VCT Masters London Week 1 Preview: Watch & Earn Drops + Top Matches to Watch

🏆 The Swiss Stage: Format Explained

The Swiss stage runs June 6–10 at the Copper Box Arena in London. Eight teams enter, four advance to playoffs.

The format is straightforward: win two matches, you're through. Lose two, you're eliminated. Every round pairs teams with matching records, so pressure builds fast. All matches are best-of-three.

The four regional stage winners (G2 Esports, EDward Gaming, Team Heretics, Paper Rex) skip the Swiss entirely and enter directly into the playoff bracket. That's a significant advantage, and it reflects how dominant those teams were in their home regions.

Check the full Swiss stage draw breakdown for seeds and seeding logic.

👀 Week 1 Match-ups to Watch

Round 1 of the Swiss stage runs across June 6 and 7. Here are the four openers:

XLG vs NRG is the cross-regional clash to watch on Day 1. NRG arrives as one of the Americas' most consistent teams, while XLG brings the unpredictability of CN Valorant onto an international stage for the first time in 2026.

Team Vitality vs Dragon Ranger Gaming is the EMEA–China matchup on June 6. Vitality has been building momentum all split, but Dragon Ranger Gaming is a wildcard, and Valorant's CN scene has been closing the gap on international competition.

Leviatán vs Global Esports on June 7 pits two veteran rosters against each other in a high-stakes opener. Both teams know what's at stake: one early loss already puts you on the back foot.

The FUT Esports squad has been one of the more exciting EMEA sides to follow this split. Their match against FULL SENSE on June 7 is the one to monitor for early meta signals 📊

🔥 Meta Watch: Patch 12.10 Goes to London

The competitive meta heading into Masters London was shaped by VALORANT Patch 12.10, which landed right before the tournament and locked in a stable agent pool. Expect controller diversity to be front and center, with teams leaning on established compositions rather than experimenting.

This is the first major international stage where we'll see whether the patch changes hold up under the highest level of play. Pro teams have had weeks to prepare, so the Swiss stage will reveal which regions have cracked the optimal setup fastest.

On the roster side, FNATIC's new head coach ENGH brings fresh tactical structure to the EMEA favorite that bypassed the Swiss entirely. And Cloud9's recent roster move means NRG faces a Americas meta in flux heading into their Round 1 opener.

Where to Watch and How to Compete

All matches stream live on the VALORANT Champions Tour Twitch channel and YouTube. Kick off at 15:00 BST on weekdays.

For the drops: link your Riot account on valorantesports.com, then watch live. For the Shotcall drops, open the Twitch extension in a desktop browser during any live broadcast.

If you want to put your ranked Valorant knowledge to the test while the pros play, Amber.gg's Valorant ladders let you compete for real rewards. Masters London is the perfect hype train to ride into ranked 🚀