This season, the country again stands at the center of major Riot Games competitions. In 2016, the All-Star event took place in Barcelona, and in 2019 Madrid hosted the League of Legends World Championship quarterfinals and semifinals, along with the EU LCS summer finals in 2015 and 2018.
Valorant’s competitive epicenter
Madrid returns as the global operations hub for Valorant Masters Madrid, a premier first-person tactical shooter event. Scheduled to run at the Madrid Arena from March 14 to March 24, the tournament begins with a Swiss phase spanning the first five days. There will be no matches on the 19th and 20th, after which the knockout rounds commence. The upper bracket final and lower bracket semifinals are set for March 22, followed by the lower bracket final on March 23. The grand final on March 24 will crown the eight-day event at the highest level of play.
The eight participating teams will be confirmed through an opening tournament across four international leagues (EMEA, America, Pacific and China) in the weeks ahead. The EMEA event, featuring the three Spanish teams Giants, Heretics and KOI, begins on February 20.
Valorant Masters Madrid: Event dates and passes
Valorant Masters Madrid: Event dates and passes
Valorant is a PC tactical shooter released in 2020 by Riot Games. It is a team-based first-person shooter that has grown into one of the most popular games in its genre, boasting millions of active players. The Valorant competitive ecosystem includes local, regional, and global circuits, with Valorant Masters standing as one of the world’s largest international championships. In 2024, two Masters events are scheduled: Madrid and Shanghai. In Madrid, the top eight teams from different regions will compete, giving Spanish fans a chance to witness this elite competition live.
- March 14: Swiss Stage
- March 15: Swiss Stage
- March 16: Swiss Stage
- March 17: Swiss Stage
- March 18: Swiss Stage
- March 19: no games
- March 20: no games
- March 21: Draw Phase
- March 22: Upper Draw Final and Lower Draw Semi-Finals
- March 23: Lower Draw Final
- March 24: Grand Final
Spanish hope
The final phase of Madrid Masters will feature eight teams from regional leagues who have earned a spot through prior qualifiers: EMEA, America, Pacific and China. In the last edition in Tokyo, FNATIC defeated Evil Geniuses 3-0 in a dramatic match watched by a global audience of over a million viewers.
Three Spanish teams are in position to secure qualification by finishing in the top two of the regional tournament starting February 20. Giants, founded in 2008 with a Valorant roster formed in 2020, is based in Malaga and remains the sole Spanish team to have reached the World Championship finals, earning a reputation for consistent performance in local and European events. The team led by José Ramón “JoseGiants” Díaz is seen as a resilient unit with ambitious plans for the future.
Heretics made a strong start in 2020 with 35 wins and only one loss, and later captured the First Strike European championship. Since then, David “TheGrefg” Cánovas’s squad has maintained a steady presence in VCT EMEA, continually competing at a high level.
KOI, a project launched by popular host Ibai Llanos and former football star Gerard Piqué, represents a bold Spanish bid. KOI began their competitive journey with a semifinal run in the Spanish Valorant Rising tournament in February 2022 and have since appeared at LOCK//IN in Brazil, where they were eliminated by NRG, signaling strong potential for future growth.