In stage 2, all the teams play the teams in their current group (we all know this). BUT, teams don’t start with a 0-0 record, they start with the record they had in stage 1. So say Loud goes 1-4 in stage 1, they wouldn’t start 0-0 in stage 2, they would start 1-4.
Also, top 6 teams in the leagues OVERALL qualify, not the top 3 from each group.
Maybe this was common knowledge but I wasn’t aware of this, and it has huge ramifications for teams like LOUD and T1 who will not be getting a fresh start in stage 2
Source: https://liquipedia.net/valorant/VCT/2024/Americas_League/Stage_2