VCT Americas LCQ: Leviatán dumps Sentinels out of LCQ

We have another treat of a match on our hands in the form of Sentinels vs Leviatán in the VCT Americas LCQ. Both sides find themselves clinging to life in the lower bracket as they look to keep their quest for a spot at Champions 2023 within reach. And you can follow all of the action as it happens

Sentinels were narrowly beaten 2 - 1 by Cloud9 in their previous match on the VCT Americas stage. Their team looked good in spells during their match yesterday, especially thier star duelist Zekken, who has been a real difference maker for his side thus far in the LCQ. But they succumbed to the same old inconsistencies that plagued them for much of the regular season. Sentinels look to be the favorites coming into today's match. But that does not mean that this is going to be a cake walk for them by any stretch of imagination.

Leviatán truly find themselves up against the wall following their shock 2 - 0 defeat to Kru in the previous round. The LATAM side were seen as one of the stronger teams here in the LCQ but have gotten off to the worst possible start. Their players struggled to have much of a presence in both of those maps as Kru seemed to outclass them across the board. And given Sentinels' performances against 100T and Cloud9, Leviatán are going to have to muster up something special if they want to keep their Champions hopes alive.

The sun will set for one of these two teams at the end of today's match. While the other will move one step closer to securing a spot at Champions 2023 in LA. And we cannot wait for this match to get started.

We begin the match with a trip to Fracture for Map 1. Leviatán opt to go for a double-duelist composition. Whereas Sentinels decide to go with a double initiator setup.

Leviatán takes the opening pistol round despite Tacolilla experiencing tech-issues during the post-plant. They then manage to take their acti-eco, despite a late push off of a 3k from TenZ. Sentinels respond with four very efficient rifle rounds as they make a mockery of Leviatán's overly cautious attack setups. But a couple of crucial multi-kills from Shyy serve as a rallying cry for the LATAM side as they manage to tie things up at 6 - 6 to finish the first half.

Leviatán win the second pistol round of the map as well as another anti-eco to regain the lead at 8 - 6. Sentinels are able to snatch the bonus round away from Leviatán. But the LATAM side stand strong on their defense as they reach the double-digit mark on the map. With Tacolilla finding a lot more success for his side in the second half. Whereas nothing seemed to be going right for Sentinels, who looked a far cry away from the team that was bossing proceedings early on in the map. A situation that played fully into Leviatán's hands, allowing them to close out Fracture 13 - 8 to give themselves a somewhat surprising 1 - 0 lead in the series.

After having the door slammed in their faces on Fracture, Sentinels bring us to Split for the second map of this series. With Leviatán holding a well-earned lead. Both teams opt to go for a double duelist, double-controller mirror match in terms of their agent compositions.

Sentinels take the opening pistol round, their first of the match, to get themselves off to a good start on their attack half. But an early fumble from Sentinels, coupled with an unbelievable 1 v 2 clutch from nzr, allows Leviatán to take the eco-round. And they look to continue where they left off on Fracture as they completely shutdown any sort of pressure from Sentinels. They are able to get a few more rounds on the board thanks to the individual efforts of TenZ and Zekken. But it does little to disrupt Leviatán's momentum as they take an 8 - 4 lead into halftime, with their star man Tacolilla seemingly having his way with his opponents.

Leviatán secure the second pistol round and their anti-eco to reach the 10 point mark on Split. And they reach match point at 12 - 4 soon afterward, with Sentinels looking truly down and out of this contest. They were the favorites coming into this match, but in the end it turned into a case of same old, same old from Sentinels who looked lost for answers from start to finish across the map. Leaving Leviatán to close out Split with a dominant 13 - 4 scoreline and claim victory in this series 2 - 0. Keeping their Champions 2023 hopes well and truly alive.

Three Americas League teams have already secured their spots at Champions 2023 in LA later this year. The remaining seven teams are set to battle it out in attempt to secure the final ticket to Champions in the highly anticipated VCT Americas Last Chance Qualifiers. Fans who wish to watch the Sentinels vs Leviatán VCT Americas LCQ match may do so by heading to the league's Twitch and YouTube channels. You may also tune in via the embed stream link down below in case you don't wish to leave this page.

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