NS, T1, PRX qualify for VCT Masters Santiago
Pacific sends Nongshim RedForce, T1, and Paper Rex to the season’s first international at VALORANT Masters Santiago.
SOUTH KOREA – Nongshim RedForce, T1, and Paper Rex have secured their spots at VALORANT Masters Santiago, representing the VCT Pacific region at the first international event of the year. The trio will join nine teams from Americas, China, and EMEA in Santiago, Chile, running from February 28 to March 15.
Nongshim RedForce were the headline act of Pacific Kickoff, completing a flawless run without dropping a series. The Ascension Pacific 2024 and 2025 champions began with wins over Team Secret (2-0), T1 (2-1), and FULL SENSE (2-0), before outlasting RRQ (3-2) in the Upper Final to clinch Pacific’s No. 1 seed.
At the center of their surge was Jung “Xross” Hwan, who led the team statistically. Xross only became eligible for VCT Pacific after turning 18 last November, despite being with Nongshim since early 2024, even prior to the organization’s acquisition of the Ascension-winning Sin Prisa Gaming roster. For Nongshim, that long wait has paid off in a big way.
On the other side of the lineup, veteran Goo “Rb” Sang-min is set to return to the international stage for the first time since VALORANT Champions Los Angeles 2023. Rb previously featured in eight international events with DRX Vision Strikers, and now gets a fresh opportunity with a new core. Supporting them are three two-time Ascension champions: Park “Ivy” Sung-hyeon, Kim “Francis” Mu-bin, and Lee “Dambi” Hyuk-kyu. When asked what version of Nongshim RedForce fans should expect in Santiago, Dambi summed it up in one word: “Spicy.”
The second Pacific team heading to Santiago is T1, the reigning Masters Bangkok champions. The so-called Korean superteam stumbled early with an opening loss to Nongshim RedForce, but quickly regrouped and stormed through the middle bracket, defeating Gen.G (2-1), DRX (2-0), Paper Rex (2-1), DetonatioN FocusMe (2-0), and RRQ (3-0).
While much of T1’s roster remains intact, their biggest boost has been the addition of Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom, widely credited as the strategic mastermind behind Gen.G’s 2024 success.
Rounding out Pacific’s qualifiers are fan favorites and SEA powerhouse Paper Rex, who gained extra firepower with the signing of Filipino star Adrian “invy” Reyes. PRX’s run started unevenly: they scraped past Global Esports, then fell to RRQ and T1, before launching a lower-bracket comeback with wins over Global Esports (2-1), DRX (2-1), DetonatioN FocusMe (2-0), and RRQ (3-1) to secure the final Santiago slot.
For RRQ, it’s a frustrating miss. Despite three separate qualification opportunities (Upper Final, Middle Final, and Lower Final), the Indonesian squad couldn’t convert. The grind of playing best-of-fives across three consecutive days appeared to take a toll, something players also pointed to in post-match comments and on social media. Watch the full post-match press conference sessions on our YouTube channel here.
Outside the top three, DetonatioN FocusMe impressed with a 5th-place finish and showed signs they can push higher as the season develops. There’s a growing sense this roster could become Japan’s next true breakout, with fans still chasing a repeat of ZETA’s iconic Reykjavik Cinderella run, while the original ZETA have yet to recapture that peak form.
Global Esports, meanwhile, look far more convincing on paper than in previous seasons. With only two returning players from last year (their standout duo), combined with emerging talent and a proven head coach, GE’s current five feels like their strongest build yet, and should be evaluated on its present trajectory rather than anything from past results.
The twelve teams heading to VALORANT Masters Santiago are as follows:
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