The Americas Stage 2 playoffs continued with the lower bracket, as the remaining teams looked to reach the top four and snag the final Champions: Paris slot. NRG NRG North America Rank #1 s0m Sam Oh brawk Brock Somerhalder mada Adam Pampuch skuba Logan Jenkins Ethan Ethan Arnold faced off against LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN North America Rank #11 Sato Eduardo Kenzo Nagahama Sato kiNgg Francisco Aravena , after the latter played spoiler and secured Champions for MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #1 xenom Eduardo Soeiro Verno Andrew Maust aspas Erick Santos , while Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #6 Xeppaa Erick Bach v1c Victor Truong mitch Mitch Semago OXY Francis Hoang played 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #9 as the teams vied for a return to the premier VCT event for the first time in years.

NRG makes quick work of LEVIATÁN with 2-0 win

The bracket pit two Group Omega teams against each other in the first match of the day. NRG had previously bested LEVIATÁN in the group stage as the North American squad went on to top the group. A 2-1 victory for NRG, the previous series had been a Duelist highlight reel, with rookie spearheads Sato and mada ending the encounter with 74 and 69 eliminations, as well as 14 and a staggering 23 first kills, respectively.

On this occasion, LEVIATÁN opted to open the series with Ascent, returning to the Chamber-Vyse composition they had played earlier in the Stage. They had a good pistol round, but that would be their only highlight on Ascent, as NRG won 13 rounds in a row to dominate the opening map. The defense was so suffocating that LEVIATÁN was only able to plant a handful of times, with most rounds ending on team wipes.

mada's Operator was flawless, finding six first kills overall and 13 eliminations on defense. NRG reached a point where they were playing with their metaphorical food, brimming with confidence during 1v1s. In the end, the North American team's streak led to a 13-2 win on Ascent.

The round winstreak extended into Icebox, NRG's pick, as the team won the pistol and the following three rounds to go up 4-0. A stable post-plant gave LEVIATÁN their first round, but their only other round win came off of a C0M clutch. NRG remained dominant throughout the map, winning the second map 13-2.

The two victories set NRG up for a do-or-die series in their next lower bracket match, with the winner of their next game taking the fourth and final Americas slot in Champions. Following one of the worst, if not the worst, losses from any team in the partnership era, LEVIATÁN is now eliminated from the playoffs and Champions contention, immediately after having assisted former star player aspas in his qualification run.

Cloud9 deny 100 Thieves with a 2-0 win, the team's first top-four since 2023

The second match of the day pit Cloud9 against 100 Thieves, both tied on points with each other (and NRG). Despite being among the first organizations ever to field a competitive Valorant roster, the two teams have only played each other three times in VCT playoffs brackets in the past, though with only one current player each ( Asuna and mitch ) being present at the time. More recently, both teams had had middling seasons before a competent group stage placed them into the Stage 2 playoffs.

C9 had a strong start on their opponent's map, Haven, taking the pistol and the next two rounds before 100 Thieves was able to win a round. Cloud9 resumed a strong attack soon afterwards, as OXY and mitch led the team to an 8-4 half. 100T answered in kind after halftime, tying the scoreline 8-8, but C9 regained their footing, to take the lead once more and prevent a comeback with a 13-9 win.

Cloud9's choice for the second map of the match followed, Icebox. 100 Thieves was not keen on going out so easily, as they took the lead for the first time in the series after losing the pistol round. The team was proficient during the defense, with an impressive Jett performance from Cryocells , backed by zander 's Viper, keeping C9 at bay during 100T's defense. Cryocells was relentless in the second half, reaching 33 eliminations by regulation, but his team was not able to keep up, and neT was ultimately able to force overtime.

In the end, C9's cohesion overcame 100T's raid boss, and the team managed to overcome the pressure, taking Icebox 14-12. The win put C9 within one match of the organization's first (non-LOCK//IN) international event since 2021, with only NRG in the way of qualification.

The Americas playoffs will continue next week, with the Upper Final and the final Champions qualification match:

• G2 Esports vs. Sentinels
• Cloud9 vs. NRG