Sentinels swept Envy at the PopFlash Invitational and regained the title as North America’s best.
Coming into this event, fans were excited about a rematch between TSM and Sentinels. The Faze Invitational finals brewed a rivalry between these teams and the PopFlash Invitational looked like the perfect event for the rematch. The event held even more weight considering it was the final tournament of the Ignition Series. Unfortunately for TSM fans, Dignitas knocked TSM out of the group stage, and fans never got to see the highly anticipated rematch. Once TSM failed to make the bracket stage, Sentinels were the heavy favorite to win the event.
Sinatraa and crew proceeded to dominate the bracket stage with little resistance. Cloud 9, surprisingly, managed to take a map off of Sentinels in the winner’s finals, but that just proved to be a blip on the champions' run.
Sentinels faced Envy in the grand finals. This up and coming Envy team upset Cloud 9 in the loser’s finals and hoped to find similar results in the finals. The matchup against Sentinels truly was a David versus Goliath situation. Unfortunately for Envy, Goliath won. The team could never find an answer for Sinatraa’s antics. The ex-Overwatch League MVP overwhelmed Envy with his near-perfect utility usage. Dapr also cemented himself as the best Cypher in North America and ShahZam continued to make sure fans and analysts put him in the conversation as the best Jett. The team plays fast and fearless, and as of right now, no one in North America can slow them down.
Sentinels’ dominance is built on multiple layers. First, the team is almost always in sync. When executing site takes or retakes, the team aggressively commits as a unit and overwhelms the opposition. Second, when executions fail, the individual skill of each player can be enough to clutch a round. Sinatraa, Zombs, and Dapr all clutched multiple rounds under what seemed like unwinnable situations during this event.
Finally, the discipline of this team can not be understated. At first glance, viewers assume that Sentinels just thoughtlessly sprint towards enemies. After watching a few rounds, they can see that every move this team makes is deliberate. Every aggressive angle was carefully thought out. Entry fraggers can jump into a site because they trust the support from the rest of their teammates. Combining all of this creates a Sentinels team that is ready to dominate the next step of Valorant esports.
Sources: Flashpoint, Sentinels