Sentinels Breeze Past Vikings at VCT Masters Iceland 2021: Stats, Highlights and Interview

The top Valorant teams from North America and Brazil went up against each other tonight at the VCT 2021: Stage 2 Masters - Reykjavík, as Sentinels handed a rough ‘2-0’ defeat to Team Vikings. Once again the duo of ShahZaM and TenZ led the charge for the North American organization, but this time the others were not too far behind. They kept pace and helped the team hand out two quick defeats to Vikings on Icebox and Haven. Vikings looked good coming into this matchup but failed to stand strong, offering little resistance to the mighty Sentinels as they make their way to the Upper Bracket Final.

RELATED:  Sentinels Defeat Fnatic at VCT Masters Iceland 2021: Stats, Highlights and Interview

NA vs Brazil: Sentinels Hands a Quick ‘2-0’ Defeat to Vikings

Sentinels are proving themselves to be a truly formidable opponent for other teams to go up against. The best Valorant team from North America have not dropped a single map so far, as they make their way to the Upper Bracket Final undefeated. 

A big part of Sentinels success can be attributed to the incredible form showcased by their captain ShahZaM and one of the best players in the world TenZ. Even today both of them popped off, but the fact that SicK, dapr, and zombs managed to keep pace is what made it even easier for Sentinels to beat Vikings.

Vikings on the other hand were not able to showcase their full strength, more than half the rounds they were simply rundown by brute force, not able to find the breathing space to make the necessary counter plays. The ‘2-0’ defeat was rough as Vikings managed to win just 13 rounds across the 2 maps.

Result: Sentinels Defeat Vikings ‘2-0’

The BO3 series started with Icebox which was Team Vikings map pick. They started off well by winning the pistol round but could not keep the lead, ending the first half with a ‘5-7’ deficit. Their hopes of coming back into the match quickly diminished as Sentinels won 5 rounds in a row, soon ending the map with a ‘13-7’ victory.

Haven was the second map which was Sentinels pick and they had already shown against Fnatic how ruthless they could be on it. Well, Vikings received the full brunt of Sentinels super reactive defence as they lost the first 7 rounds in a row. The Brazilian roster did try to put up a valiant fight but Sentinels did not give them an inch, as they won the map by a ‘13-6’ scoreline.

Stats

• Once again the duo of TenZ and ShahZaM wreaked havoc on the opposition, top fragging for their side with 40 and 38 kills respectively across the 2 maps.
  
  
• Sacy despite being the standout player for Vikings with 29 kills and 5 assists, was below the top three players on Sentinels. This goes on to show the drastic difference in the individual skill levels between the players of the two sides.
  
  
• An interesting thing to note was the headshot percentage of the players. Almost all the players on Vikings had a better headshot accuracy when compared to the Sentinels roster, with the average headshot percentage being 24% for Team Vikings and 18% for Sentinels.

Highlights

TenZ once again shows off his skills with the Marshal as he goes huge picking up a triple on Icebox to deny the plant on the 'B-SIte' and following it up with 2 more kills.

ShahZaM with his signature Jett goes berserk on Icebox, picking four kills with the Blade Storm (Jett's ultimate) and robbing Vikings from gaining any momentum. 

Sacy hits a perfect Hunter's Fury (Sova's ultimate) on Icebox towards the 'B-Site' that gets him a double kill, while also preventing Sentinels from reaching game point. 

A flawless round by Sentinels where TenZ picks a triple with the Operator as Team Vikings' run towards the 'A-Site' gets thwarted with ease.

Interview: TenZ Speaks About His LAN Experience and Gameplay Changes

TenZ in a post-match interview spoke about what kind of a team Sentinels is, describing them as being a very momentum-based team, while adding that they were more confident coming into this game having done their homework.

Speaking about his experience in the first Valorant LAN tournament so far, TenZ went on to state that “So for me, LAN has felt very good because I am used to playing 60 ping. Something that I had to do personally was like tying up my gameplay a lot. I had to take less risky peeks (because) just everyone reacts faster on LAN, especially if I am taking an aggressive duel, I might not be able to escape as if I was taking online.”

RELATED:  Version1 Stuns Team Liquid at VCT Masters Iceland 2021: Stats, Highlights and Interview