VALORANT Americas Stage 2 betting continues with Cloud9, LOUD, Evil Geniuses and MIBR all in action on Friday.
The third week of VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 Americas Stage 2 will feature two interesting games as Cloud9 take on LOUD, followed by a clash between Evil Geniuses and MIBR in an important game for favourable seeding in Group Alpha.
Esportbet brings you free VALORANT betting predictions and expert picks for the two fixtures, along with odds from the best bookmakers for esports punters.
Cloud9 have had a tough start to VCT Americas Stage 2, having dropped their first two matches of Group Omega against Sentinels and G2 Esports.
LOUD have been slightly more successful, with a 2-1 victory against KRU Esports in the opening week and a 0-2 defeat against Sentinels last Saturday.
Considering the teams’ form, it comes as no surprise that the best VALORANT bookmakers have LOUD listed as -151.52 favourites.
There are also rumours of Cloud9 dealing with internal turmoil, and the recent coaching changes, namely the promotion of Wyatt “Veer” Blevins to the head coach position, would suggest some instability.
LOUD have not been great either, and their 6-13, 7-13 loss to Sentinels last week does not inspire much confidence.
However, Cloud9’s iffy form extends far longer. They have managed only one victory since the start of Stage 1 and have lost to LOUD once already during that stretch.
LOUD to win
MIBR are firm favourites to take down Evil Geniuses on Friday and secure their third victory of the stage.
MIBR started Stage 2 with a close 1-2 loss against NRG, but have since produced two very convincing victories against ENVY and FURIA.
Across the four maps played, MIBR have dropped just 28 rounds, which includes a closely fought Haven, 14-12, against FURIA on Sunday.
Evil Geniuses are 1-1 ahead of the third week of play. They bested ENVY in the first week, but got smoked by Leviatan last Thursday, with 5-13 losses on Split and Sunset.
A big issue with Evil Geniuses is that they do not seem to have a set identity, as they continue to swap out their approaches to games.
In contrast, MIBR appear far more stable, as a team who have figured out what they want to do and how to do it.
The right team are favoured, as anything less than a 2-0 sweep for MIBR would be viewed as an upset.
MIBR -1.5 maps
Mark Prezelj
Esports Betting Analyst
Mark Prezelj is a Slovenian esports betting analyst with over 3,500 articles at EsportBet and the founder of Lines64.com — someone who has been reading odds longer than most readers have been watching esports.
