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The upcoming LOUD vs 100 Thieves matchup in Lower Bracket Round 1 of the VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 Americas Kickoff is a do-or-die series, where the losing team will be eliminated from the tournament. Both organizations are coming off disappointing results and now face maximum pressure with no room for mistakes. With their tournament lives on the line, this clash is expected to be tense, aggressive, and revealing in terms of mental resilience and adaptation.
Let’s dive in.
How the bookies view it: Evil Geniuses favored
How the bookies view it: EG are slight favorites heading into the matchup, with odds of 1.80 compared to LOUD’s 1.95. This pricing suggests that bookmakers expect a close and competitive series, but give EG a small edge, likely based on recent form and overall consistency.
LOUD form. What result can be expected from LOUD
LOUD is a Brazilian VALORANT esports team representing the LOUD organization and regularly competing in both regional and international VALORANT tournaments across online and LAN formats. After a challenging 2025 season, in which the team struggled to achieve consistent results, LOUD entered 2026 with plans to rebuild and stabilize performance. The current lineup is built around pANcada, Virtyy, and cauanzin, with lukxo providing flexible support and the team evaluating leadership options after parting ways with IGL RobbieBk. This combination of experienced Brazilian players and strategic restructuring aims to improve coordination and consistency in high-pressure matches.
- LOUD roster: pANcada, Virtyy, cauanzin, lukxo, Darker.
Throughout 2025, LOUD experienced mixed results across multiple tiers of competition. The team achieved occasional strong performances but struggled in key events, finishing 11th–12th in both VCT Americas Stage 1 and Stage 2, and 5th–6th at VCT Americas Kickoff. They lost matches against strong opponents including 100 Thieves, NRG, and KRÜ Esports, highlighting issues with consistency and coordination under pressure. Historically, LOUD has shown high-level potential, including 3rd place at VALORANT Champions 2023 and 4th at VCT 2024 Masters Madrid, but recent seasons have exposed the need for a more stable roster and strategic leadership.
The roster changes ahead of 2026 — particularly the departure of RobbieBk and coach Leader — were made to address these weaknesses and provide the team with a fresh approach. pANcada, Virtyy, and cauanzin form a solid core, while lukxo offers flexibility in role assignments. The organization is aiming to restore LOUD’s presence at the top of the Americas scene and prepare for stronger performances in international events.
While LOUD has historically been a top Brazilian and Latin American team, maintaining consistency against elite North American and regional opponents has been challenging. Matches against top-tier teams revealed moments of instability and tactical gaps, but the current restructuring gives the team a chance to stabilize and regain competitiveness.
Overall, the 2025 season reflected a period of rebuilding and adjustment for LOUD in VALORANT. With the refreshed core, the team’s main objective for 2026 is to return to consistent high-level performances, translate regional competitiveness into deeper runs in Masters and Champions events, and reclaim its status as a leading team in the Americas.
LOUD Map Pool
LOUD shows mixed results across maps in recent matches. The team has a moderate performance on Ascent and Icebox, winning 50% of matches on each (1–1 in both cases), with round win rates ranging from 29–67%, showing some strengths but also inconsistencies. On Sunset, LOUD has a 50% win rate (1–1), performing well on attack (67%) but more average on defense (50%). Bind appears to be a weaker map for the team, with only a 33% win rate (1–2) and low round win percentages on both sides. Haven is particularly challenging, with a 0% win rate (0–2) and poor performance in both attacks and defenses. Lotus and Corrode have also proven difficult, with win rates of 0% on each map, while Split, Breeze, Fracture, Pearl, and Abyss were not played recently, leaving them as largely untested or unknown maps for the team. Overall, LOUD’s map pool shows some strengths on Ascent, Icebox, and Sunset, but several maps remain inconsistent or problematic, which may influence their strategic choices and bans in upcoming matches.
EG form. What result can be expected from Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses is a North American Valorant esports team representing the EG organization and regularly competing in both regional and international VALORANT tournaments across online and LAN formats. Founded as a VCT International League team and crowned 2023 VALORANT Champions, EG has a rich history of success on the international stage. After a challenging 2025 season, the team entered a new phase ahead of the 2026 season, combining veteran leadership with emerging talent. The current lineup is built around C0M, supamen, bao, okeanos, and dgzin, forming a squad aimed at restoring stability and competitiveness at the top North American level.
- EG roster: C0M, supamen, bao, okeanos, dgzin.
Throughout 2025, EG produced mixed results across multiple tiers of competition. The team’s most notable regional outcomes included a 4th place finish at VCT Americas Stage 1, a 7th–8th place at Americas Kickoff, and another 7th–8th finish at VCT Americas Stage 2, narrowly missing qualification for Masters Toronto 2025. Despite this, EG recorded key victories, including eliminating KRÜ Esports from the Stage 1 playoffs, demonstrating that the team retained competitive potential against strong North American squads.
In addition to these regional results, EG’s roster showed flashes of tactical depth and individual skill, but consistency against top-tier opponents remained a challenge. Matches against elite teams highlighted both moments of dominance and vulnerabilities in high-pressure series, emphasizing the need for strategic cohesion and leadership, which the return of C0M as IGL aims to provide.
Overall, the 2025 season reflected a transitional period for Evil Geniuses in Valorant: while the team fell short of international events, they maintained a presence at major regional competitions and demonstrated the foundation for a rebound. Their main objective moving forward is to leverage the experience of returning veterans and rising talent to achieve deeper runs in VCT Americas League 2026 and qualify for Masters and Champions events, re-establishing EG as a top-tier contender on both North American and international stages.
Evil Geniuses Map Pool
The Evil Geniuses Valorant team currently demonstrates a mixed and developing map pool, with certain maps showing potential while others remain weaknesses. Their strongest map is Ascent, where EG holds a 67% win rate across 3 matches, reflecting solid attacking strategies and effective coordination. Lotus and Corrode are also competitive, each with a 50% win rate, showing the team can perform on these maps but still lacks consistency. On the other hand, maps such as Bind, Haven, Split, Icebox, Pearl, and Sunset have yielded very low win rates (0–25%), indicating areas where tactical adjustments and practice are needed. Breeze and Fracture have not been used in official matches, leaving their performance on these maps untested. Overall, EG’s map pool suggests a team in transition, capable of strong performances on selected maps like Ascent, but requiring refinement to become consistently competitive across the full VALORANT map rotation.
LOUD vs Evil Geniuses – Head‑to‑Head
The head-to-head history between Evil Geniuses and LOUD shows a fairly even matchup. Since 2023, the teams have met several times in official VCT events, with both sides winning roughly the same number of series and the overall map record staying close. In 2025, LOUD picked up a clean 2–0 win over EG at the VCT Americas Kickoff, while EG later returned the favor with a 2–1 victory during Stage 1 of VCT Americas. Overall, their past meetings suggest a competitive matchup where small details and current form usually decide the outcome, rather than clear long-term dominance from either side.
Predicted result of the match between LOUD and EG at VCT 2026: Americas Kickoff
This matchup looks close on paper, but Evil Geniuses appear better positioned to come out on top. EG enter the series with slightly more stability in roles, clearer leadership with C0M calling, and a marginally more reliable map pool in high-pressure situations. LOUD are still in a rebuilding phase and have shown recurring issues on several maps, which is especially risky in a do-or-die lower bracket match. Given the bookmakers’ slight preference, EG’s recent form against comparable opponents, and their ability to close tight series, a narrow Evil Geniuses victory feels like the most realistic outcome.
Prediction: Evil Geniuses wins.
