The first set of VCT Americas Kickoff 2025 elimination matches last night saw FURIA and Cloud9 exit the race to qualify for VALORANT Masters Bangkok.
FURIA lost 2-0 to North American esports organisation Evil Geniuses (EG), while MIBR took down Cloud9 in a 2-1 series in which the Brazilian team came from behind to win.
EG and MIBR will now face each other in Lower Bracket Round 2 on February 1st, with the winner keeping their hopes alive for a Masters Bangkok spot.
Evil Geniuses dominated the entire series against FURIA as the team closed both maps comfortably with 13-7 scorelines.
Jaccob ‘Yay‘ Whiteaker returned to the North American scene after almost two years and shared his thoughts on VALORANT’s official broadcast after earning EG’s first win of VCT Americas’ season.
“Honestly, it feels great to be back. There was a long period of time when I didn’t play for an NA crowd,” said Yay,
“So, I’m super excited to be back and play for all the people who support me at home. I love the Pacific, but there is nothing quite like home.”
MIBR versus Cloud9 put star duelists Erick ‘Aspas‘ Santos and Francis ‘OXY‘ Hoang head-to-head in an intense showdown, with both players securing 57 kills throughout the series.
Cloud9 won the first map, Lotus, by 13-7, but MIBR pulled off a reverse sweep by snatching Abyss and Pearl away by 13-10 and 13-7 scorelines, respectively.
Speaking about the pressure of needing to win every series in Americas Kickoff moving forward, Arthur ‘artzin’ Araujo said, “I don’t think like that. I’m just grateful to be here. Every loss is not a loss; it’s just experience. So, that doesn’t bother me at all, and we just keep working.”
As of now, only Trace Esports from China has been confirmed to be a part of Masters Bangkok, but more teams will soon start getting finalized.
