BBL Esports and All Gamers Drop to VALORANT Masters Santiago Lower Bracket

The second day of the VALORANT Masters Santiago playoffs brought early trouble for two regional first seeds. BBL Esports from EMEA and China’s All Gamers both lost their opening playoff matches, sending them directly into the lower bracket.

While BBL pushed reigning VALORANT Champions winner NRG to the limit in a tense three-map series, All Gamers had a much rougher day against G2 Esports. The results leave NRG and G2 in the upper bracket, where they will now prepare for matches against Paper Rex and Nongshim RedForce.

NRG Survive a Close Series Against BBL Esports

The day started with one of the more competitive series of the playoffs so far. NRG, the reigning VALORANT Champions winner, defeated BBL Esports 2-1 after a back-and-forth match that nearly slipped away from the Americas side.

BBL entered the series as EMEA’s first seed, but its opening map on Pearl quickly turned into a problem. Despite looking strong on the map domestically, the Turkish roster struggled to handle NRG’s pace and individual firepower on the international stage.

NRG won both pistol rounds, built strong momentum on attack and used key timeouts to keep control of the map. With several players stepping up individually, the Americas third seed stole BBL’s map pick with a convincing 13-6 victory.

BBL Hit Back on Abyss

The series changed dramatically on Abyss. Although it was NRG’s map pick, BBL looked far more comfortable there than on Pearl. The EMEA side used its spread-out attacking defaults to disrupt NRG early, building a dominant 9-3 lead by halftime.

From there, BBL held on through several close rounds and eventually closed the map 13-6 to tie the series. Yusuf “Lar0k” Kanber was one of the key names for BBL, finishing Abyss with a huge 27/9/5 KDA and giving his team a real chance to complete the upset.

The deciding map on Split was much tighter. BBL needed a few rounds to adapt to NRG’s repeated direct site hits, but still edged the first half 7-5. The Turkish team also started well on attack, only for NRG to slow the game down with strong defensive utility, Vyse thorns and heavy Odin pressure.

BBL forced overtime, but NRG eventually held its nerve and closed the map 17-15, winning the series 2-1.

G2 Esports Sweep All Gamers

The second match of the day was far more one-sided. G2 Esports, who dominated VCT Americas in 2025, swept China’s first seed All Gamers 2-0 and moved into the upper bracket without dropping a map.

All Gamers struggled from the very beginning on Split. G2 won the pistol round, converted the bonus and quickly put the Chinese roster under pressure. Although Roman “f4ngeer” Smirnov found some important kills, All Gamers lacked the defensive proactivity needed to slow G2 down.

G2, by contrast, looked sharp and confident with its setups. The Americas second seed controlled the map well and finished Split 13-6.

Babybay Leads the Way for G2

Abyss did not give All Gamers much more room to breathe. Both teams used the recently buffed Harbor as a secondary smoker, and All Gamers showed some promise with solid attacking ideas and strong individual aim.

However, G2 repeatedly took momentum back with clean site holds and effective retakes. After a 9-3 first half, the result looked almost inevitable. G2 closed the map 13-4 and sealed the series in dominant fashion.

Andrej “babybay” Francisty was the standout player of the match. Playing Waylay across both maps, he finished the series with a 34/17/9 KDA and an average combat score of 254, making him the highest-fragging player of the series.

Lower Bracket Pressure Begins Early

With their wins, NRG and G2 Esports remain alive in the upper playoff bracket at VALORANT Masters Santiago. NRG will next face Paper Rex, while G2 Esports will take on Nongshim RedForce.

For BBL Esports and All Gamers, the situation is already much more dangerous. Both teams now drop into the lower bracket, where every match becomes an elimination game.

BBL Esports will face FURIA, while All Gamers will meet Gentle Mates in the first round of playoff elimination matches. After strong regional runs, both first seeds now have to prove that they can recover quickly on the international stage.