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After officially kicking off on April 1, the VCT Americas League is all set for the start of Week 2. As of now, the franchised teams are in the Regular Season, which is essentially the group stage. From there, the top six squads will make it to the Playoffs. In the Playoffs, the event will follow a standard double-elimination format, following which the top three teams will qualify for the Masters Tokyo.
Week 1 came to an end with a series between NRG Esports and Leviatán, with Leviatán completely dominating NRG and winning the series 2-0. The two squads were equally matched for most of the first game on the Pearl map, but Leviatán eventually won 13-11. Although NRG Esports picked the second map of Lotus, they were demolished on it by Leviatán with a solid 13-4 scoreline.
Cloud9 vs LOUD - Who will open Week 2 with a win at the VCT Americas League?
Predictions
Cloud9 was seemingly considered to be one of the strongest teams going into 2023. However, after the departure of their players yay and Vanity, the situation was looking somewhat uncertain for Cloud9. Nevertheless, they were able to win their first match against Evil Geniuses.
As such, LOUD is the top team in the Americas region. In fact, it was the only roster from the region to make it to the Playoffs at LOCK//IN and eventually finished in second place at the event. Despite the departure of Sacy and pANcada, LOUD seems unfazed and are playing just as well as before.
The upcoming matchup will most likely favor LOUD, as this particular roster has been playing together for much longer than Cloud9. Furthermore, LOUD enjoyed a far better performance than Cloud9 at LOCK//IN.
Head-to-head
Interestingly, neither of these teams have faced each other in a professional capacity before.
Recent results
Cloud9's last match was against Evil Geniuses in the VCT Americas League, where they won the Bo3 (best-of-three) series 2-0.
LOUD's last match was in the same VCT league against MIBR, with LOUD emerging victorious with a 2-1 scoreline after a hard-fought third and final map.
Potential lineups
Cloud9
- Dylan "runi" Cade (IGL)
- Nathan "leaf" Orf
- Erick "Xeppaa" Bach
- Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro
- Jake "jakee" Anderson
- Matthew "mCe" Elmore (Coach)
LOUD
- Matias "saadhak" Delipetro (IGL)
- Erick "aspas" Santos
- Felipe "Less" de Loyola
- Arthur "tuyz" Andrade
- Cauan "cauanzin" Pereira
- Daniel "fRoD" Montaner (Coach)
When and where to watch
Interested readers can watch this matchup live on the official YouTube and Twitch channels of VCT Americas. They can also tune into the watch parties conducted by various streamers and pro players. This upcoming series is scheduled for Sunday, April 9 at 12:00 pm PST/9:00 pm CEST/12:30 am IST (next day).
