LOUD vs Sentinels VCT Americas: LOUD triumphs in three map thriller

The VCT Americas super week starts us off with a huge clash in the form of LOUD vs Sentinels. And you can keep up with all of the action as it happens right here.

Sentinels have been the talk of the town since their 2 - 1 loss to Leviatán in Week 3. With the most notable change coming in the form of Head Coach Don "Sykko" Muir being dismissed from his position. Leaving his former assistant Adam "Kaplan" Kaplan to take the helm for the remainder of the season. Sentinels will also be without their star duelist Tyson "TenZ" Ngo this week as he is taking time off to recuperate from a bout of COVID-19 as well as thumb injury.

This meant that former OpTic Gaming player Jimmy "Marved" Nguyen was given his first competitive start for the organization. Given the level of disarray surrounding the team coming into this match there were many who had thought that this would be too tall of a task for a roster who had only had three days to practice together. What we got was arguably their best performance thus far in VCT Americas, as they gave LOUD a real run for their money.

The Brazilian side came into this side sitting at the top of the standings 3 - 0. This match also had some added spice for LOUD, as Sentinels' players Sacy and pANcada faced off against their old team for the first time since leaving the World Champions in the offseason. And while they maintain their unbeaten record thanks to this win, it could have very easily gone pear shaped for them.

The match begins with a trip to Pearl curtesy of LOUD, with both teams opting to utilize a similar agent composition. LOUD claims the first pistol round as the gain early control on their defensive half. Marved makes is already making his presence known with an early 4k as Sentinels takes the lead at 3 - 2. The teams remain locked together at 4 - 4, but Sentinels' hold the slight advantage with their mid-round calling. It looked as though LOUD were going to keep things level going into halftime. But a huge clutch play from ex-LOUD players Sacy and pANcada gives Sentinels the lead at 7 - 5.

Sentinels continue to build on their lead from the first half off a huge clutch play from Sacy as well a 3k from Dephh. LOUD takes the bonus round, but Sentinels hits the double digit mark at 11 - 6. Forcing LOUD to use their second timeout on the map. But it does little to sway the momentum in their favor as the combined threat of Marved, Sacy and pANcada proves to be the decisive factor in this matchup. Performances that allowed Sentinels to takeaway LOUD's map pick of Pearl 13 - 6 and establish a surprising 1 - 0 lead in the series.

After a strong showing on Pearl, Sentinels come into their map pick of Haven brimming with confidence. The teams go for very different agent compositions with Sentinels opting for a double initiator setup and LOUD going for double controller.

LOUD takes the opening pistol round thanks to a 1 v 1 clutch from Aspas against Sacy. But Sentinels manages to tie things up with a last second defuse play from Marved. Curtesy of a bizarre technical issue from Tuyz. The match resumes after a lengthy tech pause with the teams stuck in a bit of a deadlock. LOUD managed to take the lead, but Sentinels made it a very expensive lead for the most part. And their efforts appeared to pay off as the cut LOUD's halftime lead to 7 - 5.

Sentinels takes the second pistol round in near flawless fashion as they begin to close in on LOUD's lead. The Brazilian side manages to stabilize a little bit in the first rifle round of the half. But a huge 1 v 3 clutch, followed up an equally important 3k from Zekken enables Sentinels to hit the double digit mark on Haven. It felt like a map that was never going to end as both sides pushed each other to their limits. But when LOUD needed a hero, it was their star man Aspas that answered that call. And thanks to his efforts in the second half, LOUD managed to take Haven 13 - 11 to tie up the series up at 1 - 1.

After coming out on top of a tense affair on Haven, LOUD has brought the match to the decisive third map on Ascent. With both sides opting into another mirror matchup similar to how they approached Map 1.

LOUD took the first three rounds on Ascent as they looked to continue their winning form from Haven. Sentinels managed to get their first two round wins on the board after a pair of impactful lurk plays from Marved on his trusty Omen. But LOUD's positioning and mid-round calling elevated them to a much higher level than on the previous two maps as the began to pull away from Sentinels with an early 5 - 2 lead. And it just continued to grow, with Aspas continuing to be the difference maker for LOUD in this series. With Sentinels struggling to find any sort of response on their attack side. Allowing the Brazilian team to race away with a 9 - 3 lead after the first half.

Sentinels managed to take the second pistol round, but it was immediately traded out by LOUD as they maintained their 6 round lead at 10 - 4. And they reached match point soon afterwards with things really starting to spiral out of Sentinels' control. Nevertheless the NA side managed to string a few more rounds together to cut the lead to 12 - 8 in a last ditch effort to get back in this series. It was a valiant effort from a Sentinels side that had only had a few days of practice together. But in the end LOUD held strong and were able to close the map out 13 - 8 and win the series 2 - 1.

It is a new era for the VALORANT Champions Tour as we get set for the first season of Franchising. The VCT season will see 30 teams split into three region-based leagues of 10 teams, competing for the chance to secure a spot at both Masters Tokyo in June and Champions 2023 in August. Fans who wish to watch the LOUD vs Sentinels match in the 2023 Americas League may do so by heading to the VCT Americas Twitch and Youtube Channels.

You can stay up to date with all of the action in the Pacific League by heading to our VALORANT Americas hub.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for more esports news and VALORANT coverage throughout the VCT 2023 Season.