On the first day of the first North American VALORANT Challengers event, there’s already been a significant upset in the first round.
Luminosity Gaming stunned Sentinels in the first round, sending the Sentinels down to the lower bracket. The first map made it appear that the series would be close, as Luminosity required overtime to close out their pick of Icebox.
Each team had an impressive defensive half, but it was Brady “thief” Dever’s heroics in overtime that made the difference. His absurd 4K in the final round broke the overtime tiebreaker to give Luminosity the win.
Luminosity made it seem like they would wrap up the series quickly, claiming nine rounds on the first half of map two, Split, as well as the second-half pistol. Sentinels began putting together a comeback, but LG held on to take map two 13-9. Thief led the way again for his team with 20 kills.
This victory is the latest momentum builder for a red-hot Luminosity roster, who finished 3rd at the NSG x Complexity Invitational, then first at the NSG Winter Championship. That win at the Winter Championship coincidentally came against Sentinels in a much tenser five-map series.
With the victory today, Sentinels is sent down to the lower bracket where they will face the loser of Team Envy/Andbox in an elimination series. Luminosity will face the winner.
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