LOUD LOUD Brazil Unranked dgzin Douglas Silva v1nny Vínicius Gonçalves pANcada Bryan Luna tuyz Arthur Andrade cauanzin Cauan Pereira remained alive in their quest to make it back to the Valorant Champions grand final, after coming from behind in each of the final two maps to propel themselves to a 2-1 victory over Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Unranked ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky Ruxic Uğur Güç hiro Emirhan Kat koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio .

After a shaky start to open group play, LOUD has once again found themselves in the playoffs and are looking to become the first repeat Champions winner.

In the post-match interview, saadhak was asked who he would like to face in the playoffs. His answer was simple: “Bring us anyone.”

In a match featuring aspas and cNed , it was the IGLs who stole the show in the opening two maps. On Pearl ANGE1 dropped a staggering 21 kills on Sova to help Loud, while Saadhak came alive on the second map with 21 kills himself.

Ange1 with a vintage Map 1 performance (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

On the opening map, LOUD brought out a new comp, shifting away from the popular Harbor/Viper meta that they made popular and instead putting Saadhak on Breach. LOUD looked poised to send Pearl into overtime, but a late misstep from Saadhak in the map's final round led to a 13-11 victory for NAVI.

It would not be the last time in the match LOUD came charging back from behind on a map. But it was the last time LOUD would fall short of completing their comeback.

LOUD fell behind early on Ascent, which was their map pick, before coming back to tie the game 6-6. After his crucial mistake on the first map to cost his team the closing round, Saadhak quickly bounced back on Ascent to combine some great calls with 21 kills. A dominant second half performance on their defense side propelled LOUD to win Ascent 13-11.

In the first two maps, LOUD were +12 in first kills, but were having difficulty converting those 5v4s into round wins.

In the games deciding map, LOUD opted for a rarely seen triple controller comp. According to fRoD , LOUD's head coach, the composition wasn't all that unusual for the Brazilian squad.

“It is very similar to the comp we were running before, we just swapped out Chamber for an Omen.”

On Bind, LOUD once again fell behind early, but rebounded early enough to take a 7-5 lead into the half behind 18 first kills from Less . In round 22, Sadhaak and Aspas were faced with a 2v4 and managed to win the round spectacularly, leading them to another 13-11 victory to clinch the series. Less ended the series with a game-high 68 kills, with 18 multi-kill rounds, highlighted by his two 4K rounds.

Saadhak suggested LOUD's victory may be the beginnings of the team rediscovering the magic that propelled it to dominance earlier in the year.

“This game brings us a lot of confidence going forward into the playoffs,” he said.

LOUD advance to Wednesday's playoffs, and will face the top team from another group. NAVI will start their offseason early, and will look to regroup before next season begins.