Luminosity Gaming struck first during the opening matches of VCT Challengers, posting a 2-1 win over Sentinels.
LG have been the silent killers of North America after qualifying for the Challengers 2 main event through the first open qualifier, and have now shut down the former back-to-back Masters champions during the opening matches of the group stage.Â
It was LG that opened the best-of-three series with a win on Bind, which was Sentinels’ map pick. The map came close to hitting overtime, with Luminosity eking out the win13-11 to avoid playing out extra rounds. LG took a narrow 7-5 lead into halftime of the first map, whichwas just enough cushion to keep Sentinels at bay. Bdog showed up big for his team on Chamber, finishing with a 1.47 KD and dropping nearly 30 kills.Â
LG’s map pick, Breeze, was nearly as close as the first map, with both teams trading rounds back and forth in the second half. Sentinels took a strong 8-4 lead into halftime, but the four-round lead was nothing to LG, who were able to crawl their way back and force overtime off more big plays from bdog. Ultimately, it was TenZ that was the difference-maker on Breeze, securing 40 kills and helping his team to victory in double overtime, as Sentinels tied the series.Â
Fracture was the deciding map, and saw another 8-4 half, this time in favor of LG. That momentum would carry into the second half as LG refused to let Sentinels take one round on attack. Another strong performance from bdog allowed LG to cruise their way to a 13-4 win on the third map, not losing a single round in the second half. Bdog finished the match with 82 kills across the three maps, with an impressive 1.67 K/D to lead his team to a 2-1 victory.
LG will return to action next week when they go head to head with FaZe Clan, while Sentinels will look to respond to the tough loss when they take on Evil Geniuses on May 21.
