The VCT Americas Stage 1 will take place from later today, April 6 until May 12, the same end date as the four other major franchise leagues.
Later today will be the start of VCT Americas Stage 1, the last of the four franchise leagues that is set to take place from April 6 until May 12, the same time it ends as all the other VCT leagues around the world. The top three teams at the end of VCT Americas Stage 1 will earn a call-up to the second international event of the VCT calendar, Masters Shanghai.
After a poor showing last year, the Americas region has stepped up in a big way in 2024 with Sentinels being the most dominant team in the world right now. Being the Americas Kickoff and Masters Madrid champions, it's looking like Sentinels' year once again as they are now seen as the team to beat in the region if you want to move up.
VCT Americas Stage 1 - Format & Schedule
The group stage of VCT Americas Stage 1 will take place from April 6 to May 5 as all 11 teams are separated into two single round-robin groups. Group Alpha will field five teams while Group Omega will have six and group placements are based on the Americas Kickoff seeding. But what makes the group stage for this season so interesting is the introduction of cross-group matches.
This means that teams in Group Alpha will play against teams in Group Omega instead of the traditional inner-group gameplay. All matches played during the group stage will be a best-of-three series with the top three teams moving on to the next round. Only the first-placed teams in each group will receive a bye straight to the playoffs.
And while the same can be said for the teams that finish second and third, they will be a part of the hybrid-elimination bracket instead. The four teams that finish second and third will head straight to the knockout round of the playoffs, which is a single-elimination bracket that will see the two winners move on to face the top-seeded teams from the group stage.
From there, the final four teams will battle it out in a double-elimination bracket with every series being a best-of-three. However, the lower bracket final as well as the grand final will be a best-of-five. Only the grand finalists as well as the third-placed team during the playoffs will book their spot to Masters Shanghai in a little over a month's time.
VCT Americas Stage 1 - Groups
Group Alpha
Sentinels
NRG
G2 Esports
Cloud9
KRÜ Esports
Group Omega
LOUD
Evil Geniuses
MIBR
Leviatán
FURIA Esports
100 Thieves
With Sentinels and LOUD being in opposite groups, you can expect fireworks when these two teams hit the stage later on in the group stage. NRG will also be looking to go one better than its Americas Kickoff performances given that it has the experience of three former OpTic boys that won Masters Reykjavík as well as two former Evil Geniuses players that won VCT Champions last season. Speaking of the defending world champion, despite its massive roster shuffle and the ensuing drama that came with it, EG have looked decent since the start of the 2024 season as they look to reclaim its right as one of the best teams from Americas.
VCT Americas Stage 1 - Teams
As it stands, Sentinels are at the top of the leaderboard in terms of Championship points given that they are the only team currently with six whereas three other teams are tied on three points. The resurrection of Sentinels after its heyday of 2021 has been evident for all to see given its new line-up. They are now a different team heading into games and will be looking to keep its streak going with a second VCT Americas title in a row.
Another Americas team that is having a renaissance of sorts is LOUD as the 2022 VCT Champions have steadily found its feet after last season and look to be in solid form once more. The Brazilian org has been a mainstay in the VCT for some time now and to have them lift another trophy will do wonders for the ardent fans it has in the region.
