VCT Americas Stage 2 Match Recap: Sentinels vs G2 Esports

(Image via Colin Young-Wolff | Riot Games)

Going into this matchup, both G2 and SEN sat on 2–1 records in Group Omega; both teams searching for a top 2 finish and guaranteed playoffs. Whilst G2 have had a rocky start to the stage, SEN have been a breath of fresh air since their Kickoff and Stage 1 woes. All in all, the current form and history between the two teams made for a great matchup.

Map Veto:

SEN ban Sunset; G2 ban Summit; SEN pick Breeze; G2 pick Lotus; SEN ban Haven; G2 ban Ascent; Split remains

Map 1: Breeze

G2 were locked in for the pistol round, a swift crunch from Jawgemo to provide G2 the man advantage to close out the pistol. An unsteady anti-eco followed for G2, yet they managed to close it out despite SEN’s best efforts.

Coming in with rifles, SEN managed to string together 3 straight strong attack rounds, leaving G2 with low numbers to retake multiple times. SEN made it feel impossible to get back onto the bombsites, leading to a quick JoshRT timeout.

Coming out the timeout, G2’s goal became clear, get BabyBay the OP. Yet between Cortezia’s lurks and Reduxx’s entries, it didn’t seem enough.

Round 9 highlighted exactly what G2 needed on their retakes; map control. Using the Jawgemo Neon to quickly flank and surround SEN. They found success suffocating SEN from all chokes.

Big rounds from G2’s Leaf (round 10) and SEN Jerrwin (round 12) brought the half to a close at SEN 7–5 G2.

The second-half pistol saw Leaf “cutting his (Cortezia’s) moustache off” ending the round with an unforgiving knife kill. Adding a 2nd pistol round to G2’s tally. With the following anti-eco coming almost flawlessly.

Whilst rounds began to be traded back and forth between the two teams, SEN round wins felt stronger, with their 11th round being handfed to Reduxx with a clean 3k to edge SEN towards victory, with the two round lead.

Passive defensive setups gave G2 a way back into the fight; SEN seeming to rely on the likes of Reduxx and Jerrwin to simply win their gunfights as G2 walked into them, which wasn’t enough for the likes of Leaf with his Round 22 clutch vs former teammate JonahP to tie the game at 11 a piece.

A timeout from SEN Ewok gave them all they needed to close out their map pick at 13–11 and SEN took the series lead at 1–0 over G2.

Map Two: Lotus

An insane 4k from G2 Trent opened the pistol; a 1v3 clutch swung in G2’s favour for their 3rd pistol round win. SEN decided to force stingers into the following round; but it was no match for G2s stronger buy, guiding them to a 2nd and practically guaranteeing a 3rd for G2.

A Round 6 Thrifty for G2 handed them a 2 round advantage following heroics from BabyBay with a 4k and a 3k spray transfer to close the round against a flustered SEN team.

The heroics wouldn’t stop there. Another C site retake for G2, in the very next round, saw a Valyn 4k save the day. From the door to the C site, Valyn took down SEN member after SEN member; another round thrown away by SEN.

SEN would only be able to scrape together one more round in the half, with G2 making it feel impossible for them to find any way into the map. However, a first pistol round of the series would go SEN’s way as they show a little sign of life; followed by a simple anti-eco.

SEN would be able to bring it all the way to 12–5. But this was too little too late, as G2 closed the map out after 5 rocky round at 13–10. This let them take home map 2 and tie the series at 1 a piece going into the 3rd and final map.

Map 3: Split

On map 3, G2 would continue their momentum, starting by winning another pistol round; followed by the anti-eco.

The bonus round would be SEN’s last round win for the next six as G2 gained momentum and began pushing SEN over the edge of defeat. However, a strong 1v2 clutch from Cortezia kept them in the game and still fighting. Using this newfound momentum, SEN would win the final 2 defensive rounds and close out the half at 8–4.

Former G2 member JonahP would be given a chance to show them what they were missing and continue SEN’s momentum in a 1v1 pistol round clutch against Trent, and he did not disappoint; providing SEN a much needed pistol and following round.

On Round 18, SEN would show that they still had a foot in the door, a 3K from Jerrwin giving G2 no chance to recover a round with a weak buy. A 2 round gap separated the two teams and whilst SEN looked to be fighting, G2 had the answers far too often.

The following round, SEN would throw away a 5v3 man advantage, simply by losing their individual gunfights. This allowed for BabyBay to take down JohnQT in a 1v1 clutch; despite Reduxx’s best efforts getting a 3k on the Omen.

Sentinels attack protocols were messy and G2 weren’t going to let it slide to grab match point. Planting on half-cleared sites destroyed their ability to hold the spike competently and G2 must’ve felt like the luckiest team in the world after being handed a round with a weak buy so freely.

G2’s ability to control the map and win their 1v1 duels dismantled Sentinels on Split, the lack of teamplay ultimately feeling like SEN’s demise. G2 closed out the map 13–8.

Final Score: G2 Esports 2–1 Sentinels