Sunday of the North American LCQ featured both an upper semifinal match between 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #7 zander Alexander Dituri Cryocells Matthew Panganiban eeiu Daniel Vucenovic Boostio Kelden Pupello Asuna Peter Mazuryk and FaZe Clan FaZe Clan Inactive POISED Kevin Ngo mummAy Anthony DiPaolo TiGG Tanner Spanu BABYBAY Andrej Francisty supamen Phat Le , and a elimination match between Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #21 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le icy Jacob Lange yay Jaccob Whiteaker and NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Rank #4 FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold .

100 Thieves vs. Faze Clan (FaZe 2-1)

Kicking the day off, 100 Thieves and FaZe Clan battled for a spot in the upper finals. The two rosters fought against each other twice in the Stage 2 playoffs back in June. FaZe got revenge for their upper bracket loss in that tournament, eventually eliminating 100T in LR2.

100 Thieves chose Haven for the opening map of the series, an interesting choice considering the results for each team recently. Since April 1, 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #7 zander Alexander Dituri Cryocells Matthew Panganiban eeiu Daniel Vucenovic Boostio Kelden Pupello Asuna Peter Mazuryk held just a 2-4 record, while FaZe Clan FaZe Clan Inactive POISED Kevin Ngo mummAy Anthony DiPaolo TiGG Tanner Spanu BABYBAY Andrej Francisty supamen Phat Le was 7-3 in the same timeframe.

Starting on defense, 100T opened with a pistol win before dropping the next four rounds. Despite winning eight of the 12 first blood duels in the half, 100T managed just four rounds. Taking control of the B site on Haven was a focal point for FaZe in the half. Behind the Operator from dicey and BABYBAY 's flying entries onto site, the strategy worked well for the FaZe Clan attack which proved difficult for 100T to find an answer for despite Asuna 's best attempts.

Transitioning to attack side didn't help 100 Thieves out much. Losing the second pistol round put them in what turned out to be an insurmountable 10-4 hole. Despite a couple round wins and a close 1v5 attempt from Asuna , 100T dropped map one to FaZe 13-6.

Statistically the top player from the tournament's first round in ACS, K/D, and ADR, supamen picked up where he left off. On Omen, supamen continued his tear with a 337 ACS and 212 ADR to go along a 22/9/10 statline.

supamen seals 100Ts fate on the first map of the day.

The second map of the series took the teams to Breeze, the lone holdover from the June 19 matchup. FaZe came in looking to end things on their map pick, which they've had an 8-1 record on since April 1.

100T bounced back strong, opening the game with a 5-0 lead on their defense side. FaZe responded by taking four of the next five rounds off the back of an impressive showing from babybay. Will had a rough map one but started Breeze blistering hot. A perfect 10-0 in the first five rounds, will ended the half 18-4.

Maybe Will should just play Jett all the time?

The back half of Breeze evolved into a scrappy affair trading rounds back and forth. A total of five clutches occurred with each one involving a Sova. Derrek built on his two 1v1 clutches in the first map, with three for 100T's attack on Breeze. flyuh had his own impressive moments, clutching both a 1v1 and 1v2 in rounds 18 and 20 respectively. Ultimately, Derrek and 100T closed out map two with a 13-8 win. Derrek and Will compiled 23 kills each on the path to victory.

Ascent was to be the deciding map of the series. Both teams were coming off of thrilling wins on the map in their last round matchups. Derrek started this one just as he finished the first with two 1v1s and a 1v2 clutch in the first four rounds. Asuna provided 14 kills and 234 ADR for his squad as well.

FaZe Clan struggled mightily on their attack half. Winning the last round of the half took the map to a 9-3 scoreline in which FaZe trailed. Whether it was a curse activated or something else, FaZe turned into a different team on defense. BABYBAY might have fired his team up with an absurd pistol round 4K.

The smeag does what the smeag wants.

FaZe rattled off 11 straight rounds to win the map and the series. In-game leader POISED came alive with a 4K of his own, while Dicey found pick after pick with his Operator. 100 Thieves planted the bomb just once in 10 attack rounds.

The second half of Ascent was an iconic babybay performance. A 20/2 kill/death ratio, 505 ACS, and 313 ADR shut down any chance 100T might have had to pull out the series. Babybay finished the series with a 69/43/6 statline, propelling his team to the victory.

The inability of 100 Thieves to win an attack round on Ascent was reminiscent of the prior roster's identical struggles on the map. All is not lost for the team, however, as they drop to the lowers for a showdown with Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #3 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid on Thursday. FaZe Clan FaZe Clan Inactive POISED Kevin Ngo mummAy Anthony DiPaolo TiGG Tanner Spanu BABYBAY Andrej Francisty supamen Phat Le will advance to play The Guard The Guard Inactive JonahP Jonah Pulice trent Trent Cairns neT Michael Bernet valyn Jacob Batio tex Ian Botsch in the upper final.

NRG Esports vs. Evil Geniuses (NRG 2-0)

The second match of the day featured NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Rank #4 FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold and Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #21 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le icy Jacob Lange yay Jaccob Whiteaker . These two squads also fought each other in the Stage 2 Challengers playoffs back in June. NRG took down EG in 2-1 fashion before falling to FaZe in their next match.

Just one map remained in the pool from their prior matchup. Bind remained EG's pick after they beat NRG 13-3 in the earlier series, but things would not go as smoothly for them this time around. The first half was a bit back and forth, with Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #21 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le icy Jacob Lange yay Jaccob Whiteaker snagging a solid six rounds on attack. The team picked up a much needed 1v3 clutch when hazed had a tough time judging the Brimstone molly.

Really hard to tell how much time was left here for hazed.

Evil Geniuses had an even tougher time on defense. NRG chained together seven straight wins on attack to secure map one. EG managed just 15 total kills through those seven rounds. Reformed had a tough time getting going, producing just three kills across the map's 19 rounds. For NRG, every player went positive in map one.

Moving to Icebox for map two, EG hoped for a better result on the NRG map pick. Nothing was going as planned for the EG squad as NRG jumped out to a 6-1 lead. EG was not left for dead however, bringing the half back to a respectable 7-5 scoreline. jawgemo and C0M were major reasons why EG stayed in the game. Apoth performed his own theatrics, picking up five kills all while staying on top of B site screens. jawgemo brought some momentum over to EGs side with an impressive 1v3 clutch to end the half.

Jawgemo couldn't find a better timing than this if he had a clock.

Even after winning the pistol, things again looked dire for Evil Geniuses. NRG took five straight rounds on defense after the eco to go to map and series point. EG weren't going down without a fight, winning five straight of their own to bring the map to overtime.

Things weren't to be for EG however. The squad had found great success on the A site on their offensive side in regulation. For their overtime attack, the team pivoted away from A and rotated through mid to B. tex pulled off a bold Chamber play by teleporting back onto the top of B site to catch the rotation and pick up three massive kills.

In the series, four NRG players went at least +9 in K/D. In-game leader hazed and s0m in particular were impressive, with the two providing 42 and 43 kills respectively.

As Ethan mopped up the series-clinching kill, Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #21 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le icy Jacob Lange yay Jaccob Whiteaker ' tournament and VCT season concluded. NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Rank #4 FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold advances to face Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #8 Xeppaa Erick Bach v1c Victor Truong mitch Mitch Semago neT Michael Bernet OXY Francis Hoang in LR2, a team that they are 0-4 against all-time.

Looking Ahead

The North American LCQ takes a three day break before resuming matches on Thursday, August 11. 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #7 zander Alexander Dituri Cryocells Matthew Panganiban eeiu Daniel Vucenovic Boostio Kelden Pupello Asuna Peter Mazuryk faces Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #3 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid in a much-anticipated match, while NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Rank #4 FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold and Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #8 Xeppaa Erick Bach v1c Victor Truong mitch Mitch Semago neT Michael Bernet OXY Francis Hoang finish off the night.