It does look like the two juggernauts of North American VALORANT haven’t started on a strong foot this year in VCT Americas. Now, NRG Esports and 100 Thieves face off against each other in the lower bracket of the VCT Americas Kickoff 2025. Let’s find out which team will come out on top and avoid elimination.
100 Thieves vs NRG Esports: VCT Americas Kickoff 2025 Preview
Image Credits: Riot Games
The first team to look out for within this match-up is NRG Esports. The North American squad has filled its roster with some of the best players on the continent. But their journey in the VCT Americas Kickoffs hasn’t been smooth sailing.
NRG, with the likes of s0m and FiNESSE, lost their first match to Cloud 9. They lost in a clean sweep, with the scoreline of the series being 2-0. During this game, one could see a few cracks within the squad. During the first map, NRG Esports went down 10-2. While on attack, they could recover to 12-12, but it wasn’t enough as they couldn’t keep up the momentum.
100 Thieves, on the other hand, is one of the most popular esports organizations in the VCT Americas. This season, they started with a dominating victory against the South American team of MIBR, which consisted of the likes of Aspas. During this game, they defeated them with a scoreline of 2-0.
But, like every year, 100 Thieves lost to their Kyrpotnite, Sentinels. The new roster, with bang and N4RRATE, was created after Tenz announced his retirement. During this game, 100 Thieves started strong, winning the first map, but then went on to get reversed sweep.
Series Breakdown
If we look at the previous performances of the two teams during VCT Americas Kickoff 2025, 100 Thieves has a higher chance of winning this game. The current issue with 100 Thieves, however, is that if they lose a round, they tend to lose the next two rounds as well. This is visible in both – attack and defense. The team must develop strategies to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
The goal for NRG Esports is simple: to ensure they can keep the lead. During their match against Cloud 9, they were up 9-6 but then lost the game 10-13. Thus, NRG must keep their nerves in check when they are in the lead.
Our prediction for this series is 2-1 in favor of 100 Thieves.