Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and Sentinels are out of VCT Champions! The underdogs from Latin America, KRU Esports, have eliminated the fan favorites from North America, sending Sentinels crashing out of the group stage. Former Manchester City striker and now FC Barcelona player Sergio Aguero, who founded KRU Esports, also tweeted out in celebration of the team's historic victory.
Sentinels had come into VCT Champions as one of the top contenders for the trophy. They were NA's top seed, having dominated the scene even way back in Challengers and bolstered by the acquisition of TenZ from Cloud9 Blue. While they didn't take the top prize during Masters, fans were still expecting them to put on a strong performance at VCT Champions. They had been favorites to even win the entire tournament and become the inaugural title-holders.
Sentinels found themselves in a group with Europe's Team Liquid, Brazil's FURIA and Argentina's KRU. Even then, many predicted Sentinels to make it out of the groups and qualify for the knockout stage without much drama. Alas, it was not to be.
In the opening round, Sentinels took care of business by beating FURIA handily and advanced to the winner's bracket against TL. The teams went toe-to-toe in a three-map series. Liquid grabbed the first map in overtime, 14-12, on Breeze, but on Bind, SEN bounced back in dominating fashion, going 13-2. In a close match on split, however, TL took the series and secured the playoffs berth, 13-10.
As Sentinels dropped to the lower bracket, they were pit against KRU who had handed FURIA their exit from the tournament. Things looked to be going smoothly for the NA team as they dominated the first half on map one, Fracture, with a 9-3 scoreline. Although KRU grabbed a few more rounds in the second half, Sentinels struck first in the series, 13-7, off the back of Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan's 23 kills and 279 Average Combat Score (ACS).
In the next two maps, though, KRU came up with a stunning performance to shock the opposition. On Haven, SEN started out as the attackers and were up 8-4 by the half. But KRU bounced back, stringing together seven straight rounds. Even as Sentinels tried to regain control by getting three rounds of their own to even up the scores, KRU were able to close it out, 13-11.
In the do-or-die match, it played out similar to the second map. This time, on Split, SEN again started out on the attackers side, going 8-4 at the half. KRU again showed their mental fortitude and turned it around when they swapped to the attacking side. Just like the second map, KRU rode on their momentum to take six straight rounds. When SEN hit back with three round wins to go up 11-10, KRU held strong and eventually secured the tightly fought victory at the end of it, 13-11.
Over the two wins, KRU's Duelist Juan Pablo “NagZ” Lopez Miranda amassed 40 kills on Jett. Throughout the series, meanwhile, Roberto “Mazino” Rivas posted an ACS of 238. For Sentinels, TenZ and Jared “zombs” Gitlin were the two worst performers in terms of ACS, with 185 and 153, respectively. TenZ also later took to Twitter to apologize to Sentinels fans, saying he failed to show up when it mattered most for the team. Meanwhile, ShahZam racked up 64 kills and 18 assists, as well as the highest ACS from both teams with 251, in SEN's losing effort.
While Sentinels are now out of VCT Champions contention, KRU's stunning run continues. They now advance to the playoffs alongside Team Liquid and will be facing off against Fnatic for the quarterfinals.
For the rest of our VCT Champions coverage, check out the full list of group stage results here.
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