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VALORANT Masters London 2026 Playoffs Pick'Ems Guide
VALORANT Masters London picks back up tomorrow on June 12th with the start of the Playoffs Stage and the entry of the 4 1st seeds to the tournament. With it also comes the second phase of the Pick’Ems challenge and 8 teams in a fresh double-elimination bracket. Let’s get started.
Masters London Playoffs Pick'Ems
The window for Playoffs prediction is small, as always. From today (June 11th), you’ll have about a day and a half to lock in your predictions (lock at June 12th, 5pm CET).
As a reminder for those still in the running, participating and performing well in the Pick’Ems will net you some neat rewards:
- All Participants: Everyone who makes at least one pick earns the "Bossman Title" title. It's yours just for showing up and locking in predictions.
- Top 50%: Land in the upper half of all participants, and you'll snag the "REF?!?” buddy. This gun buddy is likely a fun nod towards both England, where football is king, as well as the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
- Top 20%: Crack the top 20%, and you'll upgrade to the golden version of the REF?!?" buddy. It's the same design, but way flashier.
- Perfect Bracket: If you somehow nail every single prediction across both stages, you'll earn the ultra-rare "100%" title. Legendary flex, IF you can score a perfect.
Master London Top 8: Predicting the Bracket
As a switch-up from the Swiss Stage, Playoffs Pick’Ems brings a new dimension to the challenge. Instead of simply predicting teams to make berth, we’ll have to predict the entire bracket.
Each matchup carries the weight of points, and a single incorrect pick in the opening bout could wreak disaster across your entire bracket prediction. On that cheery note, let’s get started, shall we?
Strafe’s Pick’Ems Selections
We have some absolutely fun matchups to kickstart Playoffs. Notable matchups across the board and (aside from G2) no clear victor to remain in the Upper Bracket. In lieu of definitive information, we’re going to use what we’ve seen domestically to predict the bracket.
G2-XLG is the most one-sided of the 4 opening matchups on paper and we expect the Americas champs to put them away in short order. XLG have shown some good things in the Swiss Stage, but we think G2 is just outside their weight class.
FUT absolutely destroyed our Pick’Ems, if not in the opening bout against FULL SENSE, then certainly against NRG last night, eliminating the 2025 Champions from Playoffs contention altogether. They undoubtedly have the hot hand right now, and we expect they’ll pack a punch in their opening bout.
For their part, much as we'd love to see EDG kickoff their London journey with a win, it's tough still to equate domestic brilliance in that region with international success. Especially with FUT's current form, it skews the matchup in the latter’s favor in our eyes.
The last 2 matchups are especially tough to predict. We'd like to think Paper Rex have the edge coming into this matchup. Both teams utilize highly aggressive playstyles to earn advantages But LEV has yet to cleanly win a series in London. Meanwhile, PRX are coming in fresh off an APAC Grand Finals win.
Then there is the EMEA Grand Finals rematch. Really tricky. Whether VIT's warm-up in the Swiss Stage will triumph or Team Heretics' extra week of prep is anyone's guess. Based on the last time these 2 teams faced, it came down to the closest of rounds. We do think Heretics looked like the better team throughout Stage 1 though, so we'll give them the edge.
Who Takes Home the London Trophy?
VCT Pacific has won the last 4 straight Masters events (Shanghai, Bangkok, Toronto, Santiago). However, this is also by far the weakest showing from VCT Pacific since possibly Masters Berlin 2021.
Aside from Masters Madrid and Bangkok — both of which only fielded 4 teams in Playoffs — the Pacific region has always seen at least 2 of their teams in the top 8.
To keep the streak alive, all eyes will be on Toronto champions, PRX. And yet, can the region ask for a better puncher's chance than the perennial APAC challengers?
Their map pool looks solid, their adaptation to the agent changes in Stage 1 appears to be stable, and most importantly, the key players are in good form. We think PRX is once again favored to win this event.
The other 3 teams we think will make the top 4 are:
- Team Heretics
- Team Vitality
- G2 Esports
Long has the EMEA region been questioned for their trophy drought. With NRG's early elimination and the experience on both these EMEA squads, this may be the best chance the region has had in a while to secure an international title since 2023 Fnatic.
The VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026 Playoffs action kicks off tomorrow, February 6. Check out our format guide for more information.
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Featured Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
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