The Guard spoil Shroud’s VCT debut in record breaking match

Sentinels are off to a shaky start in the NA VCT Last Chance Qualifiers, dropping to the lower bracket after a disappointing loss to The Guard in their first match of the event.

The Guard thrashed Sentinels in the first round of the NA last chance qualifier, spoiling the debut of the popular streamer, Michael “shroud” Grzesiek in competitive play. After dropping the first map, Guard pulled off an amazing comeback, securing Ascent and Icebox to close the series with a victory.

Match Summary

Sentinels came out hot in the opening maps of the best of three series and maintained its momentum throughout the first half. Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro put on a brilliant performance in the first map for Sentinels, posting an Average Combat Score(ACS) of 271 with a K/D/A of 29/18/13. Zellsis’s brilliant fragging ability overshadowed the match-saving efforts of Trent “trent” Cairns, who put up a valiant fight against the Sentinels and at times even forced them to the backfoot. The game ended with a 12:12 scoreline after a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, adding a few more rounds of action in the series. In overtime, Sentinel secured three consecutive rounds to seal the deal with victory, putting the pressure back on Guard.

Sentinels brought the momentum to Ascent and got out to a quick 4-0 lead. Trent, though, once more came to the Guard’s aid, tying the game at 6-6 to close out the first half. The Guard seized the momentum and mounted relentless counterattacks to extend their lead to 12-7. Sentinels attempted to mount a comeback by winning three rounds in a row, but Trent and the team managed to win one more round to end their comeback attempts.

A thrilling best-of-three series culminated on the final map Icebox, where Guard dominated most of the first half. The Sentinels, however, pulled off a stunning comeback in the second half to tie the game at 12-12, forcing a second overtime. After losing the first round in overtime, Guard rallied and won three consecutive rounds to win the map and the series. As a result of the match, the Guard advanced to the second round of NA LCQ, while Sentinels fell to the lower bracket of the tournament.

Shroud’s Sentinels debut at the VCT LCQ draws 500k+ viewers

Shroud buff definitely boosted the viewership of the tournament, regardless of whether the ex-CS:GO veteran had an impact on the team’s performance. The team’s first game broke the all-time high viewership mark for games in a NA VCT league. According to Esports Charts, viewership for the Sentinels match peaked at over 585,000, which is an impressive crowd for a qualifier match.

This includes viewership of Valorant’s official Twitch, YouTube, and several watch parties hosted by creators like Hiko, Tarik, Kyedae, and AverageJones. Sentinel were also part of the second most watched North American match of all time. Approximately 361,000 people watched Sentinels play Luminosity during Stage One Masters last year, according to Esports Charts.

Header: Sentinels