During the grand finals of VCT Brazil Stage 1, LOUD swept NIP in three maps to secure their berth in the first international event of the year. LOUD qualified to Reykjavik without their roster having lost a single match. NIP were relegated to the last chance qualifier where they will face the second place Latin American team for the final slot at the event.

LOUD vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (3-0 LOUD)

Two large organizations entered into the Brazilian Valorant scene at the start of 2022 with aspirations of conquering the region. Those organizations, LOUD LOUD Brazil Rank #1 Quick Gabriel Lima saadhak Matias Delipetro Less Felipe de Loyola tuyz Arthur Andrade cauanzin Cauan Pereira and Ninjas In Pyjamas Ninjas In Pyjamas Inactive , found themselves a single match away from achieving their dreams and qualifying to the first international event of the year.

Both teams took similar paths to reach this point; they began with signing “superteams” during the roster shuffle at the end of 2021, played through the qualifiers, and then placed first in their respective groups during Stage 1. Only one of them could qualify to Masters 1: Reykjavik as Brazil's top seed while the loser would have to face the second place team from the Latin American Playoffs for the final spot at Reykjavik.

LOUD built its much anticipated superteam with the core of the once dominant Team Vikings, and then combined that core with top young talent. They ran the gauntlet of the open and closed qualifiers in Stage 1 and became a shark among minnows in the very lopsided group A. Only Liberty Liberty Inactive guuih Guilherme Mariano pepa Matheus Colleto duhT Eduardo Teixeira Zanatsu Carlos Eduardo tockers Gabriel Claumann managed to pose any sort of challenge as LOUD swept the group stage with an otherworldly 2:1 ratio of rounds won vs. lost. They reached the finals of the playoffs by crushing top contenders in Keyd Stars Keyd Stars Inactive and NIP with ease. The superteam amassed 27 map wins to only two losses prior to this match and were looking to take a 14-match win streak into Masters 1.

After the plug was pulled from the longstanding European NIP roster, the Swedish organization announced that it would be forming a Brazilian roster like it had in other games. Similar to LOUD, NIP developed their roster by surrounding established stars with up and coming talent. They got a slot in the first closed qualifier and qualified to the group stage alongside LOUD although they were placed into the much tougher group B. After suffering a week 1 loss to FURIA, NIP ran the table to secure the top seed. They won the rematch against FURIA in the playoffs, lost to LOUD in the upper finals, and defeated Vivo Keyd in a five-map barnburner to reach the grand finals. Although their run was less spotless than LOUD, they cemented themselves as a true contender in Brazil.

LOUD selected Bind as the match's first map, a stark difference from the last time the two teams played when they banned the map.. Bind had long been a stronghold for saadhak led teams with the most recent performance being a 13-0 against the second place team in their group.

A hot start on Bind gave LOUD a 4-0 lead on their map pick. NIP narrowly prevented a clutch by aspas to take their first round, but were unable to keep pace with LOUD's up-tempo attack. The spike was planted 11 times with LOUD winning 10 rounds in the half off the back of it. NIP tried their hand at an up tempo attack and overwhelmed LOUD early in the second half, but full buys helped LOUD secure a dominant 13-4 finish.

Both teams mixed up their agent compositions from their previous performances on Bind. Brimstones and Sages replaced the standard Astra and Viper meta, and NIP shifted roles to allow xand to pick up Raze as the second duelist. The switch did not pay dividends as aspas' counterpart Raze led the way for LOUD with 383 ACS and nine multikills.

The second map of Fracture was one of the two maps that LOUD had ever suffered a loss on. This marked the first time that saadhak played Chamber, and LOUD adapted to a much more standard agent composition than NIP who continued to play KAY/O instead of Breach. NIP won the first pistol and converted it into a 3-1 lead, but LOUD once again showcased their prowess in their attacking gun rounds, losing only one more round in the half.

LOUD's 8-4 halftime lead was cut to a single round as NIP won four out of the first five rounds to start the second half. LOUD won a flawless eco in round 18 to recapture the momentum and traded round for round after that to close the map 13-11.

LOUD's cohesive teamplay was perhaps best displayed in the statsheets by pancada's 20 assists which mostly came from fast pushes from the Brimstone stim beacon. Argentinian import Seraph had one of his best games this year with a team-leading 19 kills for NIP, but Sacy put up an even better performance with a flawless five first bloods to zero first deaths to go along with superb supportive Breach utility.

NIP once again found themselves down by two maps in a Bo5 match against LOUD. Just like before, they would have to start their comeback on Ascent. During their previous engagement, LOUD knocked NIP to the losers bracket off the back of a clean 13-4 showing on the map. This time NIP decided to attack first despite Ascent being one of the most defender-sided maps in the map pool.

Choosing the attacking side cost NIP as pancada scored back-to-back triple kills to help LOUD to an early lead. A critical eco in the sixth round allowed NIP to even the score at three rounds each, but LOUD once again proved to be suffocating on their gun rounds. In particular, aspas' Operator found kills nearly every time he was challenged. NIP managed to win the final round of the half but finished the half down 8-4.

Facing elimination, NIP needed to turn their performance around in the second half, however, LOUD immediately crushed their hopes with five straight rounds to end the match.

LOUD have secured a spot at Masters 1, and will be Brazil's top seed. They will carry a 14-match undefeated streak into international competition and are poised to threaten the top contenders. NIP have not been eliminated and will face the second place team from LATAM in a last chance qualifier. The loser of KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Rank #3 keznit Angelo Mori Klaus Nicolas Ferrari Shyy Fabian Usnayo Melser Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro heat Olavo Marcelo vs. Leviatán Leviatán Latin America South Rank #1 tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena Mazino Roberto Rivas aspas Erick Santos C0M Corbin Lee will play NIP on April 1.