LOUD edge NRG 2-1 at VCT Champions 2026 to set up Team Vitality rematch
The Brazilian side, rated 51st, beat 12th-ranked NRG in the upper bracket semi-final, dropping Keiko and his teammates into the lower bracket.
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LOUD beat NRG 2-1 in the second upper bracket semi-final of VCT Champions 2026 on Saturday 10 October. NRG, with British player Keiko on the roster, now drop into the lower bracket of the playoffs.
On paper this was an upset. NRG came in ranked 12th in the Elo power rankings with a rating of 1791 and a 73-36 record across 109 rated matches. LOUD sat 51st on 1672, with a losing 29-37 record from 66 matches. Over three maps, the gap counted for nothing.
LOUD claimed the opener in 46 minutes. NRG answered with the longest map of the series, a 49-minute win on map two, to force a decider. The third map was the quickest of the three. LOUD closed it out in 36 minutes.
The result ends a three-match winning run for NRG at the event. The US-based side had beaten Nongshim RedForce 2-0, Karmine Corp 2-1 and T1 2-0 before running into LOUD.
For Keiko, the UK’s representative on the NRG roster, the tournament continues, though now without any further margin for error.
The rivalry is now firmly LOUD’s. These sides had split their four previous meetings in 2026. LOUD won 2-0 and NRG 3-0 at the Esports World Cup Americas Qualifier in late May and early June. In VCT Americas Stage 2, NRG won 2-1 on 28 August before LOUD edged a 3-2 thriller on 5 September. Saturday’s result makes it two in a row for the Brazilian org.
LOUD have now won three straight at Champions. After a 2-0 win over EDward Gaming and a 0-2 defeat to Team Vitality, they recovered with 2-0 victories over Global Esports and Paper Rex before this one.
LOUD’s reward is another shot at Team Vitality, the only side to have beaten them at this event. Vitality reached that meeting by sweeping G2 Esports 2-0 in the first upper bracket semi-final, having earlier edged Nongshim RedForce 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
NRG’s lower bracket path runs alongside 100 Thieves and T1, who both survived round 1. 100 Thieves knocked out Nongshim RedForce 2-1 and T1 eliminated Paper Rex by the same score. T1 will be a familiar face for NRG, who beat them 2-0 in the upper bracket quarter-finals.
LOUD and Team Vitality meet on Friday 16 October, two days before the event finishes on 18 October.
