The VCT Americas Stage 2 finals weekend kicked off today with the region's four remaining teams taking to the stage in São Paulo, Brazil. 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #1 Cryocells Matthew Panganiban Asuna Peter Mazuryk vora Jordan Pulwer Timotino Timothée Lavigne Dupont bang Sean Bezerra scored a dominant 2-0 victory over NRG NRG North America Rank #2 keiko Georgio Sanassy brawk Brock Somerhalder mada Adam Pampuch skuba Logan Jenkins Ethan Ethan Arnold to claim their spot at Champions Shanghai, while LOUD LOUD Brazil Rank #1 lukxo Lucca Travaioli DaviH David Cruz Darker Sebastián Castro Cicuamia erde Roberto Lobos tkzin Enzo Zimiani loan cauanzin Cauan Pereira eliminated G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #4 jawgemo Alexander Mor BABYBAY Andrej Francisty trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio leaf Nathan Orf to put themselves one win away from doing the same.

100 Thieves decimate NRG to claim Shanghai and grand final spots

Both of the day's matches had lopsided stakes. NRG and G2 had already guaranteed their places in Champions and were fighting purely for seeding and prize money, while 100T and LOUD both had their Champions fates in their own hands. With today's win, 100T secured their spot by advancing to the top two, qualifying to the organization's first Champions event since 2022.

The series began on NRG's pick of Abyss. 100T, who had not yet played the map, opted for the same Duelist duo of Jett and Phoenix as their opponents but reinforced it with Harbor and Cypher versus NRG's Omen and Viper.

Despite losing the first pistol, 100T took the initiative early with a surprise Stinger force buy to take a 4-1 lead on their attack. Any hope of an NRG recovery was dashed by a Timotino ace in round nine as 100T snowballed into a 9-3 attack half; a second pistol promised a quick 13-3 end. Timotino finished the map with a leading 20/8/1 KDA and six first bloods.

100T's pick was Sunset, one of NRG's weaker maps this season. Both teams made slight compositional adjustments from their previous showings, with vora going from Sova to Fade and NRG moving keiko back to Chamber.

The first half was the closest one of the series. NRG pulled off a full eco in round two, but 100T were largely in control of the buy rounds and retained a 7-5 lead at the half. The second half was no contest as 100T strung together a pistol and a bonus to win out 13-6. vora and bang stood out with 35 combined kills and respective ratings of 1.39 and 1.34.

NRG goes down to the lower final and will face LOUD tomorrow for the right to challenge 100T for the regional throne. The sixteenth and final squad at Champions will be determined by the result—if LOUD wins, they will qualify; if NRG wins, LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN North America Rank #3 spike Rodrigo Lombardi blowz Guilherme Oliviera Neon Bruno Rodríguez Sato Eduardo Kenzo Nagahama Sato kiNgg Francisco Aravena will qualify.

LOUD steamrolls G2 on home soil

Similar to 100T, LOUD found themselves fighting for their right to a Champions spot against a team that had already qualified in G2. With everything to gain, the hometown heroes destroyed G2, sending them out of the tournament and taking one step closer to a miraculous run to Champions.

G2 opened the series on Abyss, where both teams fielded their preferred versions of double-Duelist, double-Controller lineups. A body block of the Astra Gravity Well to full stick the defuse by LOUD in the very first round set the tone for the first half as Darker 's Harbor utility consistently enabled successful retakes, punishing G2's offsite postplant setups. LOUD ended their defense with a rare 9-3 lead on the traditionally attack-sided map and converted a 13-3. tkzin led the charge in the fragging department on Waylay, racking up 20 kills and 359 ACS in 16 rounds.

Spurred on by the crowd, LOUD kept their momentum going strong on Summit, streaking a 6-0 start with their signature contact-heavy Sage-Chamber look. G2 put up more of a fight, but a double pistol and a shutdown of the ensuing G2 force buy for LOUD all but ensured victory as LOUD took the win 13-6. The young in-game leader erde was a force of nature in the server, ending the map with an unreal 28/10/12 KDA, 2.08 rating, and 237 ADR on Sage.

One way or another, LOUD's road to Champions will conclude tomorrow against NRG in a best-of-five. Victory means Shanghai; defeat means the end of their year.