VCT Challengers Playoffs NA: Sentinels, 100T, Envy Advance to Berlin

The three qualified teams for the North American region are set: Sentinels, 100 Thieves, and Team Envy can prepare for competition at Masters Berlin. So how did these three teams make it to the top in North America?

The Sentinels’ dominant play shouldn’t surprise us in the slightest. They were strong with Jay “sinatraa” Wong, but they’ve been even stronger with Tyson “TenZ” Ngo. Their star player helped them to a trophy at Masters Reykjavik. But even after that, the team breezed through the Stage 2 Challengers.

SENTINELS: #1 AS EXPECTED

The team’s journey started off with a 2-1 over Rise. Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan and his men struggled at first, as Rise were a much stronger force on Ascent. But on the other two maps, Sentinels overwhelmed them to continue in the Upper Bracket. There, they faced off against Envy, their strongest opponent so far. And Envy actually made it close! The 2-0 scoreline hides the fact that, on both maps, Envy were just one round away from reaching overtime.

In the Upper Bracket, Sentinels had an easier time. Finally being warmed up, they breezed past 100T. They even scored a 13-2 win, which highlights the difference in skill even more.

The Thieves took a detour and eventually made it to the Grand Finals as well. But that was only more of the same. With the exception of Breeze, which 100T won on a close 13-11 scoreline, Sentinels had it easy. After a  3-1 victory, they have secured first place at the Challengers 2 Playoffs. With $40,000 in prize money and the highest seed for masters, they will confidently travel to Berlin next.

100 THIEVES: NOT YET READY FOR PRIMETIME

It’s obvious that the Thieves were trying to set themselves up for success here. Early on, they beat FaZe Clan in a one-sided match. XSET wanted to make it close, but still didn’t get any map victories. After that, 100T had their first encounter with Sentinels.

A match victory would have been perfect here. They could have made a statement and at least become contenders for the top spot. However, they handed the match away after winning just 10 rounds in total. For two maps, this is a disappointing result. At least they had a chance to redeem themselves!

But for that to happen, they first had to get past Envy, who had just won over XSET and secured their ticket to Masters. So this map was “only” important for placement and prize money. Both teams gave their all and delivered a lengthy Best-of-Five series. While Envy had a great start, they were quickly down after two 10-13 losses. On Icebox, they put up a 13-8 score to make it to the last map. However, the Thieves confidently took Split to enter the Grand Finals.

There, they fought through close maps. Even though the 100 Thieves ultimately failed to reach their goal, this was at least a promising result. They’ve still got a long way to the top, but at least they’ve committed to this journey now. At Masters Berlin, they can prove how much damage they can do versus international team.

ENVY: STRUGGLING THROUGH CLOSE MATCHES

Envy had a slightly tougher time. They needed three maps to complete their Opening Match against TSM and narrowly lost out on Breeze. Their encounter with Sentinels could easily have swung the other way. The 11-13 maps show how close Envy actually came to beating the top team. But in the end, this loss pushed them down into the Lower Bracket. There, they eventually met with FaZe Clan, who immediately dragged them into overtime on Haven. On Ascent and Bind, Envy brought it back and advanced.

So they went on in the Lower Bracket and came to a point at which they had to fight for their Masters Berlin ticket. A Top 3 placement was at stake versus XSET. They managed to achieve that feat, but not without playing out another 13-11 map. Their match against 100 Thieve was another brutal duel, one which took five full maps to complete.

Seeing as they dropped down to the Lower Bracket this quickly, Envy have had a great redemption run overall. But just like the 100 Thieves, they are showing a class difference to the teams above them. They might have a rough time going up against international teams at Masters, considering their struggles against all their regional colleagues.

THE BEST PLAYERS AT THE VCT CHALLENGERS PLAYOFFS NA

This time, the Average Combat Score (ACS) doesn’t tell the full story. Diondre “YaBoiDre” Bond and Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker may have had higher ACS values, but TenZ once again impressed with a phenomenal 1.37 KD. Hunter “SicK” Mim, ShahZaM, and Michael “dapr” Gulino also put up strong performances. This shouldn’t come as a surprise after seeing Sentinels dominate so much. SicK even won a whopping third of his clutch attempts! With 0.43 assists per round, Joshua “steel” Nissan proved his worth as an incredible supporter.

The top teams at the Challengers Playoffs make it appear as though Sentinels might not be the only strong contenders at the upcoming Masters tournament in Berlin. The 100 Thieves and Envy might be able to survive for much longer than Version1 did in Reykjavik. And regarding Sentinels… it would be foolish to not view them as the absolute top favorites for the Stage 2 Masters!