In the first match of the lower bracket at the VALORANT Champions Tour 2022 North America Last Chance Qualifiers, Sentinels beat Shopify Rebellion 2-0 to stay alive in the competition. This marks their first win with their new roster and also eliminates Shopify Rebellion from Champions.
It’s do or die for these two teams. Our first elimination match of #VALORANTLCQ is going to be a banger. Tune in now!
⚔️ @ShopifyRebels vs. @Sentinels
🗺 Breeze / Fracture / Split
📺 https://t.co/PAc0GZcKOV pic.twitter.com/gLcEnjW4VF— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) August 6, 2022
Sentinels’ new duo lead them to victory at VCT NA LCQ
One of the highlights of this series was the impressive performances from both new signings. They both did well in their loss to The Guard, but both also stepped up in this series to stay in the NA LCQ. Looking back at the mistakes they’ve made, Zellsis knew they all revolved around small things they could fix.
“We have a lot of little new team mistakes, which can cost us,” said Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro. “But we’ve only been playing for two and half weeks now together. We’re learning still and I think our improvements are going to be getting rid of those little mistakes.”
Zellsis in particular was crucial to their Fracture play, top fragging as Neon. One of his best moments was a sneaky 3k in overtime to give Sentinels the lead they ended up capitalizing on.
>gets 3k
>refuses to elaborate
>@Zellsis moment#VCTNA pic.twitter.com/t8NiRHslIM— VALORANTING (@VALORANTING) August 7, 2022
“Our plan was to shut them down somewhere in overtime and I ended up choosing B main,” Zellsis said. “I know they flashed that area before entry, so when I heard the A comms early and they weren’t playing fast there, I thought I could play next to the smoke. They ended up doing exactly as they did before and it ended up working out.”
As for Shroud, he was the key force in their first map win on Breeze, top fragging in the lobby as Viper while still performing well as Brimstone on Fracture. In the end, both players peaked in this series, helping Sentinels eliminate Shopify Rebellion and continue their lower bracket run.
Sentinels will face the loser from the FaZe Clan and 100 Thieves matchup in the lower bracket next, on Aug. 11.
Shopify Rebellion are first team eliminated from the NA LCQ
Shopify Rebellion are the first to be eliminated in this tournament. With that, their 2022 VCT season is over despite showing moments both in this tournament and throughout the season that hinted at a possible competitor. Talking to one of their players after the game, it was clear that the loss was tough to deal with.
“I’m at a loss for words,” said Brandon Michael “bdog” Sanders. “The year’s done. I know that our roster had the potential all year but we couldn’t really blow up and show what we’re really made of.”
Despite losing both matches in a 2-0 fashion, the maps were closer than the sweeps showed. Their worst map loss ended up as a 13-8 to Sentinels on Breeze. Even then, on Fracture with their lives on the line, they managed to take the map to overtime and fight deep into it. It wasn’t until the fourth overtime where Sentinels won two rounds in a row to secure the win 17-15. Even with the loss, bdog looks over the year knowing that he got better and can take that into next year.
“I feel like I personally improved a lot as a player,” bdog said, “so at least I can take that forward into my future.”
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