Sentinels have eliminated Paper Rex from VCT Masters Madrid to book a rematch with Gen.G Esports.
In what could have been a fairytale finish for Paper Rex has sadly ended in defeat as they bow out of VCT Masters Madrid in third place after their lower bracket loss to Sentinels. This now puts the VCT Americas Kickoff champions into the grand finals with a rematch against Gen.G Esports, who sent Sentinels to the lower bracket in the first place.
The best-of-five series went to four maps after Sentinels took a commanding 2-0 lead before PRX pulled one back in the third but unfortunately, the run stopped in the fourth. But for a team that many deemed to be inconsistent and far from its normal standards since the start of the season, they still managed to finish in the top three of their last three international VCT tournaments.
Sentinels really sent it
Heading into the series, it was Sentinels who had the first map pick and chose Lotus, a map they are more than comfortable with. They were 3-0 during the tournament and 6-0 overall since the start of the 2024 VCT season. And they showed just why with four straight rounds of great defence and tactical play in the first half. But PRX managed to steady themselves soon after and replied with six rounds in a row to take a 6-4 lead.
But Sentinels managed to pull two back right at the end of the half to even things up. It was a fairly even match-up as both teams were able to maintain some levels of dominance in the first-half. The second saw Sentinels get a much greater control of things despite losing the first two rounds as Aaron “mindfreak” Leonhart got a one-versus-three clutch during pistols to end with a 4K.
That didn't bother Sentinels as their IGL, Amine "johnqt" Ouarid managed to get things going when he clutched up in a one-versus-two showdown to end the 15th round with a 3K. Sentinels would go on to win the next four out of five rounds to put themselves within one of match-point at 11-9. But like in many of their games during VCT Masters Madrid, PRX somehow managed to turn the tides into their favour even when all hope seemed lost.
PRX would take one back in the 21st round when Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto got involved in a two-versus-one clutch to put themselves within one behind Sentinels, who snagged the 22nd to give themselves match-point. And in two straight rounds, PRX would claw back and force it into overtime. With both halves of Lotus being very even between the two teams, it was Sentinels who came out guns blazing to take game one in two straight rounds in return.
Ascent was PRX's choice in the second map where they were 2-0 in the tournament and 3-2 since the start of the season. But it was Sentinels once more with a nice pistol round followed by a 4K from Zachary “Zekken” Patrone in the second round. However, Cahya "Monyet" Nugraha responded in the third round with a 4K of his own that also happened to be a one-versus-four clutch. Both teams would trade the next few rounds to give Sentinels a slim 4-2 lead before PRX managed to take the next four in a row and pull ahead 6-4.
The VCT Americas team managed to pull it back at the end of the first half to make it 6-6 for the third time in two games and then turned things up a notch in the second half. First, johnqt got a one-versus-two clutch in the pistol round to take the lead. From there, Sentinels didn't stop as they went on to take six further rounds without any response from PRX. And it was johnqt once again who got a 3K in the 18th round to give Sentinels match-point before Tyson “tenZ” Ngo sealed the deal with a one-versus-two clutch to put the team one more map away from the grand finals.
And just when you thought the scriptwriters were working overtime, PRX showed great fight in Sentinels' choice of Split in the third map. Both teams have had mixed results on Split and it was PRX who took the pistol round this time as well as the subsequent round after that. But Sentinels didn't let that get to them as they took three in a row straight after, which also had Jordan "Zellsis” Montemurro secure a one-versus-four clutch that kickstarted the mini-streak.
Sentinels had a slim 3-2 lead and would slowly start to showcase a kink in its armour to which PRX exploited six of the last seven rounds of the first half to put themselves on top 8-4. The second half would only last six rounds as PRX was able to almost fully read Sentinels' movements and rotations. Monyet was having the game of his life as he managed to get a 3K in the pistol round, a sick ace in the 16th, and then another 3K in the 17th to put PRX on match-point. And leave it to mindfreak to get a 4K to make the series interesting.
With Sunset being PRX's pick for the fourth map, one would think it was written in the stars for them to even things up and take it to a fifth and final match. Sunset have also been PRX's map of choice this season as they were 4-1 from the start of the year, but Sentinels managed to keep them back for the majority of the game with some great tactical discipline and brilliance. Monyet was able to kick things off for his team with a 3K in the pistol round. Sadly, it would be the first of only three rounds that PRX was able to take.
This time, it was tenZ that managed to put the team on his back with two 3Ks in the first half. Even Zellsis chipped in with a 3K of his own in the first half while Zekken went one better with a nasty 4K. By the end of the first half, Sentinels had a commanding 9-3 lead. And the VALORANT gods appeared to be watching over them today as the curse did not take shape at all.
The pistol round went to Sentinels once more with tenZ's third 3K of the map and just two rounds later, johnqt clutched up a crucial one-versus-one to get the match-point. Of course, who else but tenZ once again with his fourth 3K that also happened to be a one-versus-two clutch to win the game and the series for Sentinels.
The grand finals of VCT Masters Madrid will feature a best-of-five series between Gen.G Esports and Sentinels, which will also be a rematch of the upper bracket final that saw Gen.G take the win. As the first Korean team as well as the first VCT Pacific team to lift an international trophy, there will be expectations for Gen.G with an entire region's hopes on its shoulders. The same can also be said for Sentinels, who made it to its first VCT grand finals in almost three years.
Sunday, March 24
Gen.G Esports
vs
Sentinels - 4:00 p.m. CEST
