All four VCT Americas teams advanced intact through groups into the double-elimination playoffs at VALORANT Champions 2026, creating an unusually even field for the first regional elimination. With LOUD holding an upper-bracket semifinal spot against Team Vitality and the other three squads—100 Thieves, NRG, and G2 Esports—already in the lower bracket facing imminent best-of-three quarterfinals, traders see comparable risk across those three. Recent upper-bracket results, including G2’s sweep of 100 Thieves and LOUD’s win over NRG, have left the lower-bracket sides with limited margin for error against opponents like T1 and each other, keeping implied probabilities tightly clustered near 50 percent while LOUD sits at minimal risk.