Day Four of Kickoff featured two powerhouse teams making highly anticipated debuts against dark horse contenders.

LEVIATÁN LEVIATÁN Latin America South Rank #1 Demon1 Max Mazanov tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena C0M Corbin Lee nataNk Nathan Bocqueho vs. FURIA FURIA Brazil Rank #3 heat Olavo Marcelo raafa Rafael Lima mwzera Leonardo Serrati havoc Ilan Eloy Khalil Khalil Schmidt

The reigning champions of Americas and the highest-placing squad from the region at Champions Seoul, LEVIATÁN faced a difficult path as they hope to surpass last year's successes. However, the loss of world champion aspas and Stage 2 MVP Mazino had led many to doubt whether the new roster, now featuring Demon1 and nataNk , can exceed those results.

FURIA's story is one of redemption. After a rocky 2024, the Brazilian team sought to rebuild with heat , who delivered incredible performances for KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Rank #3 keznit Angelo Mori Mazino Roberto Rivas adverso Benjamín Poblete mta Nicolás González Shyy Fabian Usnayo Melser Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro last season, alongside raafa and coach peu . FURIA showcased its potential during the offseason, winning the Tixinha Invitational, a tournament featuring all of the South American VCT organizations except LEVIATÁN.

However, due to visa issues, FURIA was unable to compete in their debut game against 2Game Esports 2Game Esports Brazil Rank #2 gobera Vitor Gobo Zap Brenno Roberto pryze Luis-Henrique Viveiros lz Luiz Reche spike Rodrigo Lombardi silentzz Caio Morita . In their place, a roster of former DarkZero Esports DarkZero Esports Inactive and YFP YFP North America Rank #14 jakee Jake Anderson stellar Brenden McGrath penny Erik Penny thief Brady Dever fiziq Lucas Blow players stepped in and decisively defeated the newest addition to VCT Americas. Now, the complete FURIA team has arrived in Los Angeles, prepared to contend for a spot at Masters Bangkok.

The match began on Haven, with both teams running mirrored comps. LEVIATÁN's slow, contact-focused attack proved too incisive for FURIA, resulting in a commanding 9-3 half. FURIA's attempted comeback in the second half was swiftly shut down, ending the map 13-8. C0M 's Sova stood out, securing two critical 1v2 clutches and racking up 27 frags.

Choosing Split as the second map, LEVIATÁN began on the attack, executing unstoppable site hits to end the half 9-3 once again. A heroic 2v5 pistol round by kiNgg and nataNk carried LEVIATÁN's momentum into the second half to close the game 13-6.

With this result, FURIA has dropped to the lower bracket and will face Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #24 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le icy Jacob Lange yay Jaccob Whiteaker on January 23rd to keep their tournament hopes alive.

G2 Esports G2 Esports Inactive vs. Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #6 Xeppaa Erick Bach v1c Victor Truong mitch Mitch Semago neT Michael Bernet OXY Francis Hoang

Perhaps no team in the Americas faced higher expectations heading into 2025 than G2. After steadily improving throughout 2024, G2 looked unstoppable entering the Champions Seoul playoffs, having just defeated the eventual tournament winners. However, a shocking 0-2 playoff run sent them home early. With world champion jawgemo replacing icy , G2 returned in 2025 with a vengeance and the goal of finally claiming a championship.

Cloud9, after failing to secure a win in either Stage One or Stage Two playoffs, opted for a roster rebuild heading into 2025. Bringing in v1c and Rossy , C9 showed promise in early offseason tournaments. However, internal issues led to another roster shakeup in December, with mitch replacing Rossy and neT for moose . Entering 2025, Cloud9 remains the only North American partnership team to never secure a top-four finish at an international event, a streak they are determined to break this year.

Cloud9 chose Lotus as the first map, running a Deadlock-Tejo composition, while G2 opted for Tejo-Yoru-Viper. G2 dominated the defensive half with a 9-3 lead, as leaf 's expertly timed Viper lurks consistently punished Cloud9's attack. With jawgemo spearheading the attack on Yoru, G2 closed out the map 13-6.

On Abyss, leaf moved to Chamber while jawgemo remained on Yoru. With trent 's Sova enabling overwhelming retakes, G2 dismantled Cloud9's attack, ending the half 9-3. OXY 's excellent performance on Jett sparked a brief Cloud9 comeback, but G2 regained control to close out the game 13-8.

Cloud9 will play MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #9 artzin Arthur Araujo xenom Eduardo Soeiro cortezia Gabriel Cortez nzr Agustin Ibarra aspas Erick Santos on January 23rd in the lower bracket, battling to avoid elimination.

G2 advance to the upper semifinals to play LEVIATÁN for a spot in the top three.

VCT Americas will continue on January 23rd with the first elimination matches of the tournament:

• FURIA vs. Evil Geniuses
• Cloud9 vs. MIBR