North America versus Europe – NA strikes first at Masters Reykjavik

North America triumphed over the kings of Europe in their debut matchups on Tuesday, May 25 in Reykjavík, Iceland.

VALORANT Champions Tour Masters 2: Reykjavík was the centerpiece for the long-awaited North America versus Europe battle. After months of back and forth banter between the two regions, it all came to a close on the second day of Masters 2. North America landed the first strike against the Europeans with both Version1 and Sentinels winning their matchups.

Team Liquid and FNATIC had taken turns at the top of the European VALORANT scene, while NA had been more hit and miss. Sentinels have remained at the top of the standings, but have also shown that they are not invincible. Version1, on the other hand, had been completely unproven until their miracle run at Challengers Finals. Masters 2 was the perfect stage for the teams to clash in the battle from across the pond.

NA versus EU has carried over in several different esports titles, most notably League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. While each title has its powerhouse teams, NA has always been seen as the inferior region when compared to EU. However, that narrative is slowly changing now that both EU teams are in the lower bracket.

Version1 take down Team Liquid, Sentinels dismantle FNATIC

Version1 forced Team Liquid to triple overtime in the first match after going down 10-5 on Split. Erik “penny” Penny from Version1 was out-classing Team Liquid’s Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen with the Operator throughout the entire match. While Version1 may have lost the first map, the first overtime of Masters 2 was one to remember. Ascent was another close map for Version1 who eventually came out on top 13-11 by narrowly avoiding another overtime. However, on the final map of the series, Team Liquid looked like a completely different team. Version1 was out-smarting and gunning the Europeans at every turn for a decisive 13-4 win.

WE ARE ZELLSIS!@Zellsis | #VALORANTMasters pic.twitter.com/ZoIsB6Eu3C

— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) May 25, 2021

FNATIC’s matchup against the NA powerhouse Sentinels was a similar story to Team Liquid’s. Except, instead of penny for Version1, Sentinels had Tyson “TenZ” Ngo – who seemed to get better when playing on LAN. A close game one and two eventually went the way of Sentinels, 2-0. Both EU teams dropped down to the lower bracket of Masters 2 while NA soars high in the upper. Sentinels will face off against Team Vikings while Version1 takes on NUTURN on Thursday, May 27.