Sentinels’ VCT Americas LCQ campaign was off to a strong start after they overcame their first challenge and defeated 100 Thieves 2-1 in one of the most highly anticipated matches this year.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher for both North American teams since the VCT Americas LCQ adopts a hybrid playoff format. Even though Sentinels and 100T met in the upper bracket quarterfinals, the match was still single elimination.
This meant that the winning team would advance to the double-elimination bracket, and the losing team would have their 2023 season come to an end.
Sentinels saw the first map slip away from them, with 100T pulling off a 14-12 comeback win on Pearl. Sentinels evened the series 1-1 after taking a convincing 13-7 win on Split. With their backs against the wall, both teams risked their season on a Yoru mirror match on Bind in the third map.
Sentinels win the Yoru mirror match battle against 100 Thieves on Bind
VCT Americas LCQ watch party hosts Tarik “tarik” Celik and Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker were shocked when they saw Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk pick Yoru on the final map of the match.
Yoru is one of the least-picked agents in the VCT. The Japanese duelist wasn’t even picked once throughout the VCT Americas League.
Pacific squad Paper Rex was the only team that succeeded with Yoru on the international stage. Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto‘s Yoru led PRX to defeat Fnatic 2-0 in the upper bracket semifinal of Masters Copenhagen 2022.
Sentinels and 100 Thieves both utilized Yoru’s fake teleport plays on Bind, but it was TenZ’s exceptional positioning and aim that made the difference.
In the third round, TenZ cleared A Bath and killed two 100T players using Yoru’s Fakeout and Blindside flash. TenZ picked up an ultimate orb and used Yoru’s Dimensional Drift ultimate to scout the remaining 100T defenders in the A site.
After planting the spike and taking A site control, TenZ used Yoru’s Gatecrash teleport to go back to A short and cover his team’s flank.
Sentinels took a commanding 10-2 lead at halftime. TenZ continued to play aggressively, using Yoru’s flashes and decoy to push through smokes and the teleporters on Bind.
100T attempted to make another comeback, but Sentinels stopped them before they gained momentum and won the map 13-7.
During the post-game interview, TenZ expressed his amusement at the crowd’s reaction to the Yoru mirror match and said they were pretty confident with their agent comp.
“Kaplan kept saying to me, ‘Yoru diff, easy,'” said TenZ.
Sentinels’ Zachary “zekken” Patrone also revealed in another post-game interview that TenZ would perform better because he is the “biggest Yoru believer in the world.”
Sentinels VCT Americas LCQ journey continues when they face Cloud9 in the upper bracket semifinal on June 17, 1 p.m. PT | 8 p.m. GMT | July 18, 4 a.m. GMT+8 | July 18, 5 a.m. JPT/KST.
Fans can watch the match live on the VCT Americas Twitch and YouTube channels.
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