In the second round of the VCT Americas 2026 Kickoff middle bracket, 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #3 Cryocells Matthew Panganiban Asuna Peter Mazuryk vora Jordan Pulwer Timotino Timothée Lavigne Dupont bang Sean Bezerra swept Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #8 N4RRATE Marshall Massey Reduxx Yassin Aboulalazm johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid Kyu Mirel Braco Hrustemovic cortezia Gabriel Cortez while Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #4 Xeppaa Erick Bach v1c Victor Truong Zellsis Jordan Montemurro penny Erik Penny OXY Francis Hoang defeated ENVY ENVY North America Rank #5 Eggsterr Evan Grady P0PPIN Matteo Weber Demon1 Max Mazanov Rossy Daniel Abedrabbo keznit Angelo Mori 2-1 in a series mired in lengthy maps and tech pauses.

100 Thieves steals a sweep victory over Sentinels

In this matchup of two of the most popular organizations in the region with retooled teams, it began on Corrode with two slightly different compositions. Both teams ran Fade, Waylay, and Omen, but 100 Thieves stuck to its Sage comp while Sentinels ran Tejo and Viper. Despite starting in a 3v2, Sentinels lost the first pistol due to some smart repositions from bang against his former team. 100 Thieves were unable to convert the bonus round, but prevented Sentinels from taking an early lead soon after due to a great Waylay ult from Timotino securing a thrifty. Both teams traded moments of awe as Sentinels just squeaked by a 7-5 lead at the half.

On the second pistol of Corrode, Sentinels were able to confidently win to extend the lead. Every time that Sentinels looked to be in danger, johnqt would save the team, like an ace on the antieco.

After preventing Sentinels from converting the bonus round, 100 Thieves started to gain some momentum of its own after some well-thought-out utility combos and hero plays from Timotino on Waylay. 100 Thieves tied the game at 9-9, and soon after took the lead. At match point, down 12-10, Sentinels needed a hero and johnqt stood up to win one round. Alas, on the final round before overtime, 100 Thieves closed it out to win Corrode 13-11.

Next map up was Split, with Sentinels running double-Duelist with Yoru and Waylay while 100 Thieves stuck to a Waylay and Sage comp. Sentinels won the first pistol off some great shots from cortezia , but were unable to convert the bonus round. As soon as both teams had proper rifles, 100 Thieves went on a run and developed enough of a lead to reach the first half up 8-4.

The second half started with a 100 Thieves pistol win, and the antieco conversion left the team confused as the lead was extended even further.

Reaching double digits, Timotino converted a thrifty to help 100 Thieves reach match and series point. However, with some johnqt heroics and another ace, the map went to overtime. 100 Thieves were in prime position to win the series in the first set of overtime, but johnqt saved Sentinels for the umpteenth time. When 100 Thieves reached another overtime advantage, cortezia won to keep the map going. For the third straight time, 100 Thieves won the advantage round, but Cryocells won overtime to end the map 16-14 and the series 2-0.

The star of the series was Timotino, who played amazingly on Waylay to help 100 Thieves defeat Sentinels in a Kickoff tournament for the first time. He ended the series with a series-leading 53 kills, 282 ACS, and 13 first kills.

With this win, 100 Thieves will face the loser of the NRG NRG North America Rank #1 keiko Georgio Sanassy brawk Brock Somerhalder mada Adam Pampuch skuba Logan Jenkins Ethan Ethan Arnold and MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #1 zekken Zachary Patrone tex Ian Botsch Mazino Roberto Rivas Verno Andrew Maust aspas Erick Santos match from the upper bracket. As for Sentinels, the team is sent to the lower bracket, starting in the second round.

Cloud9 outlasts ENVY in long three-map series

Starting on Pearl, Cloud9 ran the same comp as its last appearance on the map, with Demon1 on Chamber and penny on Neon. ENVY opted for double-Duelist with Eggsterr back on his signature Yoru. Cloud9 won the first pistol, with Demon1 showing off that he hasn't lost a step by killing three to convert the bonus soon after.

Cloud9 were confident to start Pearl, but ENVY won its first round on round six. That first round win did shift some of the momentum back towards ENVY, as the defensive setups started to look stronger as the half went on. From being 5-0 down, ENVY entered the half up 7-5.

ENVY started the second half with a pistol win, stretching the round win streak to ten rounds in a row after converting the bonus. C9 did eventually stop the streak, at 11-6, but went on a streak to put the pressure on ENVY to close the map out. A Demon1 ace won the second last round of regular time, while a v1c clutch took the map to OT. ENVY won the first round three times in a row, but C9 were clean on the retakes to continue Pearl. C9 finally broke the streak of traded rounds, winning its first attack round since round five. Even then, C9 and ENVY started only winning attack rounds, stretching the map further. It was v1c who was the hero, as C9 ended the map 20-18.

Moving to Breeze, Cloud9 moved Demon1 to Jett for a double-Duelist comp, while ENVY ran a mirror of it. ENVY converted the first pistol, but Demon1 stopped the bonus win. ENVY fought for an early lead, but C9 tied it at 4-4 with a thrifty win. ENVY did end the half up 7-5, and won the second pistol to take a larger lead. While C9 did manage to win some close rounds, ENVY were confident as they ended the map 13-8 to take the series to Split.

For Split, ENVY ran double-Duelist with Jett and Yoru while C9 moved Demon1 back to Chamber. C9 won the first pistol, and converted the bonus once again off some clean shots from Demon1.

ENVY won its first round off keznit , and some trademark aggression led to another 4-4 tie. Then, ENVY started to entry well enough where C9 where forced to try and save multiple times. Both inspire and keznit were landing shots as ENVY entered the half up 7-5.

ENVY converted the second pistol, but Demon1 near singlehandedly prevented C9 from losing the map without a fight. The lead disappeared as C9 tied the game at 9-9, and soon after took the lead. Due to the economy, ENVY winning round 20 was crucial to keep the game close, tied again at 10-10. Someone had to be the hero, lest the map go to overtime, and it was penny and Xeppaa who closed out Split 13-11 and won the series 2-1.

The star of the series was Demon1, who fried his opponents on Chamber and dropped nearly half his series kills on map one alone. He ended the series with a 1.13 match rating, 72 kills, 243 ACS, and 165 ADR.

With this win, Cloud9 moves on in the middle bracket to face the loser from the matchup between FURIA FURIA Brazil Rank #4 nerve Michael Yerrow artzin Arthur Araujo eeiu Daniel Vucenovic koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio alym Torogul Baidyldaev and G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #2 jawgemo Alexander Mor BABYBAY Andrej Francisty trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio leaf Nathan Orf .