Sentinels took down Fnatic to win the grand final of VALORANT Champions Tour Masters 2: ReykjavÃk. Although they won the match 3-0, each map came down to the wire as Sentinels fought through multiple overtime rounds to win the tournament.
Throughout the overall tournament, Sentinels never dropped a map and thus end the tournament undefeated at the first LAN for VALORANT.
Close shave on Split
The grand finale of VCT Masters 2 started on Split, Sentinels’ map pick. During their EMEA qualifier, Fnatic almost always banned the map before having to play it against Team Liquid in the grand final. At the time, Fnatic ran a triple duelist set up, eschewing the new Viper/Astra meta they hadn’t ever played. Against Sentinels, however, Fnatic seemed well versed on the map. Jake “Boaster” Howlett’s Astra performed well in key situations, and Martin “Magnum” Peňkov’s Cypher kept the B site locked down.
However, Fnatic’s setup left a gaping hole: mid vent. Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan picked up on this and abused the opportunity. Then, after a brief technical pause, Fnatic was back. Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev’s Operator got pick after pick and Tyson “TenZ” Ngo’s initial momentum from the start had evaporated.
The half ended 7-5 with Sentinels barely in the lead. After they won the pistol and follow-up, Sentinels looked like they would steamroll and finish. However, the momentum started swinging in favor of Fnatic. Additionally, mixing in fast plays threw Sentiels off. With Boaster’s flank working each round, Fnatic strung together six rounds to establish an 11-10 score line. The map getting so close eventually woke TenZ up again, and he took multiple triple kills to force overtime. The Sentinels’ punch back helped them win map one 14-12.
Overtime? We always clutch up. pic.twitter.com/uGKJcDBUR6
— Sentinels (@Sentinels) May 30, 2021
Sentinels barely take Fnatic’s map: Bind
Arguably one of the best teams on the map, Fnatic started off using teleporter fakes and viper lineups to guarantee rounds. At first, only TenZ’s triple kills did much to help his team take any round while each member of Fnatic was playing their A-game and strategically outplaying Sentinels. However, Hunter “SicK” Mims started to get into the match with Raze and joined TenZ on the top of the scoreboard. This put push helped Sentinels start catching up at the half.
In the second half, Fnatic took the pistol, but it was all Sentinels after that. Fnatic kept pushing, but Sentinels were ready for it and picked off players to tie the game, 9-9. TenZ and SicK kept steamrolling, but Boaster and Fnatic’s utility secured overtime to extend map two.
But just like map one, Sentinels looked fresh in overtime. Each team member worked together to get the first OT round before Magnum got a multi-kill to force a second overtime. TenZ stepped up even more, getting the first round in double OT for his team and surpassing 30 total kills. Again, on the second round, Magnum flanked as Sentinels took A. Finally, off the back of ShahZaM stepping up and getting a triple, Sentinels won the map 16-14.
Sentinels conquer
Haven featured ultimate battle between the two teams. Despite being down 0-2, Fnatic kept fighting and won both the pistol and follow-up round. However, TenZ played like he wanted to win VCT Masters 2 without dropping a map. As Jett, he entered sites to perfection with both knives and his phantom. Fnatic were still found kills, though, and each round came down to the wire. Sentinels just always had the edge with a clutch by ShahZaM and no time left to defuse in another round.
During the first half, Fnatic looked defeated as Sentinels went up 9-3. But, in the second half, Derke revitalized his team attempted to start a comeback. Fnatic put up six consecutive rounds to tie the game 9-9 before Sentinels finally got another round. Yet, Sentinels did enough to recover and closed out the map.
A HISTORIC DAY FOR NORTH AMERICA.
SENTINELS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS! pic.twitter.com/9EhZnLuz0c
— Sentinels (@Sentinels) May 30, 2021
At VALORANT’s first-ever, North America’s favorite, Sentinels, reigned supreme. But now that the tournament is over, it’s unclear what will happen to the roster. Before Iceland, Cloud 9 confirmed TenZ would play with Sentinels throughout the event, but will he go back to Cloud 9 or stay with his winning roster?
Published: May 30, 2021 04:47 pm