LOUD added a new trophy to their cabinet when they won the inaugural VCT Americas League with a 3-0 sweep over NRG Esports in the grand final.
The Brazilian squad pulled it off against their longstanding rivals — the former OpTic Gaming core that joined NRG before the start of the VCT 2023 season.
The win earned LOUD the US$100,000 grand prize and the top seed in VCT Americas for Masters Tokyo, which runs from June 11 to 25.
The grand final was the eighth time both teams clashed on the international stage. The last time they faced each other was in the seventh week of the regular season, and NRG walked away with a clean 2-0 win.
In the playoffs, the South American squad made their way to the grand final after a successful upper bracket run with a 2-0 win over FURIA Esports and a 2-1 victory against Evil Geniuses. Meanwhile, NRG dominated the lower bracket, eliminating FURIA, C9, and EG.
Here’s how the Brazilian squad got their revenge against NRG in the grand final.
- Team Liquid wins VCT EMEA championship with surprise victory over VCT LOCK//IN champs
- Paper Rex seizes inaugural VCT Pacific League championship with a reverse sweep
LOUD reigns supreme in VCT Americas grand final
After losing the first two rounds on Ascent, LOUD’s map choice for game one, NRG made the right adjustments and won the next five rounds in a row. The NA squad extended their lead off a masterful Vandal spray that earned Sam “s0m” Oh an ace.
LOUD found themselves trailing 7-5 at halftime, but they quickly flipped the script when they switched to defense. The Brazilian team’s rising stars, Cauan “cauanzin” Pereira and Arthur “tuyz” Vieira, effectively shut down NRG’s split pushes. From that point onwards, the South American squad only conceded two rounds, ultimately securing a 13-9 victory on Ascent.
The NA squad often tried to take A short control by splitting the site in half with Viper’s Toxic screen. But Saadhak was able to contest the areas NRG tried to isolate, teleporting to safety using Chamber’s Rendezvous. While NRG was busy battling with Saadhak’s Chamber, the rest of the Brazilian players pushed from different parts of the map. This led to devastating flank plays that gave LOUD an early 5-0 round lead.
After halftime, LOUD picked up steam and took a 12-8 round advantage once they were on attack. NRG won the next three rounds, but cauazin and Felipe “Less” Basso pulled off an incredible 2v4 round win that extended their series lead to 2-0.
Fracture was the next map that was picked by LOUD, and it was a back-and-forth battle between both teams. But, similar to the previous two games, the Brazilian team’s late-game heroics put the nail in NRG’s coffin.
With the score tied 9-9, Saadhak gave his team the lead and simultaneously broke NRG’s economy with a masterful 1v4 clutch.
After trading more rounds in the game’s late stages, LOUD managed to walk away with the last two to win 13-11 on Fracture and claim the VCT Americas trophy.
LOUD’s incredible playoff run showed they’re one of the top contenders for Masters Tokyo. They will look to win their second global VCT trophy when they face off against the top teams from the other international leagues in Japan.
READ MORE: All teams qualified for VCT Masters Tokyo
