2026 VCT Americas Kickoff preview and predictions: Who will qualify to Masters Santiago?

Bryan Francis Published January 15, 2026

The 2026 VCT Americas competitive season starts on Jan. 15. Twelve teams from the Americas will face off, but which of these teams has the best odds to become champions and which teams should the fans keep their eyes on?

The VCT Americas teams are fighting for the three spots at the upcoming VALORANT Masters Santiago, as well as Championship Points. While three teams will qualify for VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026, only one team will be crowned as the champion of VCT Americas Kickoff 2026 claiming the most Championship Points.

Event overview

VCT Americas Kickoff odds available today

Odds to qualify to Masters Santiago

Odds provided by GG.Bet on Jan. 15.

Format and schedule

Image via Riot Games/VALORANT

The 2026 VCT Americas Kickoff starts on January 15, 2026, at 4:30 pm EST / 10:30 pm CET.

Triple Bracket Playoffs Stage in a nutshell

• The 12 VCT Americas teams will play in a triple-bracket format. Teams will need to lose three matches to be eliminated.
• Teams that qualified for VALORANT Champions 2024 will receive a bye to Upper Bracket Round Two.
• All matches, excluding the upper finals, middle finals, and lower finals, will be a best-of-three.
• The upper finals, middle finals, and lower finals will be a best-of-five series.
• The Champion of VCT Americas Kickoff will receive four Championship points.
• The runner-up of VCT Americas Kickoff will receive three Championship points.
• The team that finishes in 3rd place during VCT Americas Kickoff will receive two Championship points, while the 4th-place team will receive one Championship point.
• The top three teams will qualify for VALORANT Masters Santiago, Chile.

Betting tips: Event favorites and teams to watch

NRG Esports

The first team on the list is none other than the reigning VALORANT World Champion, NRG Esports. After an incredible 2025 season, crowned by a win at the VALORANT Champions 2025, the team has not lost any steam. NRG was able to retain all players from their championship-winning roster. This hasn’t been the case usually if we take a look at previous champions like EDward Gaming and Evil Geniuses.

During the Red Bull Home Ground 2025 tournament, the team reached the grand finals. In the grand finals, they lost to G2 Esports in a one-sided grand final series. We believe that NRG Esports has a strong chance to qualify for VALORANT Masters Santiago in Chile.

G2 Esports

The second team we suggest fans keep an eye out for is G2 Esports. During the 2025 season, they became the first team to complete the three-peat: winning all three VCT Americas tournaments. On the international stage, the team did come close to winning a trophy but lost to T1 in the grand finals of VALORANT Masters Bangkok.

G2 Esports was one of the teams that dominated during the Tejo meta within the game. Following VALORANT Champions 2025, they dominantly won Red Bull Homeground, having just lost one map all tournament. With all the recent nerfs and buffs to agents, it will be interesting to note how this team performs in the VCT 2026 Americas season.

Image via Riot Games/VALORANT

MIBR

The third team all fans of VALORANT Esports must keep their eyes on is MIBR. This team has silently created one of the most chaos-creating teams in VCT history. Two of the best duelists in VCT Americas, Zekken and Aspas, will now play as the leading duo in MIBR. The amount of raw talent on this team is quite incredible. During the VCT off-season, the team hasn’t played any tournaments with the new roster.

During VCT Americas Kickoff 2026, MIBR could be the dark horse. While they might not qualify through the upper final, there is a high chance they will do so either by the middle or lower final. It truly feels like the primary initiator of MIBR, Roberto “Mazino” Rivas, will give it his all to play in his home country of Chile during VALORANT Masters Santiago.

Best underdog pick

It does feel quite different putting this team as an underdog, but Sentinels does fit the bill this season. From the core of the team that won VALORANT Masters Madrid 2024, only Johnqt is left. For the 2026 season, they have signed the likes of Mirel “Kyu” Braco Hrustemovic and Yassin “Reduxx” Aboulalazm from their academy roster. The team did win the Sentinels Invitational off-season tournament.

With the final addition of cortezia from MIBR, it will be interesting to see how the likes of N4rrate and Johnqt synergize with their new teammates.

If Sentinels do finish in the top three, they will be on track to become the first team to win three VCT Masters tournaments.

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Featured image via Riot Games/VALORANT