MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #1 artzin Arthur Araujo xenom Eduardo Soeiro cortezia Gabriel Cortez Verno Andrew Maust aspas Erick Santos and Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #2 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid have come out victorious in the VCT Americas upper semifinals, securing the region's first two spots at Masters Toronto. They took derby wins over KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Rank #1 keznit Angelo Mori Mazino Roberto Rivas adverso Benjamín Poblete Shyy Fabian Usnayo Melser Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro and G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #1 jawgemo Alexander Mor trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio JonahP Jonah Pulice leaf Nathan Orf , respectively, in bouts between the top two teams of each group. The losers will now have to slog through the lower bracket if they are to also reach the second Masters of the year.

MIBR make a statement against KRÜ

The only Brazilian and Latin American representatives of the playoffs entered the arena first. If their regular season 4-1 record wasn't enough, MIBR once more proved their midseason changes were the best fit for the team with a massive 2-0.

MIBR was in charge for the entire match, letting just four rounds slip past in the first half of Lotus. KRÜ doubled that number by map's end, largely thanks to efforts from Shyy and keznit , but MIBR's lead allowed them to steal the first map with a 13-8.

As the teams entered Icebox, it was clear KRÜ was fighting an uphill battle. MIBR reminded everyone why their Icebox is so strong — their worst result is a 13-8 victory against LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN North America Rank #15 tex Ian Botsch Okeanos Anthony Nguyen Sato Eduardo Kenzo Nagahama Sato kiNgg Francisco Aravena C0M Corbin Lee — and snatched the first five. As much as adverso and his men tried, they kept hitting the MIBR wall and could only muster five rounds before the Brazilians sealed the deal.

See? Unbalanced.

This victory sets yet another record for aspas , having become the first and only player so far to qualify to a Masters with three different teams. He and MIBR can keep raising the bar in the coming days, being just a few wins away from the trophy. The team returns next weekend to fight inside the top three, where they will first face Sentinels.

Sentinels finally claim victory over G2

The second match of the day was arguably the most anticipated match of the first split, as it pit Group Omega's top team against Alpha's runners-up in Sentinels. It was also the fifth bout in two years between these two rosters, who most recently clashed at the Kickoff grand final, where G2 took a 3-2 win as their fourth in a row over Sentinels.

Sentinels were the first on the board, but the tides soon turned. G2 rushed to a win on their opponents' Split 13-5 and seemed headed for an easy win. The playing field on Icebox was level and the exact opposite happened, as Sentinels had to fight until the final round of regulation for a 13-11 win that tied the match.

Sit. Down.

The long second map seemed to break G2 in a way, who fell flat on Ascent. Their only two rounds in the first half came immediately after losing the pistol. Once the teams switched sides, a 1v2 from bang gave Sentinels 11, but they were far from closing it out. G2 dusted off, got up, and bit back with nine straight points to tie it up, at which point Sentinels pieced together the final two rounds needed for victory.

Titles have eluded the black-and-red outfit for the past year, having just missed out on a second partnership trophy earlier this year to G2. With that loss now avenged and with a Masters slot locked in, Sentinels are just a few calculated steps away from regional glory once again.

Before they do that, though, Sentinels must go through MIBR, for which they have almost a week to prepare.

VCT America Playoffs return tomorrow with the second round of the lower bracket: