C9 Demon1 on returning to the VCT: "I'm gonna show up whenever I get a chance to be here"

For Max "Demon1" Mazanov, making his return to the VCT Americas stage is one that was long-awaited and chock-full of things out of the ordinary. Just one week ago, Demon1 was back at his Los Angeles apartment streaming and playing VALORANT. However, this past weekend, Demon1 found himself trying to help Cloud9 maintain their place within the Middle Bracket at the VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Americas Kickoff.

Week Two of VCT Americas Kickoff 2026 saw Cloud9 face off against both Leviatán and ENVY in a battle to maintain their spot in the Middle Bracket. The last time Demon1 played an official match in the VCT Americas league was at the end of VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 1, where he and Leviatán were unable to qualify to playoffs.

“I haven’t slept in like 40 hours,” Demon1 said. “I usually drink three to four energy drinks, which is like 200mg of caffeine each.”

The Cloud9 vs Envy series stands as one of the longest matches so far in the VCT 2026 season. Map one saw both teams closely battle one another to a 20-18 scoreline in C9’s favor. However, map two on Breeze is when a tech pause delayed the momentum for both sides. In this moment, Demon1 was “checked out”.

“I was checked out, especially on Breeze,” Demon1 said. “I had 40 kills on map one and then we went AFK for an hour so I was just checked out.”

Demon1 shared his usual routine on match days, citing that it is hard for him to fall asleep on match days.

“On match days, I normally can’t sleep the following day so I was just in my bed not sleeping,” Demon1 said. “I’ve been up for a very long time because I don’t really play back-to-back matches, so this was all a first for me. It is what it is, but I didn’t sleep at all.”

Regardless, Demon1 was a shining bright light on the VCT Americas stage as he led Cloud9 to a series victory over Envy 2-1 to close out week two of VCT Americas Kickoff.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Americas Kickoff

ENVY

1

X

2

Cloud9

Middle Round 3, Best of 3 - January 26, 2026 - 1:00AM

18

Pearl

20

13

Breeze

8

11

Split

13

ENVY

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

keznit

1.20

244

71/56/13

+15

1.27

79.9%

152.4

25%

61%

14

9

P0PPIN

1.01

205

61/60/21

+1

1.02

74.8%

131.3

30%

67%

12

6

Rossy

0.96

186

54/52/30

+2

1.04

67.8%

112.5

17%

50%

5

5

Inspire

0.94

192

56/52/22

+4

1.08

71.8%

141.6

32%

64%

9

5

Eggsterr

0.70

146

42/62/21

-20

0.68

72.0%

100.1

27%

33%

6

12

Cloud9

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Demon1

1.11

243

72/59/13

+13

1.22

71.6%

165.1

34%

50%

12

12

penny

1.09

227

66/57/21

+9

1.16

73.7%

149.4

21%

50%

14

14

Xeppaa

1.04

198

56/52/28

+4

1.08

77.6%

130.1

23%

50%

3

3

v1c

0.98

175

54/57/30

-3

0.95

74.8%

118.0

30%

38%

6

10

Zellsis

0.71

137

34/59/38

-25

0.58

67.9%

89.2

13%

20%

2

8

Demon1 on trialing for VCT teams

Following Demon1’s tenure with Leviatán, “rumors” began to circulate that the former World Champion was in the running to stand-in for G2 Esports in VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 2 before ultimately losing out to current player Andrej "babybay" Francisty, something that Demon1 addressed directly.

“The rumor is out there that I tried out for G2. Yes,” Demon1 said. “But I didn’t lose out to babybay because he’s better than me. He’s not. I did not get the spot because of contractual issues with LEV, so stop spreading rumors. Your answer is right there.”

Regardless, Demon1 has made it back to the VCT Americas stage, where he is looking to make the most of his opportunity with Cloud9. However, while acting as a stand-in, Demon1 shared what his “dream role” would be on a future team.

“Duelist is the most fun, or just any role where I can do whatever I want,” Demon1 said. “I don’t want to be told what to do and I just want to feel my own game and the team plays around me.”

Cloud9 will await the result of the G2 Esports vs FURUA series, where they will play the loser of that match in the Middle Bracket. Despite playing Week Two of VCT Americas Kickoff without their star duelist Francis "OXY" Hoang, Cloud9 now has their sights set on being able to build off of this momentum gained from the addition of Demon1. It will be interesting to see how Demon1’s performance in VCT Americas Kickoff changes how teams see him. For now, Demon1 had one message to leave fans with.

“Thank you to all of my fans for supporting me out there, and I will keep doing my thing,” Demon1 said. “I’ll be here, and I’m gonna show up whenever I get a chance to be here. I’m going to show it to everyone.”

Be sure to follow THESPIKE.GG for more VALORANT content like this as teams progress through the 2026 VCT Kickoff bracket.