The Guard will face OpTic Gaming in the Upper Bracket Finals of VCT Challengers

The Guard confirmed their spot at the Upper bracket Finals after clinching an outstanding victory in their last match against Luminosity gaming. The Guard will fight team OpTic Gaming in the upper bracket finals with a chance to qualify for Masters Reykjavík, the first International LAN event of Valorant in 2022.

The Guard yet again proved their dominance at VCT challenger One playoff. After winning two consecutive matches in an outstanding manner, the team enters the VCT Challenger Final.

 

The Guard and team Luminosity, both tried to gain early control of the game and constantly tried to build pressure on the opposition. Both the team equally controlled the first half and the scoreline of 6-6 after the first half of Bind, proves it. In the second half of Bind, Team Guard went for an aggressive start and successfully executed their play without taking heavy casualties. The team won the Bind pick by a 13-10 scoreline.

Despite a fantastic performance from ‘dazzLe’ and ‘bdog’ in Icebox, Luminosity failed to convert it into a win. The killing machine ‘Sayaplayer’ charged at Luminosity and the entire team surrendered to his terrific play with Jett. The perfect ending to the match had already been set by Sayaplayer but, it was ‘trent’ who finished it in style with a 1v3. It’s like Sayaplayer held the nail and ‘trent’ hammered it into the coffin to send Luminosity back immediately in the lower bracket with a 5-13 defeat.

With this win, Guard moves into the upper bracket finals, where they will face Optics on Friday, March 25. The winner will receive an invitation to Masters with a trip to Iceland, and a spot in the grand finals. The stage is set for both of the teams; the one who can showcase their best play by overcoming the fear of losing is likely to win.

A shocking exit of team Sentinels

Sentinels faced a heartbreaking defeat against Version1 in round 1 of the lower bracket and the team was eliminated from the tournament as this was the second consecutive series lost by Sentinels in the VCT challengers playoffs. (First was against The Guard)

 

As a recap of the game, team Sentinels dominated the opening map. TenZ racked up a whopping 31 kills in the first Map alone, leading the team to a 13-7 victory in Haven. Despite a strong start, the squad faltered in Ascent and Fracture, losing both maps by a score of 13-9 and 13-8, respectively. Version 1 players were more composed, catching their opponents off guard several times and punishing them for every mistake they made.

Fans will find it difficult to accept the team’s early exit from the tournament, especially after the previous season’s performance. We are hopeful that the squad will identify the issues that contributed to this unfortunate exit and they will return stronger in future events.