Masters Reykjavík: Sentinels dispatch Vikings with ease to advance to Upper Bracket Final

After two matches in the lower bracket on day 3 of VCT 2021 - Stage 2 - Masters Reykjavík, matches that saw X10 Esports and KRÜ Esports both advance to face the two European rosters who were taken down by both North American teams, we get to see everyone's favorite team, Sentinels. Coming into the match, pretty much every analyst expected Sentinels to come away with the victory, and the fan vote was at an astounding 89% in favor of them.

The match began on Icebox, the map pick of Team Vikings. Choosing this map was a huge risk, as we all saw Sentinels handle Fnatic, which despite a scoreline of 13-11, they controlled what seemed like every round. After splitting the first two pistols, solely based on the backs of NA's own prodigy Tyson "TenZ" Ngo outstanding Marshall aim.

The teams would go on to split the majority of the first half rounds, with Sentinels taking a 7-5 lead at half. However the second half was all Sentinels, as they would take 6 rounds on their attack side. Once again, Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan and TenZ combined for 40 total kills, as both finished with an ACS over 250, showing that the two duelist meta that they use has it's own place in the VALORANT world.

The second map in the series was Haven, Sentinels own map choice. A map that they have an 80% win rate, with 51 wins and 13 losses. On their attack side, Team Vikings could not get anything figured out, as they were not able to get any rounds until round 8. They would end up with only 2 attack rounds. Part of the letdown had to be the Phoenix pick of Leandro "frz" Gomes. On the Vikings defensive side, it seemed as if they were able to finally figure out what Sentinels were going to, whether that was full push A, or a garage/long split into C, they had every site locked down. In the end, only getting 2 attack rounds is what put their hopes in the coffin, with the North Americans taking it home 13-6.

With this win, Sentinels moves on to the upper bracket final, where they will take on the winner of NUTURN and Version1, a match that takes place tomorrow. Meanwhile, Team Vikings head to the lower bracket where they will face off against either Team Liquid or KRÜ Esports.