Sentinels defeated Gen G in the finals of VCT Madrid. This was their second match against each other in VCT Madrid in a 3-2 best-of-five games. Gen G had previously beaten Sentinels 2-1 two days before the finals. In the final map, Icebox, Gen G was predicted to win because Sentinels had never won on that map recently. Another reason was that the Sentinels’ head coach, Kaplan, had said that Icebox was the map they were least comfortable on and hoped they wouldn’t have to play it. However, Sentinels were able to break through and defeat them 13-6 on Icebox. In this article, I will be going over how that happened.
The Previous Map
Gen G had an opportunity to close out the match in a 3-1 victory if they won on Split. Gen G had previously beaten Sentinels 13-5 the last time they played. Let’s take a look at a crucial round during this match that contributed to breaking the mental of Gen G.
It’s round 22, and Gen G is down by 1 round. Sentinels are on an eco round, which means they don’t have rifles like the Vandal or Phantom, but instead have guns like the Stinger and Sheriff. Gen Meteor gets 2 kills and is traded out by Sen TenZ, making it a 4v3 in favor of Gen G. Gen G had the advantage because they had 4 rifles, while Sentinels had only 1 rifle and 2 eco guns. After that, Gen Lakia gets run and gunned by Sen JohnQT with a Stinger, making it a 3v3. Gen T3xture kills Sen Sacy, and Sen JohnQT kills Gen Munchkin, making it a 2v2. Both Sen TenZ and Sen JohnQT are damaged, while both players for Gen G are at full health. Sen JohnQT is killed by Gen Karon, who is then traded out by Sen TenZ, making it a 1v1. Gen T3xture attempts to stick the defuse on the bomb, hoping Sen TenZ won’t notice. However, Sen TenZ peaks right as the spike reaches half and kills Gen T3xture.
This round is important because it is a thrifty, which means Sentinels spent an average of 2500 credits less than Gen G per player, saving Sentinels’ economy. This round is also important because it stopped Gen G’s momentum. The round before this, Gen Lakia had destroyed Sentinels in a 1v2. This round prevented a momentum shift into Gen G’s hands. Lastly, it hurt Gen G’s mental. Gen G was supposed to win this round, as they had better guns and were at a man advantage in the middle of it. There is no reason why they should have lost this round.
Final Map
In round 6, Sen Zellsis on KillJoy uses his ultimate in screens to retake A site. Gen G uses 3 utility in an attempt to break the KillJoy ultimate.
Gen G ends up missing 2 pieces of utility and only ends up hitting the ultimate with 1. This causes Gen G to play offsite. Sen TenZ then pops his ultimate, which disables utility usage by the other team. This is crucial because it prevents the other team from using utility to stop people defusing the spike and forces them to peak. This round was crucial in damaging Gen G’s mental because of the fact that they all missed their utility and didn’t break the KillJoy ultimate.
The nail in the coffin is in round 18. Sen Sacy throws a gecko flash down A main and is broken by Gen Lakia, who is hiding on pipes.
Sentinels were distracted by Gen Munchkin, who died on the right side of main, and Gen Karon, who was peaking rafters and killed Sen Zellsis and didn’t hear Gen Lakia break the Gecko flash. Gen Lakia had the opportunity to kill Sen Zekken, or wait for more to pass and shoot them all in the back. However, Gen Lakia thought Sentinels heard him and tried to kill Sen Zekken right away. Gen Lakia ends up hitting many leg and body shots onto Sen Zekken, allowing him to live, which ultimately causes his death.
This round cemented Sentinels’ victory because missing easy kills on a crucial round is very heartbreaking. Especially for Gen Lakia, who had been clutching a lot of rounds for Gen G, he threw this round.
These plays ultimately broke Gen G’s mental, which contributed to Sentinels winning VCT Madrid.