G2 books tickets to Shanghai, LOUD continues playoffs run

The first half of the Stage 2 Americas playoffs have concluded, with the top four teams set and ready for São Paulo. After today's matches, only two spots at Champions remain up for grabs.

G2 finds big win over LEVIATÁN to secure third Champions berth

The first match of the day pitted two powerhouse Americas teams against each other. While LEVIATÁN and G2 Esports met in the upper final and grand final last stage, this time, they were fighting for elimination and to secure their spot at Champions. The winner would punch their ticket to Shanghai, while the other puts their fate in the hands of others.

The first map was Split, where Leviatán have remained undefeated on since the beginning of Masters London. G2's preparation on the map gave them an early lead, but Leviatán were eventually able to adapt and win the map 13-10, pushing their win streak on the map up to 10.

Leviatán own split, and blowz shows G2 why.

However, on the other two maps, Abyss and Summit, Leviatán found themselves outclassed by the resurging G2. The two newest maps to the pool went convincingly the way of G2, who won 13-9 and 13-8 respectively. In doing so, they continued their run through the lower bracket, with their fifth consecutive win and eliminated the Masters London winners from playoffs. In doing so, they secure a spot at Champions for the third year in a row, and reach their eighth international event in a row. Leviatán, on the other hand, are now at risk of missing Champions should both NRG and G2 fail to reach the grand final.

BABYBAY infiltrates the backlines of Leviatán.

LOUD takes down MIBR to reach home crowd in São Paulo

The second match of the day was between LOUD and MIBR , both needing to run all the way to the grand final to qualify for Champions. For MIBR, failure here would spell utter disappointment for the caliber of roster put together, and would be the first time aspas misses out on Champions. LOUD on the other hand, are the group of plucky underdogs showing that they can hang with the best of Americas.

They proved that they could do more than hang today as they won the match in 2-0 fashion. Two 13-10s led by lukxo on map one and erde on map two punched their ticket to the top four in São Paulo. There, they'll have the advantage of the home crowd, but will have to face a difficult gauntlet of North American teams if they want to reach Champions.

lukxo is always a consistent performer for LOUD.

Champions scenarios

Americas will continue next week with the top four, crowning the Stage 2 winners and deciding the four teams that will make it to Shanghai. Here's how every team can qualify:

NRG

Qualified for Champions regardless of placement.

G2 Esports

Qualified for Champions regardless of placement.

100 Thieves

Qualifies unless third place finish and LOUD top two.

LEVIATÁN

Needs one of NRG or G2 to finish top two.

LOUD

Needs top two finish.