Riot Games has announced the group draw and schedule for VALORANT Masters Shanghai, running from May 23 to June 9.
CHINA – The schedule and initial matchups for VALORANT Masters Shanghai have been released, with the second Masters event of the year running from May 23 to June 9 and featuring twelve of the world’s top teams.
The winners of each league’s Stage 1 in the Pacific (Paper Rex), CN (EDward Gaming), EMEA (FNATIC), and Americas (100 Thieves) have earned a bye, advancing them directly to the Playoffs. Meanwhile, the remaining eight teams will begin their journey in the Swiss stage from May 23-27.
T1 will open up the action against G2 Esports, while the last match of the first day will feature Team Heretics taking on Dragon Ranger Gaming. The exciting clash between Gen.G and Leviatán is scheduled for the next day and will be followed by another CN-EMEA showdown between FunPlus Phoenix and FUT Esports.
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To advance out of the Swiss stage, teams must secure two wins before accumulating two losses. Each match will be a best-of-three. The four teams that advance from the Swiss stage will join the aforementioned four top-seeded teams in the double-elimination playoffs from May 30 to June 9.
VALORANT Masters Shanghai will also introduce a new playoff format, where the four top-seeded teams will be randomly drawn into the pick order and will have the power to choose their first-round opponents.
The 400-seat VCT CN Arena will host the first ten days of the event before moving to the historic Mercedes-Benz Arena, which has an 18,000-seat capacity and will be the largest venue in VALORANT Champions Tour history. This arena has previously hosted prestigious esports events such as the 2023 LPL Spring Finals, Dota 2’s The International 9, and The Shanghai Major 2016.
You can see the complete schedule and opening matchups for VALORANT Masters Shanghai below:
- May 23, Thursday – Swiss Round 1
- May 24, Friday – Swiss Round 1
Swiss Draw 1 - May 25, Saturday – Swiss Round 2
- May 26, Sunday – Swiss Round 2
Swiss Draw 2 - May 27, Monday – Swiss Round 3
Playoff Draw - May 28, Tuesday – Dark Day, No Matches
- May 29, Wednesday – Dark Day, No Matches
- May 30, Thursday – Playoffs, Upper Bracket Round 1
- May 31, Friday – Playoffs, Upper Bracket Round 1
- June 1, Saturday – Playoffs, Lower Bracket Round 1
- June 2, Sunday – Playoffs, Upper Bracket Round 2
- June 3, Monday – Playoffs, Lower Bracket Round 2
- June 4, Tuesday – Dark Day, No Matches
- June 5, Wednesday – Dark Day, No Matches
- June 6, Thursday – Dark Day, No Matches
- June 7, Friday – Upper Finals & Lower Semifinals
- June 8, Saturday – Lower Bracket Finals
- June 9, Sunday – Grand Finals
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Cover photo courtesy of VCT CN
