Zellsis prevails on first showing in Cloud9 return; Eggsterr dominates

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 16/01/2026

Jordan ‘Zellsis’ Montemurro and Cloud9 got off to a confident start in VCT Americas Kickoff 2026, defeating Loud 2-0 in the first round of the upper bracket.

Zellsis was making his second debut with Cloud9, following his departure from Sentinels in October.

The victory means they will play VCT Champions 2025 winners, NRG, in Round 2 of the upper bracket.

Zellsis shows strong Attacking sides on C9 IGL debut

While Zellsis showed strong emotional leadership in Sentinels, going into VCT Americas Kickoff, there are questions surrounding his tactical leadership in the role.

In this case, the American answered the critics as Cloud9 showed a strong face against Loud, with Zellsis calling dominant attacking sides in his first showing as IGL for the organisation.

A dominant Haven, at 13-7, gave way to a hard-fought Abyss, which Cloud9 closed out 13-11.

As for Loud, they suffered their classic fate of losing despite Lucca ‘lukxo’ Travaioli topping the scoreboard.

Despite delivering a tepid performance on Haven, lukxo’s Abyss was outstanding, with the player still ending as the top-fragger in the series.

The match saw Zellsis start his second stint at Cloud9. Zellsis was also part of the North American organisation for the 2023 season, finishing 4th in the VCT Americas League.

Therefore, the scenery is familiar to the Masters Madrid 2024 champion, but so is the coach.

Britain’s Ian ‘Immi’ Harding also coached Zellsis during his time in Version1 in the burgeoning hours of Valorant’s esports scene.

Eggsterr stars in ENVY victory

Eggsterr’s meteoric rise continued on his VCT debut, with the duelist out-duelling Evil Geniuses in their contest.

The American locked in Yoru for all three maps, gradually ramping up in the series as he found his comfort.

Eggsterr grew from 15, to 20, to 28 kills in the contest, for a combined statline of 63/43/9 across the series.

The progression throughout the series is reflective of a career which has gone from strength to strength in recent months, with ENVY taking a chance on the Yoru main, ultimately leading to their VCT Americas Ascension victory.

For Evil Geniuses, it’s another disappointing collapse, as a map advantage slipped away from them.

Even in the map they won, the team struggled to cross the line despite a huge first half lead.

Luckily, VCT’s triple-elim format will give them plenty of time to tighten up those mistakes.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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