After Sentinels fans rooted for NRG to fall in the NA VALORANT Champions Tour Stage Two group stage, they’re cheering for them now. NRG’s victory over Ghost Gaming in the lower bracket of the Stage Two playoffs on Friday both eliminated Ghost, and locked in a Last Chance Qualifier spot for Sentinels.
The series started on Breeze, with both sides reaching a stalemate in the first half, tied 6-6. NRG took a huge advantage in the second half on attack, taking pistol, anti-eco, and the bonus round to grow their lead and break the Ghost bank early. They turned a 6-6 tie into an 11-6 lead, forcing a Ghost timeout. Ghost finally notched a defensive round win after the timeout, thanks to a Hall hold by NiSMO, but NRG went right back to winning after a successful B execute, and ended up stealing away Ghost’s pick with a dominant attack side. The map was a great team effort from NRG, with four of their five players notching 13 kills or more.
Ghost got off to a much better start on Icebox, taking the first four rounds on defense. NRG struggled to get any plants down safely all half, and just barely managed to secure three rounds on the attack side. They quickly reduced Ghost’s lead after switching sides, however, thanks to stalwart defense from tex on Chamber. NRG chipped away, with Ghost just out of reach at 9-8, then 12-11, before a wave of NRG utility in the 24th round kept Ghost off the site, finally tying the score and sending Icebox to overtime.
Tex struck first in overtime for NRG, breaking open the B site on attack with four kills. NRG set up a brutal crossfire on A on defense, lighting up the attacking Ghost team and making quick work of overtime, taking Icebox 14-12 and the series 2-0.
NRG, who was 1-3 heading into the final week of group play, has now won two straight elimination series. They’ll have to win three more in a row if they want to complete the unlikely run to Masters Copenhagen. Ghost, who finished second in their group, are now out of playoffs after two straight losses, and are also out of LCQ contention, finishing with 35 VCT points behind Sentinels with 45. As for Sentinels…
…they enjoyed their VCT viewing experience.
