Sentinels Send Paper Rex Home To Make Grand Final Appearance

The first seeds of the Americas and Pacific regions showed the world why they deserved it. Sentinels demolished Paper Rex in a 3-1 series to reach the Grand Final, where they will play against the new boys on the block, Gen.G. 

On the previous day of Masters Madrid, the Sentinels could not find their form and displayed a disappointing performance against the South Korean squad, losing the 1-2. WIth this defeat, they were sent down to the Lower Bracket to play against Paper Rex. 

Map 1 – Lotus

The series started with the comfort pick for Sentinels, Lotus. The boys in red were off to a flying start with an early 4-0 lead on defense, but Paper Rex did not let that slide, winning six in a row to take the lead. Thanks to zekken who got four opening kills in the first half, Sentinels could salvage their defense, ending the half 6-6. 

The second half was completely back-and-forth, with zekken and TenZ stepping up for Sentinels, while something and mindfreak countered. After the Sentinels choked a 12-10 lead, Paper Rex managed to take the game into overtime.

Still, the North American superteam could sweep the first two rounds of overtime to clinch the map 14-12.

Map 2 – Ascent

Next on the list was Paper Rex’s map choice of Ascent. Right off the bat, Zellsis got a four-kill round to propel Sentinels to a 4-2 lead on defense. However, Paper Rex showed they were no flukes, winning a Thrifty and ultimately ending the half at 6-6 on such a defense-sided map. 

Despite the Southeast Asian representatives being favored going into the second half, the Sentinels won the pistol round and six more consecutive rounds, closing the map 13-6 and giving Paper Rex zero rounds on their defense. 

Zekken continued to display his star-level performance, going 25/10/3 to put Sentinels up 2-0.

Map 3 – Split

Though f0rsaken and company seemed outclassed, they did not want to exit the tournament without a fight. On Split, the entire Paper Rex team woke up, contributing evenly on their defensive side to take an 8-4 lead at halftime. 

Monyet silenced the doubters and showed he deserved his position in the team, as he went absolutely insane on the attacking side. Paper Rex won five out of six rounds in the second half to win the map 13-5. On offense alone, Monyet went 15/2/1 to end the map 24/10/3.

Map 4 – Sunset

Unfortunately, we got an anti-climactic end to the series, as the Sentinels dismantled Paper Rex on Sunset. 

Map 4 turned out to be the TenZ and zekken show, as both players were denying Paper Rex of any of the little hope they had left in the series. The first half ended 9-3 in favor of the Sentinels, and they put Paper Rex out of their misery after winning four straight on offense to win the map 13-3 and the series with it.

The top performer of the series, as to be expected, was zekken, who went 88/55/13. No Paper Rex player posted a positive rating, as all five suffered a negative KDA. 

Image: Valorant Esports

The Final Day Of Masters Madrid Dawns Upon Us

The Malaysian/Singaporean organization will exit the tournament in third place. Though they showed signs of improvement throughout their run in Madrid, Paper Rex is only a shell of what they used to be. Hopefully, they can integrate Monyet to the roster and pick up the pace in the next event.

On the other hand, Sentinels, who had not played in an international for over 900 days before qualifying for this tournament, will make a Grand Final appearance in front of the Spanish crowd. However, they will have to slay their demons, as they will face Gen.G, the team that defeated them yesterday. 

The map pools of both teams will be tested, as the series will be played in a Best of 5 format. The real test begins. 

Header: Sentinels