Sentinels set to defend Valorant Masters title, 100 Thieves locks in ticket to Berlin

North America will be back to the international stage stronger than ever, as both 100 Thieves and the current Valorant Masters champions, Sentinels, have secured their tickets to the next major stop in the Champions Tour, Berlin.

Starting with Sentinels, the kings from NA are now set to defend their throne as the best Valorant squad in the world after a close 2-0 victory against Envy, in the second round of the upper bracket of the NA VCT Challengers Playoffs.

Both teams battled with everything they had since their first encounter in Icebox, with an immovable tie in most of the game, ultimately broken thanks to the winning performance of TenZ and ShahZaM.

Keeping up the momentum, Sentinels started strong in their second map, Haven, although this would be reversed after a massive win streak by Envy, closing the first half with a two-round advantage.

After a couple of traded rounds, Sentinels made the last stretch to match point, before Envy rebounded with three wins in a row leaving everything in the hands of an "all or nothing" round, where the kings ended up with the glory and the tickets to Berlin.

On the other side, 100 Thieves had a harder matchup as they faced XSET, who came in with a lot of momentum after a great match against Luminosity earlier today. This helped them set up a 9-3 lead before changing sides in Haven.

However, 100T would manage to revamp the score with a dominant performance, erasing completely the advantage of their opponents and tying the score to a match point. With XSET completely demolished, it was just a matter of time before the Thieves stole the victory and the first game.

For the second clash, the battlefield chosen was none other than Ascent, where this time 100 Thieves began with the upper hand, carried by Asuna’s Jett, managing to get an 8-4 lead against XSET who barely stood out thanks to Zekken.

While 100T got some good wins to kick off the second half, XSET regained some motivation by taking critical wins and a needed win streak, putting the score at 12-11. Besides, the next round would be the last, as an incredible spray from 100T’s nitr0 would end up taking the point and match.

Thus, with the first two contenders already decided, the last seed from NA for the Masters Berlin will be defined between Envy, TSM, XSET, Faze, Luminosity and Rise, while Sentinels wait to meet their opponents for the Valorant Champions, now that they have secured the first spot in the biggest Valorant tournament of the year.

• Read more: Valorant leak reveals tournament mode details

Don't forget to check out our dedicated Valorant section, filled with guides, news, patch notes, esports and more.