VALORANT Masters Shanghai: All qualified teams

Stage 1 of the VALORANT Champions Tour has concluded across the four international leagues -- Americas, EMEA (Europe), Pacific (Asia) and China -- which means it’s time for Masters Shanghai. Three teams from each region have qualified for the first-ever global VCT event in China, which starts May 23. EDward Gaming will lead the way for the Chinese teams, Fnatic are back on top of EMEA, Paper Rex are still the standard bearers for Pacific, and 100 Thieves have emerged as the team to beat from the best region in the world, Americas. Here’s a breakdown of each of the teams qualified for Masters Shanghai.

100 Thieves

Americas

Photo credit: Tina Jo / Riot Games

It’s been a while since 100 Thieves were relevant internationally, and the team’s fortunes have changed dramatically in the past couple months. In the offseason, the team added world champions Kelden “Boostio” Pupello (in-game leader) and Tony “Zikz” Gray (head coach), and those moves appear to be paying dividends. Since beating G2 Esports on April 13 to pick up their first VCT win in nearly a year, the team has snowballed picking up win after win and appearing very confident onstage behind their boisterous trash-talking leader Boostio. 100T razed through the playoffs, taking out perennial international contender LOUD before beating Leviatán and then G2 twice, including 3-0 in the grand final. With North American teams winning each of the last two global VCT events, 100 Thieves are certainly among the favorites to win Masters Shanghai.

G2 Esports

Americas

Photo credit: Robert Paul / Riot Games

What a year it’s been for the G2 Esports core. Last summer, Jacob “valyn” Batio, Jonah “JonahP” Pulice and Trent “trent” Cairns won the Ascension tournament with The Guard to earn their place in VCT Americas. Then, they almost missed out on the league after The Guard decided to exit esports before getting picked up by G2. Despite a middling 3-3 record in VCT Americas Stage 1, G2 made the playoffs based on a slim round differential over Sentinels. Now, they’re bound for Shanghai after victories over Cloud9 and KRÜ Esports. A win over Leviatán to send them to the Stage 1 final was really the cherry on top of their cinderella run. They’ll probably be underrated by many in comparison to fellow Americas teams 100 Thieves and Leviatán, but given their history and recent performance, they shouldn’t be counted out as contenders.

Leviatán

Americas

Photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

It was almost a disastrous finish to VCT Americas Stage 1 for a team that had high expectations and looked so dominant for several weeks during the season. Leviatán lost to 100 Thieves in their first shot to qualify for Masters Shanghai, but showed resilience in winning the LATAM clásico over KRÜ Esports in comeback fashion in a playoff elimination match to clinch their spot in Shanghai. This superteam has an Ascension winner in Ian “tex” Botsch, a 2023 world champion in Corbin “C0M” Lee, a 2022 world champion and world-class duelist in Erick “aspas” Santos, and two superstat LATAM players in Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena and Roberto "Mazino" Bugueño. It’s an impressive roster of players representing each subregion of the Americas (North America, Latin America and Brazil) that has the potential to win Masters.

Fnatic

EMEA

Photo credit: Michal Konkol / Riot Games

Fnatic are back on top of EMEA. Last year, the European superteam won Lock//In and Masters Tokyo before being ousted from Champions by LOUD. The organization kept the same roster for 2024, and Jake “Boaster” Howlett & Co. shockingly failed to qualify for Masters Madrid. After a mediocre Stage 1, Fnatic had a strong run through the playoffs, getting revenge on Team Heretics in the grand final after losing to them in the upper final. EMEA teams have missed out on the last two VCT international finals, but Fnatic can very well change that. They have a championship pedigree and undoubtedly will be hungry to lift another trophy.

Team Heretics

EMEA

Photo credit: Michal Konkol / Riot Games

During VCT EMEA Stage 1, Team Heretics showed that their performance during Kickoff was not a fluke. The Spanish org qualified for their second consecutive international event in beating NAVI and FUT Esports. They nearly became champions of Stage 1 but fumbled a 2-0 lead to get reverse swept by Fnatic. It was the team’s first loss to Fnatic in Stage 1 after beating them during opening week and in the upper final. Benjy "benjyfishy" Fish & Co. will be looking for redemption in Shanghai after going 0-2 at Masters Madrid. Unfortunately, they’ll have to do it without Dominykas "MiniBoo" Lukaševičius, who has stepped away from the team for mental health reasons, so Heretics will be playing with substitute Patryk "paTiTek" Fabrowski. He played with the team during Kickoff in place of Mert "Wo0t" Alkan, so other than some role switches he should fit right in.

FUT Esports

EMEA

Photo credit: Wojciech Wandzel / Riot Games

FUT were one of the best EMEA teams during Stage 1 as they only lost to Team Vitality en route to a 4-1 record and a top seed heading into the playoffs. They lost to Heretics in their first chance to qualify for Masters but then beat Karmine Corp to lock their spot. The Turkish superteam will head to Shanghai as EMEA’s third seed and will look to improve on a good showing at Champions last year where they made it to the playoffs. FUT made a splash in the offseason with the addition of star duelist Mehmet "cNed" İpek. He led all players in EMEA Stage 1 in ACS and was third in K/D.

Paper Rex

Pacific

Photo credit: Riot Games

With LOUD missing out on Masters Shanghai, Paper Rex are now the gold standard in terms of qualifying for VCT international events. Paper Rex have not missed a Masters or Champions tournament since 2021, and they finished second Champions 2023. After winning VCT Pacific Stage 1 and with a more wide open field than usual, Paper Rex might be the overall favorites to win Masters Shanghai. Wang "Jinggg" Jie is back on the team after missing out on Kickoff and Masters Madrid due to military service. This is a talented, experienced and hungry team that many expect to win the first ever international title for the Pacific region.

Gen.G

Pacific

Photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

Like a lot of other teams that attended Masters Madrid, Gen.G had middling Stage 1, but picked things up in the playoffs to qualify for the second Masters tournament this year. Gen.G lost to T1 in the playoffs, but then beat DRX and got revenge against T1 to reach the Pacific grand final, which they lost to Paper Rex. There isn’t as much hype around Gen.G going to Shanghai as there was heading into Madrid, where Gen.G nearly lifted VCT Pacific’s first international trophy. With international experience in tow and perhaps less pressure because they’re not the Pacific No. 1 seed, Gen.G are a dark horse contender to win Masters Shanghai.

T1

Pacific

Photo credit: Riot Games

T1 took down Gen.G in the VCT Pacific playoffs to qualify for Masters Shanghai. They’re not Pacific heavyweights like Gen.G and Paper Rex but could still pull off some upsets in China. Despite being a Korean org and mostly Korean roster, T1 have a bit of a North American flair to them. Daniel "Rossy" Abedrabbo is American and competed in NA prior to this year, and Ha "Sayaplayer" Jung-woo previously competed in NA with The Guard. In a fun turn of events, Sayaplayer will face three of his former Guard teammates in Shanghai as they now compete for G2 Esports. Perhaps the most interesting name on T1 is Kevin "xccurate" Susanto, who is the older brother of Paper Rex’s Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto.

EDward Gaming

China

Photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

This is EDG’s time to shine. They have been the best Chinese team over the past year and have finished among the top six over the past three VCT international events. It’ll be fun to see if they can crack the top four playing a global event in front of their home fans for the first time. EDG are coming into Masters as VCT China Stage 1 champions. Zheng "ZmjjKK" Yongkang (KangKang) was head and shoulders above everyone else with the top ACS and K/D in the league. In Madrid, EDG finally beat Paper Rex, a team they’ve struggled against internationally. As the No. 1 seed from China, EDG will start Masters already in the playoffs, giving them a good chance to make a deep tournament run.

FunPlus Phoenix

China

Photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

For a little bit, it looked like FPX had perhaps surpassed EDward Gaming as the best team in China. They went 5-0 during VCT China Stage 1 including a victory over EDG and then beat them again in the playoffs upper final. However, they ultimately lost the grand final to EDG. FPX have been to three VCT international tournaments but have yet to win a game. Perhaps they’ll finally do so in Shanghai playing in front of a friendly crowd, but other than perhaps fellow Chinese team Dragon Ranger Gaming, none of their opponents will be easy, including their initial Swiss stage opponents, FUT Esports.

Dragon Ranger Gaming

China

Photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

This is the team that should have the least amount of pressure on their shoulders in Shanghai. As the third seed from the weakest region, expectations are low for Dragon Ranger Gaming. On paper, their initial Swiss stage opponent, Team Heretics, figures to be a very difficult matchup. However, Heretics will be playing with a substitute, which perhaps gives DRG a bit of hope. Like G2, DRG won their league’s Ascension tournament and will be making their international debut in Shanghai. Only Tang "TZH" Zhehao, who was with FPX last year, has competed at a VCT international event.

Lead photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games