Here are our predictions for the upcoming VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff
The Americas Kickoff will bring 11 of the best teams in the region to compete for two things: spots in the upcoming Masters and points to secure Champions 2024. There have been a lot of roster changes in the OFF//SEASON. Therefore, your favorite teams last year may just face early elimination while new names make waves at the event.
After considering all the roster changes in the region and the past performance of all the teams, here are our official predictions on the tournament winners, favorites and underdogs.
VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff Predictions: Winner
We are going with NRG as the Americas League winner due to the roster members’ skills alone.
Nrg
Austin “crashies” Roberts
Victor “Victor” Wong
Max “Demon1” Mazanov
Ethan “Ethan” Arnold
Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen
Chet “Chet” Singh (Coach)
Other than Champions 2023, NRG did pretty well last year with three members from the former OpTic core. Even though they are going to compete this season without renowned IGL Pujan “FNS” Mehta in the squad, there are strong new additions that can bring NRG their first S-tier trophy.
We are expecting NRG to put up a great show with two former Evil Geniuses players on the roster. Demon1 was the MVP of Champions 2023 and also one of our best players of 2023. Ethan, on the other hand, was also the best Initiator player we saw last year. Lastly, we don’t need much introduction about Marved, who was part of the former OpTic core and is considered to be one of the best Controller players in the world.
Along with these three, there’s the legendary Victor-crashies duo. Under Chet’s coaching, this roster has the potential to dominate this season not only in North America but also in international events.
VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff Predictions: Other Favorites
Other than NRG, LOUD, and Sentinels are our other favorites to secure the top 3 spots at the event.
LOUD
Felipe “Less” Basso
Matias “Saadhak” Delipetro
Cauan “cauanzin” Pereira
Arthur “tuyz” Vieira
Gabriel “qck” Lima
Pedro “peu” Lopes (Coach)
Even though the Brazilians have parted ways with their star player, Erick “aspas” Santos, we think this roster is still capable of soaring the skies. While LOUD faced some disappointing results in 2023’s Masters Tokyo, they still have some of the most prominent Valorant players, including Less, who proved himself to be one of the most consistent players in the world.
qck is the new addition, who was an incredible Duelist in Furia last year. While his records are not as incredible as the player he’s replacing, we are expecting him to get much better under Sadhaak.
We’re predicting LOUD to be one of the top three teams in Kickoff. It’s likely that we may not see the same dominating form that the Brazilians had in 2023’s Americas League, but they remain one of the top dogs of the region.
Sentinels
Zachary “zekken” Patrone
Bryan “pANcada” Luna
Gustavo “Sacy” Rossi
Tyson “TenZ” Ngo
Mouhamed “johnqt” Ouarid
Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro (Substitute)
Adam “kaplan” Kaplan (Coach)
After tasting glory in 2021, this North American team has been struggling to impress in both regional and international events. However, their recent victory in the AfreecaTV Valorant League against dominating forces like Paper Rex has shown a sign of hope as they step into the Americas League.
TenZ has been more comfortable in supporting roles like KAY/O and Omen, and zekken has consistently proven himself to be an extraordinary Duelist. Champions winners Sacy and pANcada’s potential is unmatched due to their immense experience. Lastly, johnqt’s IGLing skills have already come to fruition in the AfreecaTV event, and his time in M80 has also been nothing short of impressive.
Zellsis, their substitute, could potentially continue playing in the place of pANcada as he has been showing great form in recent OFF//SEASON tournaments. Overall, they have a solid roster where each member has a sea of experience.
VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff Predictions: Dark Horses
These squads have not won major trophies yet, but they have the potential to bring huge upsets in the upcoming battle:
Leviatán
Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena
Corbin “C0M” Lee
Roberto “Mazino” Bugueño
Erick “aspas” Santos
Ian “tex” Botsch
Agustin “Nozwerr” Ibarra (Substitute)
Alex “goked” Kie (Coach)
Last year, Leviatán did pretty well in the early weeks of the Americas League but couldn’t secure any wins in the Playoffs. If they were to continue with the same roster, we would’ve predicted that they would have a short journey this season. However, the organization brought some great additions that can bring meaningful outcomes in their journey.
First up, we have aspas, who has arguably been the best Jett player in the last two years. He alone has the ability to bring meaningful results to the squad. Moreover, he is accompanied by the 2023 Champions winner, C0M, whose performance last year allowed EG to have the best Cinderella story in Valorant. These two members, alongside talented existing players, are going to be a strong force in this competition.
G2 Esports
Jonah “JonahP” Pulice
Michael “neT” Bernet
Jacob “valyn” Batio
Trent “trent” Cairns
Nathan “leaf” Orf
Josh “JoshRT” Lee (Coach)
G2, formerly The Guard, showed a lot of potential and consistency in tier 2 Valorant. Moreover, with former Cloud9 Duelist leaf on the roster, this team has the ability to bring massive upsets now that they will be dueling the tier 1 contenders of the world.
VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff Predictions: Early Exits
We are predicting these teams to get eliminated early from the Group Stage:
KRÜ Esports
Nicolás “Klaus” Ferrari
Marco “Melser” Machuca
Angelo “keznit” Mori
Nicolás “mta” González
Fabian “Shyy” Usnayo
Jorge “Atom” Noriega (Coach)
The Latin Americans had a disappointing, winless run at VCT Americas last year, and no one anticipated them to perform well in the LCQ. However, they shockingly showed their finest form of the year at the Americas LCQ, winning everything to clinch their Champions spot. Nonetheless, their results in international competitions remained poor.
Even though this team surprised everyone in the LCQ last year, their overall performance throughout the year was less than average, and we are predicting them to be crushed by the giants of the Americas.
MIBR
João Pedro “jzz” Silva
Leandro “frz” Gomes
Matheus “RgLM” Rodigoli
Arthur “artzin” Araujo
Matheus “mazin” Araújo
Daniel “fRoD” Montaner (Coach)
Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (Coach)
Having fRoD and bzkA as coaches on the same team is a great sign of hope. However, MIBR lacks world-class players who can take the squad to great lengths. We would like to see this squad bring some upsets at the event as a result of having two of the best coaches in the region, but it’s going to be challenging against some of the strong teams.
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