Sentinels Defeat Fnatic to Win the VCT Masters Iceland 2021: Stats, Highlights, Interview

The grand finals of the VCT 2021: Stage 2 Masters - Reykjavík has finally come to end with Sentinels walking away as the champions. The highly awaited EU vs NA faceoff witnessed a lot of high octane action as Fnatic pushed Sentinels to their absolute limit, sadly they could not win a single map in the BO5 series. On the other hand, Sentinels won nine consecutive maps through the course of this tournament defeating teams like Fnatic, Vikings, and NUTURN Gaming to deliver a statement performance. They showed complete domination to raise the trophy high, becoming the champions of the first-ever Valorant tournament taking place on LAN in Iceland.

With this victory, Sentinels go undefeated to win $200,000 in prize money along with 400 VCT Circuit Points and a direct slot in the Valorant Champions 2021 which is scheduled to take place in December 2021.

RELATED:  VCT: India and South Asia Will Compete For a Spot in Last Chance Qualifier

Sentinels Sweeps Fnatic ‘3-0’ to Win VCT Masters Reykjavík

Sentinels as usual were on top of their game as they delivered yet another flawless performance. They were not a bit worried about facing Fnatic for the second time in the tournament, after already having defeated them ‘2-0’ in the upper brackets. In fact, by the third map they were just running around and fragging hard, playing a very fluid and loose game to overrun Fnatic to secure a clean sweep.

A big blow for Fnatic was their Jett main Derke who failed to find a solid footing across all the three maps. This kept them on the backfoot in a lot of situations, as other players like MAGNUM and doma tried to rise up to the occasion. Unfortunately, despite them putting on quite the show it was not enough to stand up against the might of Sentinels individual prowess, who have clearly shown how strong the North American region is when it comes to Valorant.

Results: Sentinels Defeats Fnatic ‘3-0’

The series started on Split which was Sentinels map pick, who right off the bat managed to win 5 of the first 6 rounds on the back of their sharp attacking skills. Despite a 2 round lead going into the second half, Fnatic with their own tactical executes were able to take the match into overtime. However, Sentinels without any further delay won the two deciding rounds to win the first map with a ‘14-12’ scoreline.

The following game took place on Bind which was Fnatic’s map pick, as they went on to show why they were so good on the map. Fnatic on the back of a brilliant attacking half was able to secure a comfortable ‘8-4’ half, but Sentinels fought back to take another game right back into overtime. Both the teams exchanged a couple of overtime rounds showing stellar defensive maneuvers before ShahZaM was able to clutch it for the side. Sentinels achieving a ‘16-14’ victory over Fnatic.

The third game on Haven was once again Sentinels’ map pick and this time they went out all guns blazing, full matchmaking mode. It was a brutal faceoff as the teams aggressively exchanged rounds, but Fnatic despite their brilliant second-half comeback attempt failed to this map into overtime, losing by a ‘13-11’ scoreline.

Stats

• It was the North American star player TenZ leading the way for Sentinels. He bagged a total of 79 kills with an average ADR (Average Damage per Round) of 180 across the three maps.
  
  
• Though Derke found it hard to come online on the big day, his companions MAGNUM and doma stepped up big time to fill in for him. They secured 65 and 52 kills respectively while playing Sentinels or Initiators mostly.
  
  
• Talking about the average headshot percentage, Sentinels had a 19.8% headshot accuracy on average while that of Fnatic’s was 25%.

Highlights

ShahZaM goes huge with the Jett ultimate 'Blade Storm' on the first map Split, picking a triple kill and helping his team clutch out the round.

MAGNUM goes huge with a sneaky play from below the window as players lineup in front of him jumping inside the site from 'Hookah' on Bind.

Sentinels finally wins the constant exchange of rounds to win the second map Bind during the fourth overtime, thanks to clutch by ShahZaM.

ShahZaM in a 1v2 clutch situation despite being slammed with a concussion managed to recover just in time, delivering an insane spray transfer to win the round.

Sentinels close out the final map facing a tight 4v3 situation on a weak buy round as they somehow manage to gain entry into the site and complete the retake successfully.

Interview: TenZ Talks About What This Victory Means to Him

In the post-match interview with the entire Sentinels team, TenZ when asked about how  he felt about this victory considering that he was not even a part of this team a few months back said that,

“I feel wonderful, this team is amazing and I feel alright at home with them. Hopefully, I can continue playing with them cause this team is the best I have ever played on,” TenZ went on to speak about his performance on LAN, “For me, it doesn’t feel like I am nervous. I think I would get nervous especially since people might doubt me from my CS days on LAN, but this is a new game and it is just amazing man.”

RELATED:  Valorant Pride Cards: What We Know About Them So Far?