A third European team took their place in the VALORANT Champions playoffs today after defeating Team Liquid Sentinels in a Group B Winners match.
Liquid wrapped up their VALORANT champions group stage undefeated streak with a stunning victory over the Sentinels. Earlier this week, they defeated KRU Esports 2-0 and sent the Sentinels to a Decider game on Monday.
The first matchup in Breeze was a highly competitive game that went back and forth and eventually went into overtime. The Sentinels dominated the first half and Liquid only won 4 rounds.
The second half was a different story, Liquid won the first four rounds and joined the game. The Sentinels only won two rounds in the second half before stopping Liquid from winning the map in round 23. Zombs took the team on his back as he grabbed a three-on-one clutch and killed three enemies with the Classic. The Sentinels maintained their momentum on the next lap, forcing the map to stretch.
The Sentinels started strong in overtime, but Liquid went from three-on-five to three-on-one and Zombs didn't win the round this time. Liquid maintained their dominance in overtime as L1NK won one-on-one against Shahzam to close map one.
The second map in Bind was tough for Liquid. The Sentinels showed why they were the map pick, dominating offensively, and laying down just two rounds in the first half. TenZ finally came to life in game two of the series, leading their team with 21 kills. He landed two impressive Operator hits in the seventh round, showing that he is still one of the best duelists in the world. Liquid could not recover in the second half and the Sentinels closed the map 13-2.
The series came to Split, where the Sentinels have not played since their match against Envy at the Masters Berlin. Although the Sentinels performed slightly better this time, they fell short against Liquid.
Both teams took turns winning laps in the first half, and neither was able to sustain a winning streak for more than two rounds. Dapr put out an impressive 10k on lap 3 as he lurked on court B and surprised Liquid. The first half ended in a 6-6 stalemate as the two teams switched sides for the final half of the series.
The Sentinels started the second half with a two-round win, but Liquid countered with their own two-round win. The Sentinels continued cycling, winning the next two rounds, but round 17 was one of the tournament's biggest messes so far. Both teams fought on A court and five ultimates were used during the round. The Sentinels eventually won the round, but Liquid won the next five rounds to win the map and join Gambit and Fnatic in the playoffs.
Team Liquid took first place in Group B and made their way into the VALORANT Champions playoffs. The Sentinels will face the winner in the Group B Decider match between KRU Esports and FURIA on Monday at 11pm CT.
