekko. Additionally, Pick'Ems return for Masters Santiago, allowing players to predict match outcomes throughout the tournament and earn rewards.

The 2026 VCT season is here and with the conclusion of Kickoff tournaments globally, the first Masters event of the season is upon us. VCT Masters Santiago assembles 12 of the best VALORANT teams in the world across 16 days to crown the tenth Masters winner and the first of the season. Which of the four regions will step forth in this pivotal and determining first bout?

The conclusion to the much-anticipated Lower Finals between Fnatic and Team Liquid ended with a resolution few expected and yet bears similar beats to the previous years. Coming off the back of the previous day’s performance against Gentle Mates, a timeline where Fnatic fails to qualify for Masters Santiago appeared so improbable, and yet we find ourselves here. Liquid’s showing in yesterday’s series was nothing short of masterful, dominating the series from start to finish to snap the final spot to Santiago.  Following the conclusion of their series, Strafe Esports sat down with Fnatic Head Coach Milan “Milan” de Meij to speak on the series, Fnatic’s preparation coming into the rematch, and so much more in this exclusive interview.

The VALORANT Champions 2025 Runner-ups, FNATIC, will be missing the first VCT Masters event of the year. Earlier today, in the lower bracket finals of 2026 VCT EMEA Kickoff, Team Liquid swept the team, securing the final ticket to Santiago from Berlin. Team Liquid Sweep FNATIC Coming into the series, many expected FNATIC to win the series as they were the very team that put Liquid into the lower bracket. When the game started, however, it was clear that the run gave Liquid enough confidence to slay their demons. FNATIC’s map choice, Corrode, despite the close scoreline coming into themore

With the regional Kickoff tournaments finally wrapped up, the pieces of the 2026 international puzzle have finally fallen into place. VALORANT Masters Santiago in Chile will be the season’s first global test, and the early list of qualified squads already mixes brand-new stories with familiar contenders. VCT China: All Gamers Emerging from the Upper Bracket, All Gamers have produced what may be the most shocking run of the year so far. They dismantled established names like Bilibili Gaming and Dragon Ranger Gaming, then capped the streak by defeating XLG in the grand finals to lock in their Masters berth. Thismore

Gentle Mates player Martin “marteen” Pátek has been a revelation this VCT EMEA season thus far. After a shattering performance tonight, the French phenom was a vital reason Gentle Mates (M8) have now qualified over Fnatic and are bound for Masters Santiago later this month. After the heartbreak that was yesterday’s 5-map series against BBL which saw the Turkish side qualify ahead of their opposition as the 1st seed to Santiago, M8 was thrust with little rest time into a second Bo5 (Best-of-five) series against a rapidly mounting Fnatic looking to qualify for their first-ever Kickoff tournament. In a bidmore

FURIA stunned the Valorant community with a dramatic 3-2 victory over MIBR in the VCT Americas Kickoff Grand Final, securing the region’s first seed at Masters Santiago 2026. After a year without a win, the revitalized roster completed a flawless lower bracket run, overcoming the aspas-led superteam in a tense five-map thriller.

BBL find victory over Gentle Mates at the eleventh hour after a length Bo5 series in the VCT EMEA Kickoff Upper Finals. The Turkish roster is now set to attend Masters Santiago later this month.

With Masters Santiago just around the corner, the VCT 2026 Season Capsule is expected to arrive soon. Images and animation videos of its melee weapon have already begun circulating online. According to recent leaks, the melee appears to be a Sigil Knife.

After a crushing final week of the 2026 LEC Versus Regular Season, where Los Ratones just barely missed out on qualifying for Playoffs, Caedrel has now announced that the team is officially coming to an end.

For the first time in VCT EMEA history, the production is taking off from the Berlin studio. The Stage 2 finals are set to be hosted in Barcelona, from August 28th to the 30th at the Olímpic Arena in Badalona.

Riot Games is giving players another reason to celebrate the Year of the Horse. The developers have officially revealed the "Run It Back: Lunar 26" capsule, a special edition of the fan-favorite bundle series designed to coincide with the Lunar New Year festivities.

Less than a month after its official release, Riot Games has announced significant layoffs affecting the development team of its fighting game, 2XKO. The announcement, made on February 9, 2026, signals a strategic pivot for the title as the publisher attempts to stabilize the game’s future following a launch that seemingly fell short of internal expectations.

VALORANT Solarstride skin bundle introduces new skins to the Vandal, the Guardian, and a flamethrower melee weapon in Patch 12.02.

Fnatic found themselves in a repeated matchup against another Turkish roster following their loss in Week 1 to BBL. Faced against FUT, it was imperative for Fnatic to begin winning if they wished to keep their dreams of Santiago qualification alive – and win they did. What began as a one-sided affair for Fnatic quickly shifted as FUT rallied back to force the series to go the full distance. While Fnatic eventually emerged as the victor, it was far from a clean win. Following the conclusion of their series, Strafe Esports sat down with Fnatic IGL and captain Jake “Boaster” Howlett to reflect on the close nature of the series, Fnatic’s run at Kickoff thus far, the challenges of the off-season, expectations carried by the roster, and so much more in this exclusive interview.

The Esports World Cup Federation (EWCF) has launched the Road to EWC, a global qualifying circuit featuring connecting publisher leagues, international events, and grassroots qualifiers into one cohesive season-long journey to Riyadh.

VALORANT Patch 12.02 targets two Agents: Harbor and Reyna. Harbor gets positive tweaks to establish him as a viable Controller, while Reyna absorbs several nerfs to reduce her ranked dominance.

Earlier today, February 1st, Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza set a VCT record for the highest ACS on a single map. Playing against Detonation FocusMe, the former Paper Rex and current Global Esports player put up a statistical masterpiece that helped his team dominate the first map. PatMen’s Statistical Masterpiece: 516 ACS // 6.4 K/D // 100% KAST Facing each other in the 2026 VCT Pacific Kickoff middle bracket, Global Esports faced Detonation FocusMe. But what happened on Breeze wasn’t foreseen bymore

Team Liquid’s battle against Karmine Corp was a show of determination and grit. After a close series loss the previous week to Team Vitality, Liquid found themselves now in the Middle Bracket of VCT EMEA Kickoff with two lives left to battle to Santiago. Backs against the wall after a dismal Map 1 performance, Liquid turned their fortunes around to complete the reverse sweep, propelling themselves with their first official win of the season. Following the conclusion of their series, Strafe Esports sat down with Team Liquid IGL and captain Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin to reflect on the series as a whole, the challenges of heading into a new season with a substitute for Week 1, his evolution as a leader for the team, and so much more in this exclusive interview.