Three years removed from dominating the international scene, and after two straight tough seasons for himself and the team, TenZ and Sentinels have finally claimed another trophy after a marathon five-map series win over Gen.G in the Masters Madrid final on March 24.
The series went the distance, with Gen.G winning their map picks of Breeze and Ascent while Sentinels claimed their picks of Bind and Split. Heading into Icebox, zekken was on a record pace for kills, with 89 after four maps, including 29 on Split alone.
It was a tale of two very different histories on Icebox prior to the start of the map: Sentinels had lost their only two Icebox appearances, while Gen.G had won five out of the six Icebox maps they had played. After a close first half, Sentinels proved that experience is overrated and put on an attacking masterclass in the second half, with Zellsis leading the way with a +10 kill/death differential to secure his first international trophy. While Zekken had a quiet final map, he still notched 101 kills across the series.
With this result, Zellsis, zekken, and johnqt all won their first international trophy, while both TenZ and Sacy joined elite company by claiming their second trophies each. By winning Masters Madrid, Sentinels earn three VCT championship points, the lion’s share of the prize pool, the Clove-themed trophy, and a special featured slot on the VALORANT store for their bundle. Sentinels become just the second team to win two international trophies after Fnatic and are the first team to win two VCT Masters.
Sentinels are now firmly in the driver’s seat when it comes to qualifying for Champions 2024, with six points earned between Kickoff and Masters Madrid. But there’s not much time for the champs to rest, as the Americas league resumes in just two weeks.
