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The VCT Americas League has finally begun. The tournament will see ten franchised teams compete against each other. These teams belong to regions like North America (NA), Latin America (LATAM), and Brazil. The league is split into two stages. The first is the Regular Season, in which teams will compete in a group stage against every other team in the group to earn points in the standings. The top six teams from the group will then move on to the next stage, the Playoffs.
In the Playoffs, teams will go through the standard double-elimination bracket. Here, the top three teams will make it to the VCT Masters Tokyo. The first week of VCT Americas was a treat for the viewers. There were several surprising moments for everyone. The following are the highlights from the opening week of the VCT Americas League.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinion.
Furia upsets KRU, and 4 other dramatic moments from Week 1 of the VCT Americas League
1) Sentinels get a hard-fought victory against 100 Thieves
The first match of the VCT Americas League was between Sentinels and 100 Thieves. The former had a complete revamp in their roster as they brought in players like Sacy and pANcada from LOUD alongside dephh, zekken, and coach SyykoNT from XSET.
The 100 Thieves roster only made a change by inducting Cryocells into the squad. This unit is now regarded as the best in NA, and on top of that, Sentinels' roster alterations transformed them into a force to be reckoned with. As a result, the match between the two was thrilling for every Valorant fan.
The first map got extremely close, but Sentinels were able to close it out at 13-11. The second map went to overtime, where 100 Thieves came out on top with 14-12. The decider map, Ascent, also went into overtime, where Sentinels clutched it with a 14-12 scoreline. This series was an excellent way to kick off the Americas League and understand the sides' ability.
2) Cloud9 activates the 9-3 curse against Evil Geniuses
At the start of 2023, Cloud9 was heralded as NA's super team with the likes of yay, Zellsis, and the remaining core. But recently, due to some issues, they decided to part ways with yay and vanity leading to the signing of two new players, jakee and runi.
Their first league game was against Evil Geniuses. Owing to lineup changes, spectators were rooting for Evil Geniuses to win the series. But that wasn't the case.
In the first map, Pearl, C9 was down by 3-9 in the first half. But this didn't stop them, as they managed to string together nine rounds in the second half to win the match. They also won the second map 13-9, proving they were still a top-tier team.
3) Leviatán dominate NRG Esports
Leviatán and NRG Esports are two teams that have had outstanding performances recently at VCT LOCK//IN. So a matchup between the two in the Americas league would surely be a close match. However, that wasn't the case.
On the first map, Pearl, both teams had a pretty close game in the first half, going into a 6-6 scoreline. As NRG went on to win pistols and a few more rounds, the scoreline favored the team with momentum. However, Leviatán pulled themselves back into the match and won against Pearl by 13-11.
The first map might have been close, but the second was a different story. NRG Esports got wholly outclassed on the map of their choice, Lotus. They were defeated by Leviatán 13-4, in which all the rounds NRG won were all in the first half only.
4) FURIA pulls off a big upset against KRU Esports
KRU Esports is amongst the top teams from the LATAM region. They have fared well globally and had one of their most successful runs in 2021, finishing 3rd-4th in Valorant Champions 2021. On the other hand, FURIA has done well regionally but hasn't had the same results at international events.
As the matchup between the two came close, viewers expected KRU Esports to win the series, but that did not happen. FURIA went all in as they beat KRU Esports with an unexpected 2-0. Split came relatively close with a 13-11 finish, but it was the second map Ascent where they dominated KRU Esports with a 13-5 victory.
5) LOUD gets tough competition against MIBR
LOUD seems to be the best squad in Brazil and is a clear favorite to win the VCT Americas League. The team finished second at VCT LOCK//IN and performed well in that tournament. However, the same couldn't be said for MIBR, as they were eliminated in their first match against Talon Esports.
People heavily preferred LOUD as their best bet when the matchup between LOUD and MIBR was announced. This continued till the first map as LOUD won Split by 13-5. Later, MIBR won out the second map Lotus after a lot of hard-fought rounds by 13-11. The decider map also came incredibly close as LOUD barely closed out in regulation with a 13-11. MIBR stunned fans by demonstrating that they were not a squad to be underestimated in the Americas league.
