The VCT Americas playoffs began with KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Rank #3 keznit Angelo Mori mta Nicolás González Shyy Fabian Usnayo Melser Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro heat Olavo Marcelo facing off against Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #10 Xeppaa Erick Bach runi Dylan Cade moose Kaleb Jayne OXY Francis Hoang . The two teams faced off earlier last week, as KRÜ received their only win in Stage 2 against C9. The LATAM squad came out on top 2-1 and began their run for Champions, while Cloud9 were eliminated from contention.

The map vetoes saw Cloud9 banning Ascent and Sunset, while KRÜ banned Bind and Icebox, the latter being one of the maps where KRÜ bested C9 just a week earlier.

The series began with Cloud9's pick of Abyss, Valorant's newest map. Cloud9 opened the game with a pistol round win, but KRÜ turned the tide as they locked up five out of six rounds, giving them an early 6-2 lead. vanity 's leadership and Operator skills gave C9 the edge and locked up the four remaining rounds to tie at 6-6.

The second half was a brawl as both teams traded round after round, each inching their scoreline closer to 13. Cloud9 seemed close to winning round 18 and tying the game, but a phenomenal clutch and a 0.1-second defuse from heat gave KRÜ the momentum to get to an 11-8 lead. While Cloud9 tied the map at 11-11, the LATAM squad took the first map at 13-11.

The Brazilian ace topped the charts with 26 kills and 15 assists, the most out of anyone in both categories.

Too close. Way too close.

While the second map of Lotus was KRÜ's pick, it was Cloud9 that opened up the map with a devastating 11-1 first half, as runi 's surprise Clove pick meddled with the LATAM squad. Only heat's three-piece on round 9 was enough to stop C9's assault.

KRÜ opened the second half with wins on the pistol and anti-eco, but their losses continued to pile up and soon they were facing defeat at 12-3. Round 16 began KRÜ's Herculean effort to bring it to overtime, with the team fighting tooth and nail to stay alive. keznit 's heroic 1v2 clutch gave his team one more chance to tie the series. However, OXY 's 3k at A site put an end to KRÜ's comeback.

Despite losing the map, heat once again outperformed the rest of the server, being the highest-rated player and having 25 kills this time. Meanwhile, keznit's Raze matched evenly with OXY's as both players had 21 kills each.

Nails were bit at this moment.

The decider saw the return of one of Valorant's classic maps, Haven. KRÜ and C9 both had similar comps, with Neon being the pick for keznit instead of Jett. The change in duelists proved fatal for C9 as KRÜ's electrifying pace and aggression gave them a 9-3 lead in the first half. Even the early pistol and anti-eco round wins weren't enough for C9 to make a comeback. From there, they managed just one more round before they were defeated 13-6, ending their season.

Only C9's moose remained the positive KDA player with 205 ACS and 15 kills. The rest of Cloud9 were outmatched by their counterparts. heat had Cloud9's number all game long, as he had a +29 K/D differential and a 65-36-32 KDR.

KRÜ's win puts them one step closer to qualifying for Champions; however, they need a minimum top-three placement to qualify for Champions, as both 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #5 bang Sean Bezerra Cryocells Matthew Panganiban eeiu Daniel Vucenovic Boostio Kelden Pupello Asuna Peter Mazuryk and G2 Esports G2 Esports Inactive outrank them.

KRÜ could go on a run once more, but they will face their luck against LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN Latin America South Rank #1 tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena Mazino Roberto Rivas aspas Erick Santos C0M Corbin Lee in the upper semifinals on July 18 at 5:00 P.M. EST.