Dialog content
Day 1 at the Copper Box Arena: two sweeps, zero dropped maps, and a bracket that just got a lot clearer at the top.
Day 1 of the VCT Masters London 2026 playoffs sent a clear message 🔥: Paper Rex and Team Vitality arrived to dominate. Two sweeps, zero dropped maps, and a bracket that just got a lot clearer at the top.
Paper Rex are on a different level right now. The Pacific powerhouse, four-time regional champions, opened the Upper Bracket with a clinical sweep over Leviatán that peaked at 652,046 concurrent viewers, the most-watched match of the tournament so far.
Map 1 was pure dominance, but Lotus tested them more seriously: a back-and-forth sequence pushed all the way to 13:10 before PRX closed it out in decisive moments, the way only they can. Leviatán drop to the Lower Bracket but remain alive in the tournament.
For PRX, this is about more than regional glory. Four Pacific titles without an international Masters, and London could finally be the one 👑.
Paper Rex VCT 2026 team bundle — available in the VALORANT in-game store.
The EMEA derby delivered everything it promised. Team Vitality shut out Heretics convincingly: Breeze 13:6, Lotus 13:7, controlling the tempo in both maps while limiting Heretics to reactive play throughout.
This wasn't just a bracket win. Vitality had lost to Heretics in the VCT EMEA Stage 1 final, and playing it back on home soil at the Copper Box Arena added a lot of extra weight to the sweep. The London crowd made sure both teams felt it.
Heretics stay alive through the Lower Bracket, but they'll need a serious step up to claw back from there.
With PRX and Vitality already in the Upper Bracket semifinals, two more spots are decided today. Both matches are best-of-three, and both have real upset potential:
This one is criminally underrated. EDG arrive as China Stage 1 champions with a structured, methodical playstyle that punishes opponents who give up map control. FUT Esports, the Turkish dark horses, punched well above their weight throughout the Swiss Stage and have nothing to lose.
Two hungry non-EMEA rosters fighting for a place in the last four on London home turf: expect high aggression and tactical variance on both sides.
G2 have been dominant in the Americas league but are still chasing their first big international title 🎯. Xi Lai Gaming qualified through narrow margins in the Swiss Stage and arrive as underdogs, but upsets happen, and a packed Copper Box Arena can do strange things to both sides.
G2 are heavy favorites, but the pressure of an international debut format and a hostile crowd for XLG could open doors.
Riot Games / VALORANT Champions Tour
With Vitality already in the semis and Heretics still in the draw, the path to an all-EMEA final is real. The question is whether anyone in this bracket can actually stop Paper Rex.
PRX have shown all week they can sweep anyone when they hit form, as covered in detail in the full tournament preview. But the London crowd is going to make every EMEA run feel electric, and Vitality showed yesterday that their individual level is firmly in the conversation.
The current meta doesn't favor any single playstyle, which keeps this bracket genuinely open 🔓. Four Upper Bracket lives still on the line. The Copper Box is packed. This is what Masters is for.
Want to put your own skills on the line while following the action? Valorant tournaments and ladders on Amber.gg are live all tournament long.
Discover More
You might also enjoy these articles.
