VCT Americas Kickoff 2024: Sentinels denies reverse sweep and decimate mighty LOUD in the grand finals

Sentinels and LOUD go head-to-head in an intense grand final battle in VCT Americas Kickoff grand finals

VCT Americas Kickoff 2024: Sentinels denies reverse sweep and decimate mighty LOUD in the grand finals

Image via: Sentinels

The Valorant Champions Tour of 2024 has begun. Teams worldwide are fighting to earn a spot at the first masters tournament of the year, VCT Masters Madrid. However, they first have to compete in the challengers league belonging to their respective regions, such as VCT Pacific, VCT Americas, VCT China, etc. The VCT Americas Kickoff recently concluded with a match between Sentinels and LOUD.

Due to Riot Games including four franchised leagues in 2024, each region will only get two slots in the upcoming VCT Masters in Madrid. Hence, the eleven teams in VCT Americas 2024 have been giving it their all to earn a spot for themselves in Madrid.

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After all was said and done, four teams came out on top to play in the semi-finals of the VCT Americas Kickoff. These teams, namely, LOUD and Sentinels have earned themselves a spot at VCT Masters Madrid, regardless of the results of the VCT Americas Kickoff henceforth.

The first semi-finals between Evil Geniuses and LOUD ended with a 2-1 result, with last year’s world champions knocked out of the competition. On the other side of the bracket, Sentinels beat NRG in a similar 2-1 scoreline to set up the grand finals between Sentinels and LOUD in the VCT Americas kickoff. Fans were highly excited about this match-up. These teams had recently faced each other on February 18th in the group stage, where LOUD swept Sentinels 2-0.

LOUD and Sentinels take each other on in an intense VCT Americas Kickoff Grand Finals

Note that the grand finals are played in a best-of-5 rather than the classic best-of-3 format followed in the group stages. The match began with game one on the Sunset map. Some impressive Omen gameplay from Tenz (1.48 rating) allowed Sentinels to win the first eight rounds out of twelve and win 13-9. The second game was even more dominant for Sentinels as they won on Split with a 13-3 scoreline.

Sentinels vs LOUD VCT Americas Kickoff
Image via: Valorant eSports

However, LOUD was not about to go down so easily. The team prevented the clean sweep with some impressive gameplay from tuyz. This led LOUD to win both games 3 and 4 on Icebox and Bind, respectively. The series was now highly intense, with a winner-take-all game five. However, Sentinels would go on to prove their worth in game five on Lotus.

The team dominated the match, picking up ten wins in the first twelve rounds. They quickly finished off LOUD, winning game five with a 13-4 score. Sentinels denied LOUD their reverse sweep in the grand finals, making them the regional champions of VCT Americas Kickoff. The Sentinels are now headed to Madrid with great momentum on their side.

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