Twelve teams. Five weeks. Three tickets to Masters London. VCT Americas Stage 1 goes live April 10 at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles, and the field is stacked from top to bottom.
The Americas came up empty at Masters Santiago. NRG got third. G2 got fourth. FURIA bounced in 7thโ8th. Meanwhile, Nongshim RedForce swept Paper Rex 3-0 in the Grand Final and flew home with the trophy. That stings. Stage 1 is the region’s shot at proving Santiago was the exception, not the rule.
G2, MIBR, and the Group Alpha Gauntlet
Group Alpha:
- G2 Esports
- MIBR
- Cloud9
- Leviatรกn
- ENVY
- LOUD
G2 leads the Americas in Championship Points. Fourth at Santiago on top of a second-place Kickoff run. jawgemo, leaf, trent, valyn, BABYBAY. The most balanced roster in the region. No weaknesses, no excuses. They should top this group.
MIBR with aspas in VCT 2026 is still the most talked-about roster in the Americas. aspas (contract extended through 2027), zekken, tex, Mazino, Verno. Head coach fRoD. On paper, terrifying. In reality? Kickoff told the story. They reached the Upper Final, beat NRG 2-1, then lost three straight Bo5s to FURIA, G2, and NRG. Collapsed from Upper Final to not qualifying for Santiago. fRoD publicly admitted the team didn’t adapt under pressure. The talent is elite. The mental is the question mark. If MIBR fixed their Bo5 problems over the six-week break, watch out. If they didn’t, it’ll be another highlight reel with no hardware.
Cloud9 (Zellsis, Xeppaa, penny, v1c, OXY) finished 6th at Kickoff. Ceiling unknown. Leviatรกn retooled with spike and Neon but got bounced early at Kickoff. ENVY, the 2025 Ascension winners and the only non-partnered team in the field, signed Demon1 after his stint as a Cloud9 sub during Kickoff. The Champions 2023 MVP now faces two of his former squads in this very group: Cloud9 and Leviatรกn. That’s a storyline. LOUD rounds things out after a brutal 11thโ12th Kickoff exit. A long fall from the org that won Champions in 2022.
FURIA, NRG, and Group Omega’s Loaded Six
Group Omega:
- FURIA
- NRG
- 100 Thieves
- Evil Geniuses
- Sentinels
- KRร Esports
FURIA won the Americas Kickoff. Full stop. eeiu, koalanoob, nerve, artzin, alym went from one series win in all of 2025 to a Kickoff title, running through G2 and MIBR. Santiago humbled them with an early exit, but the confidence is still there. Top seed in Omega.
NRG won VALORANT Champions 2025 in Paris, beating Fnatic 3-2 in the Grand Final. Ethan became the first player to lift two Champions trophies. The roster of Ethan, mada, brawk, skuba, keiko is battle-tested at every level. Santiago’s third-place finish stung (Paper Rex knocked them out 3-1 in the Lower Final), but their map pool depth was the issue, not their firepower. A month of prep should fix that. They’re the safest bet in the entire tournament.
100 Thieves (Asuna, bang, Cryocells, vora, Timotino) and Evil Geniuses (C0M, supamen, Okeanos, dgzin, bao) both have playoff-caliber rosters. Any given Bo3, they can take a series off anyone. Sentinels (johnqt, JonahP, cortezia, Reduxx, Kyu) rebuilt hard for 2026 and need Stage 1 to find their identity. Early returns at Kickoff were rough: 9thโ10th. There’s a lot of development left to do.
KRร Esports is the wild card. saadhak, Less, mwzera, silentzz, Dantedeu5. That’s Champions-level experience from the Brazilian duo plus hungry LATAM firepower. Visa issues forced them to play Kickoff with subs. If the full roster is finally available, KRร has the talent to upset anyone in this group. Don’t sleep on them.
Format: No Margin for Error
Two groups of six. Single round-robin Bo3s, April 10 through May 10. Top four per group advance to double-elimination playoffs, May 14โ24. Group winners bypass to Upper Bracket Semis. Fourth-place teams start in Lowers.
Top three overall qualify for VALORANT Masters London (June 6โ21). Championship Points also count toward the season-long race to Champions 2026 in Shanghai. Every map differential matters.
The Call: Who Gets on the Plane to London?
NRG. Highest floor in the region. Champions pedigree. Santiago proved they belong at the top even on a bad day. They make London.
G2. Points lead. Roster depth. International experience. Unless something breaks badly in Group Alpha, they’re in.
Third slot is a fight. FURIA has the Kickoff title. MIBR has the ceiling. KRร has the upside. I’m taking FURIA. They already beat every top team in the Americas once. Santiago was a stumble, not a verdict.
Week 1 Schedule
| Date | Time (PDT) | Match | Group |
| Fri, April 10 | 2:00 PM | Sentinels vs. KRร Esports | Omega |
| Fri, April 10 | 5:00 PM | G2 Esports vs. MIBR | Alpha |
| Sat, April 11 | 2:00 PM | 100 Thieves vs. Evil Geniuses | Omega |
| Sat, April 11 | 5:00 PM | ENVY vs. LOUD | Alpha |
| Sun, April 12 | 2:00 PM | Cloud9 vs. LEVIATรN | Alpha |
| Sun, April 12 | 5:00 PM | FURIA vs. NRG | Omega |
That G2-MIBR opener is appointment viewing. We’ll know within 48 hours who’s for real.
