Image credit: VALORANT Esports
VCT Masters Shanghai features three Americas teams that didn't qualify for the previous international tournament.
VCT Masters Shanghai starts this week and features 12 of the best teams worldwide competing in the VCT's second international tournament of the year. Masters Madrid took place just a few months prior with Sentinels of VCT Americas claiming the first title of the season. However, Sentinels have since failed to qualify for Masters Shanghai alongside LOUD, who finished in the final four of the first Masters event.
With two of VCT Americas' best and brightest not in Shanghai for the next Masters, it will now be down to 100 Thieves, G2 Esports, and Leviatán to bring the title back to North America. Of the three teams, 100T earned the direct playoff seeding after they won the Americas Stage 1 regional league while both G2 and Leviatán have to play through the Swiss Stage in hopes of qualifying for the next phase.
But what are NA's chances of securing a second consecutive Masters trophy in a row? As it stands, none of the three VCT Americas teams that qualified for Masters Shanghai have ever won an international title. And with many other regions finally starting to pick up steam, there are also many other contenders on the list, most notably Fnatic, who were last season's VCT LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo winners.
Both Paper Rex and Gen.G Esports from VCT Pacific also stand a fair shot to clinch a first-ever international trophy as both teams have already been to the grand finals in under a year. PRX came close last year during Champions and Gen.G also had a similar run during Masters Madrid.
VCT Masters Shanghai - Can the Americas take it once more?
The Americas region currently has two teams that have qualified for the playoffs: 100 Thieves and most recently, G2 Esports. This came after G2 won its opening series against T1 before going the distance against Team Heretics to secure a playoff spot. Leviatán also kept its tournament hopes alive after a decisive victory against T1 saw them eliminate the Pacific squad earlier today.
But how great are each Americas team's chances of lifting the VCT Masters Shanghai trophy? Out of the three teams still in the tournament, two have VCT Champions winners whilst the other have three-fifths of the Americas Ascension victors of last season.
100 Thieves: If its run during the VCT Americas Stage 1 was anything to go by, 100 Thieves could prove to be a potential dark horse when the playoffs begin. They were capable of not only eliminating LOUD, but also managed to defeat G2 twice as well as the region's first superteam, Leviatán. However, it is no surprise that 100 Thieves would be able to go on such a fine run of form given how well its IGL has been calling.
Kelden “Boostio” Pupello was one of the masterminds behind Evil Geniuses winning VCT Champions last year and he has since brought that same level of skill and talent to 100 Thieves. It also helps that his team is severely underrated given that it's the first international LAN in over a year for four-fifths of the squad. And their performances during the Stage 1 playoffs could be a precursor to just how far 100 Thieves can go at VCT Masters Madrid.
G2 Esports: As the VCT Americas second seed, G2 Esports became the first team to qualify for the playoffs from the Swiss Stage after they defeated both T1 and Team Heretics. They have been a revelation this season ever since the org took over The Guard's roster that won VCT Americas Ascension last year. Having still maintained three-fifths of that roster, G2 has been able to be one of the better teams coming from Ascension in terms of performance.
But G2 has been more than just that so far. Despite all the drama it has had to go through in the past year, the team itself has performed well to keep the talk directly at its performances, for which there isn't much to complain about either. And the fact that G2 decided to keep Jacob “valyn” Batio has been crucial given how well he has played the IGL role.
Leviatán: Dubbed as one of the Americas' superteams, Leviatán has only recently begun to live up to its expectations. Having missed out on Masters Madrid just a few months prior after a poor Americas Kickoff showing, they have since bounced back with a third-place finish at Americas Stage 1. That was enough for them to make it to the Swiss Stage of Masters Shanghai where they have since lost to Gen.G Esports in the opening match-up but managed to eliminate its fellow Pacific compatriot, T1.
And at the helm of Leviatán's recent performances at Masters Shanghai was Erick “aspas” Santos, who has been in sensational form as of late. Despite losing the opening series, aspas out-fragged the rest of Gen.G with his Jett on Breeze in particular stood out with eight first kills to only one first death. He would go on to out-frag the rest of T1 as well in the earlier series for today to prove that he is still the same player that won Champions back in 2022.
