Masters Shanghai is the second international event of the 2024 VCT season, celebrating VALORANT‘s long-awaited release there as well as the ongoing inaugural VCT China season.
The format for Masters Shanghai significantly expands the amount of competition compared to Masters Madrid, with each of the four VCT regions sending three VALORANT teams instead of just two. The top three teams from the stage one playoffs in each league will have the honor of competing in Shanghai.
With the way the schedules are staggered, some league playoffs will determine which teams go to Masters Shanghai first. Here are all the teams that have qualified for Masters Shanghai.
All VCT Masters Shanghai teams
Paper Rex
Paper Rex has come close to winning an international trophy on several occasions, having finished top four in five different international events over the past three years but still never winning the big one. But the sting of defeat at Masters Madrid immediately subsided when beloved duelist star Jinggg returned to the starting roster earlier than expected.
The team has played some of their best VALORANT since Jinggg returned, losing only one series across the entirety of the VCT Pacific stage one groups and playoffs. Now, they’re only one more win away from securing three vital VCT Championship points before heading to Shanghai.
T1
Despite making Masters Tokyo and Champions last year, T1 did not have a strong international showing. During the offseason, T1 swapped in an entirely new roster core, reaching into the Challenger scenes from North America, Indonesia, and Japan to pick up Rossy, xccurate, and iZu.
The new roster just missed out on Madrid and limped into the stage one playoffs with a 2-4 record on a round differential tiebreaker over Global Esports. But T1 won back-to-back against Team Secret and Gen.G, with the new members stepping up against Secret before relying on familiar former OWL stars in Sayaplayer and Carpe to get it done against Gen.G.
Gen.G
Gen.G completely overhauled its roster before 2024, keeping only Meteor from the year prior and bringing longtime Korean FPS veteran Kang “solo” Keun-chul in as head coach. The new Gen.G made an immediate impact, finishing first at the VCT Pacific Kickoff and pushing Sentinels to five maps in the grand finals of Madrid.
Stage one was a little bumpier for Gen.G, but in a rematch with DRX in the lower semifinal of the playoffs, the sensational controller/duelist duo of Karon and t3xtture stepped up when it mattered, claiming the third spot at Masters Shanghai.
Here are the matches you should mark on your schedule that will directly determine who qualifies for Masters Shanghai:
- 4am CT on May 9: FunPlus Phoenix vs. Trace Esports (VCT China)
- 7am CT on May 9: Edward Gaming vs. Dragon Ranger (VCT China)
- 10am CT on May 9: Fnatic vs. Karmine Corp (VCT EMEA)
- 1pm CT on May 9: FUT Esports vs. NAVI/Team Heretics (VCT EMEA)
- 4pm CT on May 9: KRÜ vs. Cloud9/G2 (VCT Americas)
- 7pm CT on May 9: Leviatán vs. LOUD/100T (VCT Americas)
- 7am CT on May 10: Lower bracket semifinal (VCT China)
- 1pm CT on May 10: Lower bracket semifinal (VCT EMEA)
- 7pm CT on May 10: Lower bracket semifinal (VCT Americas)
