VCT Americas League Playoffs: NRG beat EG and advance to Grand Final

We are very close to knowing the champion of this first season of the VCT Americas League, as NRG gave a great blow on the table by beating Evil Geniuses to advance to the tournament’s Grand Final. Now, they will have to face LOUD to define the champion and the winner of the $100,000.

It has been a truly spectacular tournament full of surprises. The most recent was the elimination of Cloud9, which was completely unexpected after having played a spectacular tournament.

Let’s see what happened in the Lower Bracket Final of the VCT Americas League playoffs.

Grab your popcorn because we have an exciting Bo5 later today to decide who will move on to the Grand Finals of #VCTAmericas 🍿

⚔️ @EvilGeniuses vs. @NRGgg

📺 Tune in at 1PM PT at https://t.co/Etrp5cZa4n! pic.twitter.com/hN19QeKQQoM

— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) May 27, 2023

NRG apply a reverse sweep to beat Evil Geniuses.

NRG, a team that didn’t make much noise throughout the tournament, accomplished an excellent feat by qualifying for the VCT Americas League Grand Final after applying a reverse sweep against Evil Geniuses in the Lower Bracket final.

The series was played in Haven (NRG), Ascent (EG), Lotus (NRG), and Split (EG).

Haven

It all started in Haven, the map pick of NRG, where both teams showed their full potential from start to finish. The guys from Evil Geniuses started strong on their attacking side, winning six of the first eight rounds. However, NRG was able to make up a little bit of the score in the first half and thus finished with a 5-7 against.

NRG tried to wake up on their defensive side at the change of sides and got to put the score 10-9 in their favor. But Evil Geniuses managed to get around their opponents’ defense to take the 13-11 victory.

Our first map of the series came down to the wire!@EvilGeniuses steal away NRG’s map pick, Haven, and go up 1-0 in the series. Ascent coming up next. #VCTAmericas pic.twitter.com/9hj1B18phU

— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) May 27, 2023

Ascent

We move to the second map, Ascent, where things change radically in every way. NRG once again demonstrated spectacular defensive power and prevented Evil Geniuses’ attacks from being effective. As a result, the first half ended with a score of 9-3 in favor of NRG.

Then, at the change of sides, NRG won the first three rounds to place themselves just one away from tying the series. At this point, EG woke up and won five consecutive rounds. Finally, NRG won the remaining round to take the map victory 13-8.

We’ve got a series on our hands!@NRGgggg steal away Ascent to tie up the series. Lotus coming up next. #VCTAmericas

📺 https://t.co/Etrp5cZHTV pic.twitter. com/6RzfhXCo02

— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) May 27, 2023

Lotus

In Lotus, we had a similar match to the first map, where Evil Geniuses started the first half very strong on their defensive side to take a 7-5 partial victory.

However, at the change of sides, NRG surprised us again with their defensive approach, which was practically impenetrable by EG’s guys. NRG won seven of the first eight rounds of the second half to take a 12-8 lead. Then, EG won two rounds to close to within 12-10, but NRG managed to stop the Evil Geniuses offense in round 23 to take the 13-10 victory.

Another nail biter of a map!@NRGgggg take the win on Lotus to go up 2-1 in the series. Will it end on Split or will we go the distance? #VCTAmericas

📺 https://t.co/Etrp5cZHTV pic.twitter. com/DyrGPB2Fhx

— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) May 27, 2023

Split

Finally, the guys from Evil Geniuses seemed to let their guard down in Split completely and got completely crushed by NRG.

In the first half, on their attacking side, NRG annihilated EG’s defense and took a partial 11-1 victory. There is no doubt that this score is almost impossible to come back from, and after five rounds played in the second half, NRG won 13-4 to advance to the VCT Americas League Grand Final.

THAT’S A WRAP@NRGgggg take down EG 3-1 to earn their spot in the Grand Finals of #VCTAmericas!

The NRG vs. LOUD rivalry we all know and love is back! pic.twitter.com/GJGafIPEru

— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) May 28, 2023

Header: VCT Americas