The upper bracket finals were decided as FaZe and Sentinels both advanced with 2-0 wins.
FaZe have continued to look like one of the best teams in North America, easily taking down the Challengers 2 Champions, Envy. Both of these teams have shown reliance on their duelist fraggers in the past, Victor “food” Wong and Andrej “babybay” Francisty standing as the pillars for their respective teams. FaZe is one of the few teams that first pick Icebox, but showed why by keeping Envy to 6 round wins.
Game 2 was marginally closer but ultimately had the same result as FaZe won 8-13. Landing as FaZe’s MVP for the third series in a row, Babybay ended with 43 kills and an astonishing 182 ADR. Babybay, and fellow FaZe fraggers, made Envy look invisible and comparatively passive. Quite a feat considering how Envy dismantled Gen.G just days prior.
The second series saw a statement win from this new Sentinels roster. 100 Thieves had the advantage on paper going into the first map, Ascent, given it is their highest map pick with an impressive 62% round win rate on attacker side. This was anything but the case, as SicK had an incredible game that cemented him as one of the best Phoenixs in NA, ending with 1.27 KPR, 192 ADR, and an overall ACS of 344. In the few rounds 100 Thieves were capable of putting together cohesive plays, Sentinel’s temporary replacement, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, quickly dashed any hopes of preventing this 13-2 stomp.
100 Thieves did a much better job at picking up early rounds in both halves on Haven. Still trailing at the beginning of their attacker side, 100 Thieves managed to tie the game and bring it to 6 extra rounds of OT. Ethan “Ethan” Arnold willed his team into putting up a fight, dropping 29 kills and 156 ADR. Considering this is still Ethan’s first full tournament as a VALORANT player, this ability to carry games is certainly promising for 100 Thieves despite the loss. Ultimately, SicK and TenZ were able to close out the game 16-14.
Now falling into the lower bracket, 100 Thieves’ run will only get harder as they will have to get past their lower bracket semis opponent and potentially Envy. As for Sentinels, their casual but dominant style will certainly be challenged by FaZe’s ultra-aggressive assault.
Also read:
- Europe sees first big upset win in the EU Masters
- Check out who 100 Thieves and Envy will play in the lower bracket
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