LOUD vs Sentinels – VCT Americas Kickoff Grand Final: Sentinels secure Americas’ #1 Seed in Madrid

We've made it to the Grand Final of VCT Americas Kickoff. It was the last region to determine its representatives for Masters Madrid, with the winner of LOUD vs Sentinels taking the first seed for the league heading into the event.

Follow along with us as we recap the match, deliver highlights, and update your on the score.

LOUD vs Sentinels features two teams from the so-called "Group of Death." Group B started with these two teams facing off, and now the entire Kickoff tournament ends with them. Looks like the Group of Death is alive and kicking.

LOUD, always ready for a fight, took down a surprisingly game Evil Geniuses team that had plenty of questions surrounding them coming into the year. This team has already made Madrid, but beating Sentinels again is probably icing on the cake.

For SEN, they took NRG to three maps and dominated them in the finale of their contest. After years of failing to secure much-needed victories, the clout farm of Sentinels is headed to Spain. Momentum could be theirs if they take the number one seed from the 2022 VALORANT Champions.

Tune in to the official VALORANT Americas channels on Twitch and YouTube to catch LOUD vs Sentinels. You can also watch your favorite co-streamers if they are live, or just watch along right here with us.

This one reaches three maps no matter what, with it being a best-of-five Grand Final. Let's see how it goes:

Sentinels took a ton of damage in the pistol round, but still pulled through with just one player short of a Flawless. That set them up to take the next. Sentinels was close to taking their bonus, but a good trade from Less gave LOUD the defuse and their first round.

And just when LOUD looked poised to add another, a massive 3v1 clutch by Sacy furthered Sentinels round count. An early timeout by LOUD helped them stop the bleeding, however. Saadhak and company adjusted well at first, but SEN eventually pulled ahead for a halftime lead.

LOUD began the second half with a pistol round victory. Then they took the next to put them only down by two rounds. The Sentinels gun round was a bit chaotic, but they held on to extend their lead by to three. Their defense held strong with TenZ taking down three to give SEN double digits.

Nothing was going to stop them at this point. They inched closer and closer to victory, with LOUD's attack strategy mostly unsuccessful. Even with some solid post-plants in their favor, Sentinels' lead was too much to overcome. SEN kept their composure and closed it out with a low buy retake.

Much like Sunset, Sentinels started off hot with great utility usage to net some kills. Unlike Sunset, however, Sentinels picked up their bonus round. Split is their playground, and they were bullying LOUD early on. A timeout by the Brazilian team once again salvaged things a bit, and some precision shots by Less got them on the board.

Soon, LOUD put up their second round, but they were never able to string anything together. Sentinels always responded. Even with their Viper's Pit down, Sentinels stuck the defuse to reach eight rounds in the first half. They managed another until LOUD got their third, potentially igniting the 9:3 curse.

Sentinels started the second half with a pistol round to reach double digits. A post-plant hold by Sentinels got them to 11. If LOUD were to channel the curse, it needed to be now. It just wouldn't happen, though. A lower buy still saw Sentinels take the advantage, with the likes of the Guardian and the Judge in their hands. One round later and SEN was up 2:0 in the series.

Sentinels continued to overwhelm LOUD at the start of Icebox. TenZ snagged a 3K to start things off. A clutch by tuyz gave LOUD their first round much earlier than the previous maps. LOUD converted the following and had their first lead of the series. SEN then immediately tied it.

A funny moment happened where Sacy threw Gekko's Mosh Pit, only for Less to step in front of it and it bounced off his head. That gave away Sacy's position and let LOUD take back the early lead. It was back and forth for a little while after, until LOUD finally managed a good lead before halftime.

LOUD ran through Sentinels on their way to defuse the Spike, taking the second half pistol round. Sentinels, with a comfortable series lead, decided to buy weapons going into the following round. They got the Spike down and their fifth came soon after. That gave them what they needed to push back into it.

LOUD pulled through with a Thrifty that prevented SEN from tying it at 9:9. As they reached, double digits, they forced Sentinels to call a timeout. Well, it worked for them. The next round went to SEN, and things were closer than they had been the entire series. A tie at 10:10 was inevitable.

A 3K by TenZ put SEN in yet another lead. Only two more rounds to complete the sweep. LOUD had other ideas, though, ready to force a map four. And do that they did. LOUD shut down Sentinels on the final round to get their map on the board.

Bind started with a wild pistol round going to LOUD. From the get go, this was a scrappy battle. It stayed that way for a while, with both teams taking aggressive angles and dishing out damage. The final hit in each round was going to LOUD, though, giving them a cushion of rounds.

A sold B Long hold by johnqt and Sacy thwarted LOUD's push, finally stopping the rounds from piling up. A 3K from qck put things back on track for LOUD. They stayed ahead at halftime, ready to avoid any sort of 9:3 magic from SEN.

The second half pistol was a close one, but LOUD got to 10 with it. Sentinels responded with a buy of Stingers, like they did on Icebox. And again, it worked. The started scraping rounds together to bring it close to LOUD. The Brazilian lead dwindled as SEN's attack dominated.

On the other side of a timeout, LOUD seemingly figured out how to put a stop to SEN's comeback. Three kills, one just shy of a huge 1v4 clutch, went to Zellsis, but LOUD got to him and a subsequent map point. TenZ would need an Ace clutch to keep SEN alive, but LOUD said, 'No, thank you,' to take us to map five.

Yet another pistol round came down to the wire. Sacy versus his old IGL Saadhak. With the high ground, the former took it to get SEN on the board first. The attack side for SEN proved to be very effective to start this one. They took several rounds in a row, setting themselves up nicely.

Six straight for SEN until LOUD's qck took out three of them and they stuck the defuse to get their first round. The next round, however, they weren't able to get the defuse in time as SEN held strong on B Site. Halftime approached with Sentinels ahead 10:2 after yet another close round.

The second half pistol was the TenZ show. Another three from him helped Sentinels closer to the series victory. LOUD gave them a taste of their own medicine shortly after, with a Stinger buy to get their third round.

A fourth followed, but SEN didn't buy so they were able to have full utility, weapons, and armor in the next. That allowed them to retake A Site and push Lotus to series point. And that's all she wrote. Sentinels finished off LOUD with a defuse, taking the series and securing the first seed for the region at Masters Madrid.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for more esports news and VALORANT coverage.