VCT Americas 2025 Stage 2 Playoffs Preview

Weeks of fierce competition in VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 2 have locked in the eight teams competing in the playoffs stage, where teams will fight for their qualification to VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions. While Sentinels and G2 Esports have already earned their Champions spots through Championship Points, two more slots are up for grabs.

With Sentinels and G2 looking like they are above and beyond the rest of Americas, there is a strong chance that both teams make the Grand Finals. In that case, both of their qualifications to Champions will be through playoffs instead of Championship Points, leaving the last two slots to the third and fourth placed teams by points. This makes qualifying for almost all of the Playoffs teams to become complicated, creating a wide range of permutations and possibilities depending on the where each team places in the bracket.

Format and Bracket Structure

The playoffs continue with the double-elimination bracket format, with each match (except for the Lower Finals and Grand Finals) being a Bo3 series:

• Group Winners: Advance directly to Upper Bracket Semifinals.
• 2nd & 3rd Place Teams: Enter Upper Bracket Round 1.
• 4th Place Teams: Begin in Lower Bracket Round 1.

Opening Match 1: Cloud9 vs LEVIATAN (21 August 14:00 PT)

Cloud9 have been working hard to escape their tendencies to bomb out of playoffs, yet their normally stellar results during groups stages have not gone as expected this stage. While they comfortably dealt with the three worst teams in their group in Evil Geniuses, 2G, and FURIA, they looked powerless against Sentinels and G2.

Despite their 3-2 standing, Francis "OXY" Hoang looks like the best player in Americas this stage, coming first in stats of almost every category from ACS to K:D. If the young duelist player can keep carrying his team, C9 on a good day can do some damage in playoffs.

On the other side of things, LEV rebuilt the team following a disastrous Stage 1 by signing Eduardo "sato" Sato and Anthony "Okeanos" Nguyen, two up-and-coming rookies playing in Tier 2 to "improve the team environment."

Both players have not only done that, but Sato in particular has been carrying the team through the group stage, tearing it up on duelist. With the second highest ACS, ADR and KPR of the stage, the young Brazilian talent has more than proven himself at this level, and looks better every game he plays. His raw firepower and charismatic tendencies have also shaken the rust off veterans like Ian "tex" Botsch and Corbin Daniel "C0M" Lee, who look much improved this stage.

Watch out for OXY versus sato as the most promising duelist players this stage face off.

Sentinels play the winner of C9/LEV (23 August 14:00 PT)

All the pieces seem to finally be clicking for the most popular team in the Americas, achieving a flawless 5-0 group stage. They only dropped maps to G2 and 2GAME Esports, while preventing every opponent team hitting double digits on every map win they've had since week one.

While every player has shown improvements, such as Amine "Johnqt" Ouarid who looks more comfortable on his traditional sentinel role, Marshall "N4RRATE" Massey has been lighting the world on fire, with the second highest rating and K:D ratio of the stage at 1.30 and 1.38 respectively.

Although Sentinels are comfortably locked into Champions, every player on the team has made it clear that they are hungry to win the stage to be as prepared for Champions as possible. If they can keep up the form they've had, this team can definitely make a run to the finals.

KRU play the loser of C9/LEV (22 August 14:00 PT)

Another roster change made immediately before Stage 2 comes from KRU, who benched Benjamín "Adverso" Poblete for Jesús "Dantedeu5" Larrosa. Expectations for the the young prospect were high, yet his performance, while solid, did not fully meet those lofty expectations. KRU went 2-3 this stage, losing out to the three other teams from their group that made it to playoffs, and as a result will start in the lower bracket.

Despite a shaky start with Dante replacing Angelo "Keznit" Mori as the duelist player for the team, KRU figured out the best way to utilise both mechanically gifted players by running double duelist compositions on almost every map. If the team can further refine the one-two punch of Keznit and Dante, it's possible for KRU to go on a lower bracket run. With their accumulated points, KRU only need to place fourth or higher, provided that either SEN or G2 make the Grand Finals.

Opening Match 2: G2 Esports vs 100 Thieves (21 August 17:00 PT)

Andrej "babybay" Francisty has been the talk of the town all stage. WIth Nathan "leaf" Orf out due to medical issues, G2 pulled off the unexpected with the signing of babybay, the "oldest rookie" in Americas. The broadcast talent's stint on G2 isn't just a media stunt, it's part of the team's longer term goal of preparing for Champions.

While leaf's raw mechanical skill and mind for the game cannot be replaced, what Babybay brings to the table is energy: bringing the vibes up, hyping up the team and the crowd. It is unknown whether leaf will be back in time for playoffs, but Babybay's impact on the team by redefining their energy and culture will prove dividends to their playoffs run.

Another huge roster move headlining Americas was the benching of Kelden "Boostio" Pupello for Drew "Kess" Lee: while Boostio was a world champion IGL, Kess was a relatively unknown tier 2 player. Yet, the team has looked much better than their Stage 1 selves, especially in the first two weeks with clean wins against NRG and KRÜ Esports.

Although the team has not looked as good since, the form that they showed with Kess filling in for the holes the team previously had could be reactivated in playoffs. 100T have the potential to look as dangerous, if not even more dangerous, than their week 1 and 2 form, and make a run through the playoffs all the way to Champions.

NRG play the winner of G2/100T (23 August 17:00 PT)

After a lackluster first half of 2025 and a shocking week one performance, NRG have gone through a tremendous recovery to clinch their group's first seed. With Ethan "Ethan" Arnold at the helm with Pujan "FNS" Mehta's retirement and the addition of Logan "skuba" Jenkins, NRG look like a completely different team, with all players firing on all cylinders.

Adam "mada" Pampuch has been particularly impressive, consistently topping the board on duelist, while Ethan's calling has massively improved. This squad of veterans and rookies alike look ready for a deep playoffs run.

Evil Geniuses play the loser of G2/100T (22 August 17:00 PT)

Evil Geniuses need to reach the form they found at the end of VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 1 to have a shot at qualifying for Champions. While the team made playoffs, their 2-3 record falls short of expectations, unable to find any success against the non-Brazilian teams in their group.

Yet, EG have traditionally been a team that heats up in playoffs, so not all hope is lost for this team. Nevertheless, a tough mountain to climb awaits this team: starting in the lower bracket, EG cannot afford to drop a series on their way to the finals.

Catch all the action here:

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Americas' Stage 2 playoffs start on 21 August until the end of the month. Tune into THESPIKE.GG to watch it all unfold.