London Masters: XLG's opening match is against NRG! To get revenge, the team needs to play more aggressively.

The Valorant 2026 London Masters Swiss Stage is set to start, and the opening match is between CN's XLG and Americas' NRG, while the other CN team DRG goes up against EMEA's VIT. Both teams are beginning their tough Swiss journey, and we hope they can earn early points, display their skills, and silence the skepticism from other regions. Recently, a fan poll abroad asked which of the second and third seeds is most likely to become a dark horse.

FUT and VIT got the most votes, with NRG in third place, while DRG and XLG ended up at the bottom. The two new Pacific region teams, FS and GE, also received few votes. But this is just a fun poll, and not many CN fans participated. If they had, the results would surely be different. However, given the recent world tournament performances, we desperately need a decisive victory to prove that our region has the ability to storm through. Keep pushing, XLG and DRG!

Looking back at this BO3 between XLG and NRG, it marks their second meeting after the San Diego Masters, where NRG swept XLG 2-0. The memories of those two maps—Sunset and Icebox—are still vivid. From those matches, it was clear that NRG is a "brainy" team, with Ethan as their mastermind orchestrating perfect plays. XLG, on the other hand, relies on aim duels, but NRG never gives them that chance. As a result, their rhythm faded, and even when they found some form on the second map, they couldn't catch up.

XLG has a very high first-round win rate in the CN region. NRG invests heavily in those opening rounds, often buying Classics for everyone to break through early, shatter the opponent's morale, and then slowly grind them down with their tactical rotations. However, after the first stage, NRG's overall form hasn't been as strong. This time, XLG has a real chance for revenge when they face them again.

But the key is that the team needs a breakthrough point and must not get stuck by constant rotations. They can learn from NS's all-or-nothing approach and play more aggressively. Relying only on Happywei and Rarga is not enough; Liu Yishou, one of the team's main damage dealers, must step up. In short, let's go—hoping they can secure the first points!