Sentinels Win VCT Americas Kickoff

Sentinels secure 3 Championship Points by winning the Americas Kickoff Grand Final

The last time Sentinels won a VCT event was in 2021, the team’s best year to date. So far, the start of 2024 is looking excellent for the North Americans, as not only have they secured a spot at Masters Madrid, but they have won the Grand Final of the Kickoff against LOUD as well.

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This victory was a statement made by the team as LOUD were considered the favorites of the event alongside NRG. Sentinels continued their impeccable form we saw at the AfreecaTV Valorant League with new IGL Mouhamed “johnqt” Ouarid leading the team to its first title in a long time.

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Tyson “TenZ” Ngo was the MVP of the series, securing a 246 ACS on the flex role. His performance on Omen has been on top of the chart, and the former star Duelist is on his path to becoming one of the best Controllers in North America.

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Sentinels made it out of the “group of death” that had both LOUD and Leviatán. Then, the North Americans secured the playoffs after winning their maps during the play-ins.

The semifinal match against NRG was the biggest test for the team, as it was the only obstacle standing between them and Madrid. Even though NRG was the clear favorite, Sentinels came out strong at the end with a 2-1 victory.

Map 1: Another TenZ Domination on Sunset

Similar to the performance we saw against NRG, TenZ once again showed an excellent map with Omen, securing 289 ACS through 24-13 K-D.

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Sentinels enjoyed a dominating attack, scoring 8-4 in the first half thanks to Gustavo “Sacy” Rossi and Zachary “zekken” Patrone making incredible plays. The defense was a playground for TenZ, where he had a 12-3 K-D.

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Map 2: Sentinels Split Masterclass 

Split has been the best map for Sentinels, as we have seen them dominate against NRG (13-3) and Leviatán (13-3) with overwhelming map differentials. 

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Similar to their last two times playing this map, the North Americans secured another 13-3 victory on Split against LOUD. This time, zekken was the MVP with a 16-7 K-D and a 275 ACS. 

Map 3: tuyz Help LOUD to Bounce Back

Icebox had a much closer scoreline compared to Split, where we saw LOUD’s entire roster collectively putting up their best performance with the Viper-Harbor comp. On the other hand, TenZ switched to KAY/O while johnqt played Viper as the only Controller.

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Arthur “tuyz” Vieira and Felipe “Less” Basso were the heroes from the side of the Brazilians on this map, getting incredible multi-kills that led to a great 8-4 attack. Sentinels tried to bring it back on their attacking half, even getting a map lead by 11-10. 

LOUD closed it out by winning three rounds in a row, and many of their defensive side wins resulted from the OP in the hands of Gabriel “Quick” Lima.

Map 4: Quick Shut Down Sentinels on Bind

Quick returned to playing Phoenix on Bind as the only Duelist for LOUD, and he was able to stop any and all aggression from the side of Sentinels with their Raze-Yoru comp.

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LOUD’s double-Initiator and double-Controller comp made it hard for Sentinels to take map control on defense, resulting in a 9-3 half favoring the Brazilians. In the next half, the North Americans tried to string a few rounds with the TenZ-zekken duo but were ultimately stopped by LOUD.

This Bo5 Grand Final led to a fifth map, where the winner of Lotus would take it all.

Map 5: Sentinels Overpower LOUD on Lotus

Sentinels kicked off Lotus with a 6-0 start, and it was clear that the Raze was a much better pick than the Phoenix from the side of LOUD. By playing a dive Agent, zekken was able to take fast map control on A, beating the speed of Quick’s Phoenix.

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The incredible outplays and map rotations helped Sentinels get a comfortable 10-2 attack score, and they were able to close it out with zekken’s incredible performance on Raze. The Duelist had 307 ACS by the end of the map, helping SEN defeat LOUD with a dominating 13-4 scoreline.

With such excellent form going for the team, Sentinels will be a force to reckon with at Masters Madrid starting March 14.