VALORANT Masters Bangkok preview: new rivalries, same high stakes

The first international VCT event of the year, VALORANT Masters Bangkok, is officially underway.

From February 20th to March 2nd at UOB Live, the tournament will feature the top two Kickoff teams from EMEA, the Americas, China, and the Pacific International Leagues.

These teams will be competing for the trophy, a share of its $500,000 (~£396,545) prize pool and crucial Championship Points. All teams will first battle through the Swiss Stage, with the top teams advancing to a double-elimination playoff.

The event kicks off with EDward Gaming facing Team Liquid and DRX taking on Sentinels.

Both EDward Gaming and DRX have never beaten their respective opponents, making it an exciting opportunity for the teams to rewrite the narrative at Masters Bangkok.

“It’s just gonna be another 2-0 for us,” Sentinels’ Jordan ‘Zellsis’ Montemurro said confidently during the pre-event press conference.

“Back at Champions 2024, we made a lot of mistakes—that’s on us,” responded DRX’s Kim ‘MaKo’ Myeong-kwan

“But Sentinels played very well; they were the stronger team that day. However, we’ve had a lot of internal changes in both our roster and system, so I think, yeah, it’s definitely going to be 2-0—but DRX 2-0.

EDward Gaming’s Wan ‘CHICHOO’ Shunzhi, a huge fan of Team Liquid’s IGL Ayaz ‘nAts’ Akhmetshin, also shared his thoughts on their matchup.

He said: “You know, competition is about winning or losing, but this time, we’ve prepared a lot for this matchup. We’re not going to be beaten that easily—it’s our turn to win.”

With a handshake and a smile, nAts responded: “Okay, let’s have a good game then.”

As the defending Champions 2024 winners, Edward Gaming will be aiming for their second VCT title. Meanwhile, Sentinels seeks its third Masters trophy—but for the first time, without Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo.

For the rest of the teams, this will be their first-ever international VCT title opportunity, with G2 Esports and Team Vitality currently considered the favourites to win the event.

Team Vitality will kick off their tournament run against T1, while G2 Esports will face China Kickoff runner-ups, Trace Esports.

“The only thing I want to do is take some breaks and improve this time compared to how we performed at Champions 2024,” said Trace Esports’ Zhang ‘LuoK1ng’ Zhanpeng while discussing expectations for Masters Bangkok.

Team Vitality’s IGL, Saif ‘Sayf’ Jibraeel, who will be facing his favourite team T1, shared his excitement for the matchup.

“I think it’s gonna be fun because we had a little moment together when they were in Europe. So, I’m just excited,” said Sayf. 

Tickets for both the Swiss Stage and Playoffs of Masters Bangkok are still on sale. However, if fans can’t attend in person, you can catch all the action live on VCT’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.