The VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) North America Stage Three Challengers One tournament is finally coming to an end. The top four teams have already qualified for the Playoffs, but XSET and Sentinels still have one more match in the grand final to decide the winner of the tournament.
XSET have been an unstoppable force during the Challengers One main event. They started with a 2-1 win against Rise before facing Sentinels in the upper semifinals. Most fans expected Sentinels, the Masters 2 Reykjavik winners, to dominate XSET. The team stunned the world with a 2-1 victory, however.
XSET’s final opponent before the grand finals was 100 Thieves, who marked an excellent start in the Challengers One main event with victories over Version1 and Envy. XSET won the first map of the series in overtime, although 100T nearly pulled off an impressive comeback.
100T answered back with a brutal 13-4 recovery on Icebox, though they could not finish the job on Ascent. Both teams traded blows in the second half, but XSET won the map 13-10 and earned their spot in the grand finals.
Sentinels had a surprisingly tough time making it to the finals. They started with an expected 2-1 win against Gen.G, but XSET managed to defeat them 2-1 in the upper semifinals, including a win on Split, which was Sentinels’ map pick.
Sentinels dropped to the lower bracket and had to fight their way through three teams for a chance to make it to the grand finals. They beat the Kansas City Pioneers and Envy without dropping a map before facing 100T in the lower finals. 100T forced the first map to overtime, but Sentinels won the map before finishing the series 2-0.
Both teams have already secured their spot in the Challengers Playoffs, but only one will walk away as the Challengers One champion. XSET has put on the best performance of any team in the tournament and already defeated Sentinels once. They are more than capable of doing it again in the best-of-five grand finals.
Sentinels did beat three teams for a chance at revenge, however. They have dominated North America throughout the VCT and are still at the top of their game. But if anyone can finally dethrone Sentinels, it’s XSET. Their momentum and confidence could give them an advantage in the grand final, but they will have to be at the top of their game to beat Sentinels again.
XSET and Sentinels will face off in the VCT Challengers One grand final at 2 pm CT on July 11.
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