FaZe Clan squashed Sentinels’ VALORANT Champions Tour playoff hopes on Saturday, defeating them 2-0 in an intense series. The result gave FaZe a much-needed lifeline to keep their own Stage Two hopes alive.
Sentinels announced that head coach Rawkus would continue to fill in for SicK prior to the match, with SicK still needing to attend to a family emergency. The emergency substitute helped put up a valiant effort for a team that was once considered the best in the world, but ultimately, Sentinels just couldn’t contain FaZe.
The opening map of the series was on Fracture, chosen by FaZe Clan. Sentinels fell behind early, and went into halftime down four rounds, but managed to pull things back in the second half by securing four consecutive rounds to tie the score. At 8-8, FaZe Clan began to turn things up with their individual plays, and shut down a late comeback attempt to secure a 13-11 win. Dicey decimated Sentinels on Chamber, ending the first map with a 1.93 K/D after dropping 31 kills with only 16 deaths.
Haven, which was picked by Sentinels, was forced into overtime after FaZe Clan made a near-perfect comeback on the attacking side. Sentinels took a two-round lead into halftime, and proceeded to win the first four rounds in the second half. Sentinels even got to 12 rounds while FaZe Clan sat at just seven, and the series looked sure to be heading to a decisive game three.
FaZe had other plans, however, winning five rounds in a row to force the game to overtime. Overtime was a back and forth affair, with neither team willing to budge, but FaZe Clan were eventually able to grind out the 16-14 victory. Dicey again turned in a solid performance for FaZe, only out-shined by babybay’s star play on Neon.
FaZe Clan will play Evil Geniuses in their final group stage match for a shot at making playoffs on June 10. Meanwhile, Sentinels will end their disappointing Stage Two run against Cloud9 on June 12.
