The VCT Americas Stage 2 Play-Ins continued on Friday, with two of four playoff spots being claimed in the upper bracket.

MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #1 zekken Zachary Patrone tex Ian Botsch Mazino Roberto Rivas Verno Andrew Maust aspas Erick Santos defeated ENVY ENVY North America Rank #10 Eggsterr Evan Grady nightz Christian Smith Demon1 Max Mazanov Rossy Daniel Abedrabbo keznit Angelo Mori GLYPH Conner Garcia 2-1 in what has grown to become a rivalry of sorts throughout the course of the year, while FURIA FURIA Brazil Rank #7 basic Luis Henrique Ferlin Tessaro Shyy Fabian Usnayo C0M Corbin Lee artzin Arthur Araujo koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio downed Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #16 supamen Phat Le bao Bao Nguyen dgzin Douglas Silva Paincakes Jake Hass zerona Javan Varela in a back-and-forth three-map series to continue its resurgence.

Here's a closer look at how both matches played out:

MIBR continues on its path to São Paulo, downs ENVY

Since the start of the year, MIBR vs. ENVY has, unexpectedly, become a competitive matchup in Americas. MIBR was dominant in the matchup to start the year, but was unexpectedly swept in both teams' final matches of the Stage 1 group stage. That match, which finished with a total score of 26-5 and ended up being Eggsterr 's final professional match, holds the record as the fastest match in VCT Americas history.

Through trials and tribulations, ENVY entered the Play-Ins playing the best Valorant it has all year. In wins over M80 M80 North America Rank #7 Kyu Mirel Braco Hrustemovic Spaz Adam Laamoumi Boni NiSMO Marc-Andre Tayar alvinboy Alvin Hong and Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #8 Reduxx Yassin Aboulalazm Jerrwin Gurjiwan Gill Marved Jimmy Nguyen stand-in johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid cortezia Gabriel Cortez JonahP Jonah Pulice , the team didn't just win 2-0, but closed out all four maps on the defensive side of the map, the very side that head coach Stunner had been markedly upset with earlier in the stage.

This meeting was the first time these two teams met since then, and it immediately began with the upset siren ringing. MIBR's pick of Sunset saw nightz continue his Phoenix takeover as part of a trouncing. MIBR had just two first kills on the map, falling 13-5 and looking all out of sorts.

While the bounce-back on ENVY's Ascent wasn't immediate, it was enough. Starting on defense, MIBR was strong, playing the map and the clock to work its way to an 8-4 half. While ENVY did claim a crucial pistol to start the second half, a force buy with a quick take onto the A site helped MIBR flip that momentum, eventually leading to a 13-9 win. It's hard to lose with aspas on Jett, and that was apparent. He picked up nearly half of his kills with the Operator on the map, leading the way with 21 while going 5-1 in first bloods.

The saying that all bangers end on Split rang true once again, but the ending itself wasn't quite a banger. MIBR got out to a fast start on defense, piling up a 4-0 lead with tex showing flashes of his best self. While MIBR did claw the deficit down to 8-4 by halftime, it was always MIBR.

Sharp from zekken in the 1v2.

Despite dropping the first duel on multiple occasions on attack, MIBR recovered well, closing the map and series out 13-5 to punch its ticket to the upper bracket of the playoffs.

FURIA downs Evil Geniuses in back-and-forth three-map series

This match marked the first time the new-look EG went up against former in-game leader C0M . While EG has hovered around the middle of the pack in Americas for much of the year, FURIA's path to this match hasn't been quite as consistent. After starting the year on a roll by winning Kickoff, the team stumbled in the middle of the year, missing out on Masters London and going 0-5 in the Stage 2 group stage. Still, wins over 2Game Esports 2Game Esports Brazil Rank #6 Brinks João Victor gobera Vitor Gobo qck Gabriel Lima xenom Eduardo Soeiro frz Leandro Gomes and G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #4 jawgemo Alexander Mor BABYBAY Andrej Francisty trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio leaf Nathan Orf seemed to revitalize the squad.

The series started with chaos. EG stole FURIA's map pick of Sunset, doing just enough on attack to set up a dominant defense. With a double-Controller, Viper-Omen comp, EG dominated on defense, dropping just one round en route to a 13-7 win. EG's pick of Breeze had chaos too, arguably more. FURIA looked unstoppable with its 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #3 Cryocells Matthew Panganiban Asuna Peter Mazuryk vora Jordan Pulwer Timotino Timothée Lavigne Dupont bang Sean Bezerra -esque solo Harbor comp. An 11-1 attack half was followed by a comeback attempt from EG, but the run back only got as far as six rounds, with FURIA winning 13-7.

After trading each other's map picks, the teams went into Haven with near-mirror comps. artzin 's Astra and supamen 's Omen were the only differences. On the three-site, attack-sided map, FURIA claimed a 7-5 advantage on attack. Shyy was the bright spot on the team, picking up 19 kills in the first half alone.

Shyy's sharp shooting only continued on defense, as he finished with a map-high 28 kills to cap off what was arguably his best performance in a FURIA jersey to date. FURIA won 13-8 to close out the series, and Shyy had a match-high 60 kills, outpacing dgzin 's 51 on the opposite side of the stage.

The FURIA bounce back is so on.

Up next

MIBR and FURIA will continue their path towards home stands at São Paulo, sealing top-eight finishes. Meanwhile, ENVY and Evil Geniuses will slide down to the lower bracket, fighting with just one life remaining and needing five straight wins to qualify for Champions Shanghai.

The VCT Americas Stage 2 Play-Ins will continue with the following matches: