ENVY defeating Evil Geniuses doesn’t feel like an upset anymore after FURIA clean-swept two-time VALORANT Masters champion Sentinels at the VCT Americas Kickoff 2026.
The Brazilian organisation won just one series in the entire 2025 VCT season, but its revamped line-up has already booked a spot in the Upper Bracket Semi-final.
FURIA will now face regional powerhouse G2 Esports, which is also coming off a win against 100 Thieves on the same day, on January 30th.
FURIA’s Roster Overhaul Shows Early Results
After a disastrous 2025 season, FURIA changed its entire roster along with the coaching staff in hopes of flipping the fortune. While the team showed some early tournament jitters against KRÜ Esports’ substitute line-up, it looked far more confident against Sentinels.
Sentinels, on the other hand, brought in two players from its academy team, Cubert Academy, while shifting the calling duties from Amine ‘johnqt’ Ouarid to Mirel ‘Kyu’ Hrustemovic. While the new roster is not expected to be on par with the likes of MIBR, NRG, and G2 Esports on paper, its loss to FURIA is still surprising.
The South American side dominated right from the beginning with a 9-1 scoreline in the first half on Pearl. Although Sentinels fought back with four back-to-back rounds, the opposition regained the momentum to close out the first map 13-5.
Sentinels showcased signs of life on Breeze with an impressive 4-0 start; however, FURIA’s teamwork and firepower outweighed the NA team’s strategies and mistakes. As a result, despite johnqt delivering one of the best performances of his career, topping the server with 1.75 rating and a 25/8/5 KDA as a controller, the enemy team secured the map 13-11.
Even though Sentinels lost 2-0, johnqt was the best-performing player across the entire series, finishing with a 1.44 rating, followed by FURIA’s GianFranco ‘koalanoob’ Potestio at 1.41.
VCT Americas Kickoff Will Return Next Week
With EMEA and Pacific Kickoff beginning on January 20th and 22nd, respectively, VCT Americas will take a short break. Teams will now battle in the Middle Bracket to avoid getting dropped into the Lower Bracket, and here are the opening series:
- January 23rd: LOUD vs 100 Thieves
- January 23rd: Evil Geniuses vs Sentinels
- January 24th: KRÜ Esports vs ENVY
- January 24th: LEVIATÁN vs Cloud9
