Going into the final match of the VCT Americas Kickoff play-in stage, Sentinels needed one map win against G2 to secure a spot in the semifinals. With that map now secured, what they really need is some time to rest before their decisive match against NRG.
Across the VCT Americas Kickoff tournament, Sentinels have notched a total of 265 rounds of VALORANT between five series, a number greater than the combined 255 rounds played by the three group winners: LOUD with 113, NRG with 90, and Evil Geniuses with just 52. All three of those teams also played a total of zero matches in offseason events, while Sentinels alone played 11 (including the Tarik Invitational showmatch).
Of course, Sentinels played more rounds given the format and the position they found themselves in. Sentinels have played five series alone throughout the VCT Americas Kickoff event, while the other three teams played five combined. This, however, has drawn some criticism from Sentinels fans toward the format as it indirectly gives the other teams more Sentinels material to anti-strat with as a “winner’s advantage.” VCT Americas fans in general have also criticized the format as two of the three maps played between G2 and Sentinels last night were effectively for nothing.
Following a long play-in day, many of the Sentinels members said their energy reserves felt depleted after getting that needed map win against G2 on Sunset. Zellsis said the team was “gassed” after Sunset, and TenZ said he felt like passing out after the day ended. The team struggled to even catch a break during the final match as coach kaplan revealed the refs mistakenly told him he was out of tactical timeouts when he wasn’t.
The combination of relief and exhaustion was evident in the remaining two maps in the G2 vs. Sentinels match. But the good news for Sentinels and their fans is they have a lot more time to rest and prepare for NRG as the VCT Americas Kickoff semifinals aren’t slated to start until Saturday, March 2.
