The final day of the Americas Stage 2 play-ins determined which two teams would join MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #2 zekken Zachary Patrone tex Ian Botsch Mazino Roberto Rivas Verno Andrew Maust aspas Erick Santos and FURIA FURIA Brazil Rank #7 basic Luis Henrique Ferlin Tessaro Shyy Fabian Usnayo C0M Corbin Lee artzin Arthur Araujo koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio in the playoffs. G2 defeated ENVY 2-1 to continue their run and put an end to ENVY's year, while Evil Geniuses did the same with a 2-1 victory over KRÜ.

G2 shuts down ENVY to punch tickets to playoffs

In the first match of the day, G2 completed their lower bracket run through play-ins with convincing wins over ENVY in maps one and three and strong individual performances from BABYBAY and leaf .

Starting on their pick of Lotus, G2 got off to a strong 5-1 start off the back of a bonus conversion. ENVY recovered the half to 7-5 in favor of G2 thanks to a 1v3 from Rossy , but G2's attack side proved too much to handle as they won almost every remaining round to close it out 13-6. trent was the standout for G2 as Skye with a server-high 19 kills and a 1.47 rating.

trent and BABYBAY clutch out a 2v5 postplant.

The next map was Ascent, which had been ENVY's go-to pick throughout the play-ins. At first, it seemed as though it would be another comfortable victory for G2; after leading 7-5 on their attack with their Chamber-Vyse composition, they streaked five rounds in a row on defense to go up 12-7. However, ENVY dug their heels in and found weaknesses to exploit on A, targeting the A site five times in a row and then again in overtime to come back all the way to a 14-12 victory. keznit came alive for his side, dropping 26 kills and 293 ACS on Neon.

Haven was the decider. Similar to Lotus, G2 had a 5-1 start after winning an unusual defensive Stinger force, but ENVY managed to draw the half to 6-6 following multiple successful hits into C and another Rossy 1v3. Again G2 surged in the second half to find match point at 12-8, but this time, there was no hope of a comeback as they swiftly closed it in the next round.

Despite showing marked improvements from the beginning of the group stage, ENVY's year will still come to an early conclusion at the hands of G2, who continue to rise heading into playoffs.

Evil Geniuses prevail in 2-1 over KRÜ

The final match of play-ins saw EG triumph over KRÜ to claim the final playoff berth. KRÜ took their longtime stronghold of Lotus 13-9, but EG proved more resilient in the map pool with comfortable wins on Sunset and Summit.

EG kept Lotus close at first as both teams traded rounds back and forth, culminating in a 7-5 half in favor of KRÜ. However, KRÜ quickly seized control on their own attack after a 4K from Less won them the pistol, giving way to a 13-9 finish. Less was a force of nature on his signature Viper pick, racking five multikills and a 26/12/5 KDA over the course of the map.

Sunset played out similarly in the opposite direction. Following a close 7-5 first half, zerona managed to deny a Less clutch attempt to earn EG the second pistol, after which EG held fast to their lead up to 12-6. KRÜ prolonged the map to 12-9 with some deep splits into Top Mid, but a timeout from potter gave EG the push they needed to bring it home 13-9.

Everything came down to Summit. EG came out better on the map from start to finish—the NA squad read KRÜ's prioritization of Mid and constantly conjured early picks, off-angle multikills, and stalwart site holds to earn themselves a 9-3 defensive half.

bao punishes the open door on B with an ace.

A double pistol win and a denial of KRÜ's attempted Stinger force buy ensured a swift 13-3 conclusion. dgzin had a monstrous performance, going 25/7/3 with a 2.01 rating and 394 ACS on Summit for a cumulative 61/39/9 KDA and 1.34 rating in the series.

With this result, EG brings an end to KRÜ's season and keeps the dream alive, with a top two finish in playoffs necessary if they hope to make it to Champions.

Up next

Following the end of the EG versus KRÜ match, a draw was conducted to determine where each of the play-in teams would start in the playoff bracket. As the two upper bracket qualifiers, FURIA and MIBR will start in the upper bracket versus LOUD and MIBR respectively, while G2 and EG will have to start in the lower bracket.

The 2026 Americas Stage 2 playoffs begin on Thursday, Aug. 27 with the following matchups: