VCT Masters London 2026 Power Rankings

The second international VALORANT tournament of the season will officially begin on Saturday, June 6, bringing together the three highest-performing teams from each of the four VCT Stage 1 regions. Following weeks of regional competition, Masters London will provide an opportunity to assess the current global hierarchy, with each qualified team arriving with its own momentum, uncertainties, and expectations.

While a few teams, such as Paper Rex, Team Vitality, and NRG, enter the event with stronger arguments on paper, the gap between the contenders remains narrow enough to allow for surprises. With regional champions, rising challengers, and teams looking to confirm their progress on the international stage, the tournament promises to be one of the most competitive of the season. Ahead of the opening match, Sheep Esports presents its power ranking of the teams competing at VCT Masters London.

After dominating VCT Pacific Stage 1 and winning the final with a 3-0 victory over FULL SENSE, Paper Rex enter these Masters as a main contender for the title. As the seed #1 from each region, they advance directly to the playoffs without having to go through the group stage, and wait for the #2 and #3 seeds of each region in the next round. With this new qualification, Paper Rex aim to secure their second Master title after Masters Toronto 2025. For PRX, a good performance is no longer enough; they still have one ambition: the title.

Team Heretics are entering this tournament with a new look. After a difficult start following Dominykas "MiniBoo" Lukaševičius’s departure early this year, the team tried out different players to replace him, leaving the squad in a very challenging period. With the arrival of Martynas "koshmaras" Namikas during the EMEA Stage 1, Team Heretics seemed to be back at a level capable of challenging the playstyles of teams from around the world. With this new lineup, they managed to qualify for the Masters as the #1 EMEA seed, defying all predictions and ready to take their shot.

G2 Esports are one of the world's most consistent teams. Following another impressive performance in VCT Americas, the team has once again secured its position at the top of the Americas, demonstrating a combination of structure, discipline, and individual excellence in every role, with a core that has built strong chemistry over time. As the American first seed, the team will be expected to contend for the title at the Masters and prove that their regional dominance can translate onto the international stage.

Team Vitality have one of the most talented rosters in the EMEA region. Having built a line-up filled with highly rated individual players such as Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev and Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov, the organization continues to be seen as one of the teams with the highest potential in the region. The addition of Ștefan "Sayonara" Mîtcu has generated even more interest in the project, with the young talent set to make his debut in his first international event at an early stage in his career.

The reigning VCT China champions return once again with the responsibility of representing their region on the international stage. While the Chinese region may have lost some of its momentum in recent international competitions, its top seed remains a team that should never be underestimated, especially when that team is EDward Gaming, whose roster still largely consists of the core that won VALORANT Champions 2024. The last time EDG entered a Masters event as the winner of their regional league, they went on to secure a third-place finish at Masters Bangkok.

Despite an underwhelming opening phase of VCT Americas Stage 1 by their usual standards, NRG became every team's nightmare in the lower bracket, storming through the competition before narrowly falling to G2 in the lower-bracket final. It is impossible to overlook the reigning world champions as legitimate title contenders, particularly with Brock “brawk” Somerhalder delivering outstanding performances throughout the playoffs and Georgio “keiko” Sanassy set to compete in front of a home crowd. Expectations are high for NRG to make quick work of the Play-Ins stage.

FULL SENSE, meanwhile, will be making their first appearance at an international event as the second seed from their region. The roster remains relatively inexperienced at the international level, aside from the three former TALON players who competed at Champions 2024. Nevertheless, the team possesses significant individual talent, most notably in Duelist Papaphat “Primmie” Sriprapha. Having already demonstrated their ability to challenge some of the strongest teams in their region, FULL SENSE could emerge as one of the tournament’s surprise contenders against the world's elite.

Leviatán, the surprise finalists of VCT Americas, return to the international stage for the first time since VALORANT Champions 2024. Denied the title by G2 in a deciding map, the Argentine organization came within touching distance of a near-perfect playoff run. As a result, they should not be underestimated heading into Masters. That said, aside from Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena, the roster is largely composed of players under the age of 20, many of whom are still relatively inexperienced at the international level. Whether that youthful talent can translate into success on the global stage remains one of the team's biggest question marks.

Like FULL SENSE, Global Esports will be making their first-ever appearance at an international event. By defeating teams such as Rex Regum Qeon and Paper Rex in the upper bracket, the organization secured its qualification in convincing fashion. Following several roster changes compared to last season most notably the arrival of Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza, who has brought considerable value to the lineup, GE appear to have finally found their footing. While they may still lack the consistency required to challenge the tournament's elite, they nevertheless enter the competition as a credible dark horse.

FUT Esports last appeared on the international stage at Champions 2024. After enduring a lengthy period of inconsistent results that extended into the start of this season, the Turkish squad has finally re-established itself among the region’s top contenders. The addition of Volkan “sociablEE” Yönal ahead of VCT EMEA Stage 1 provided greater structure and stability to the team's gameplay, while Efe “s0pp” Tur has added a significant boost in firepower. The main concern surrounding FUT comes from their recent performances at the EWC EMEA Qualifier, where results failed to generate much momentum heading into Masters. At their peak, however, they have already demonstrated their ability to seriously challenge teams such as Team Vitality and Team Heretics.

XLG Esports have become increasingly familiar with international competition, albeit without managing to convert those appearances into notable results. At Masters Santiago, the VCT China second seed admittedly received a difficult draw, facing NRG and G2 Esports in the Play-Ins, but expectations remain higher for a roster that continues to accumulate international experience. Still led by one of the strongest players in the region, Teng “happywei” Min-wei, XLG will once again need to raise their level on the global stage. Their opportunity to do so will arrive immediately, as they open their Play-Ins campaign with a rematch against NRG.

As the lowest seed from what is widely regarded as the least competitive region represented at the event, Dragon Ranger Gaming understandably occupy the final spot in our Power Rankings. DRG secured their place at Masters by defeating All Gamers, the region’s top seed at the previous international event. The team fields a roster largely identical to the one that competed at Champions, with the notable addition of Ilya “vo0kashu” Ushakov. The road ahead, however, could hardly be more challenging. DRG will open their Play-Ins campaign against Team Vitality, one of the tournament’s strongest contenders. It is a daunting first test for a roster that will need to exceed expectations if it hopes to make a deep run in the competition.