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In a shocking turn of events for North American Valorant fans, Sentinels - the Valorant Champions Tour 2021 Stage 1 Masters champion - were eliminated from the open qualifiers of Stage 2 by a team called Built by Gamers.
Built by Gamers is an American Esports organization currently participating in Valorant and Fortnite. Since its formation, with an average scorecard mostly competing in B-Tier and C-Tier, they have somehow weathered the storms.
But for a world-class team like Sentinels, Built by Gamers was not a threat. Hence, the latter's 2-0 victory over Sentinels came as a shock to everyone.
With the Stage 1 Masters out of the way, all the teams in every region have set their eyes on the upcoming Stage 2 Masters, the most important tournament for Valorant Esports in 2021, being held in Reykjavík.
The entire Valorant Champions Tour is set to be a pyramid-themed journey preparing all the top teams for the Valorant Champions at the end of the year.
By qualifying for the Challengers at each stage, the top eight teams will secure a berth in the upcoming Masters. In the Masters, these eight teams get VCT Circuit Points that put their name in the leaderboard rankings.
Depending on these rankings, the top teams will be chosen for the Valorant Champions.
With Stage 2 Challengers 1 on the horizon, 128 teams head on to the open-qualifiers being held to enter the Challengers.
Sentinels’ upsetting loss in Valorant Champions Tour
From being the best team in NA to winning the VCT Stage 1 Masters, Sentinels have come a long way since it announced the Valorant roster on April 28th, 2020.
Since the announcement of the Valorant Champions Tour structure, all the teams have been hyped up for the upcoming battles. Sentinel went into this run on a solid footing, either winning or placing themselves in the top berths of every single tournament they participated in.
They were victorious in the Stage 1 Masters, securing the much-needed 100 VCT Circuit points in a dominating fashion. However, they hit a roadblock during round 16 of the open-qualifier matches for Stage 2 Challenger 1.
While this was upsetting news for fans, many don't fully understand how everything works in the new VCT structure.
Most think Sentinels need not play since they have already won the Stage 1 Masters. However, winning the most important tournament in Valorant doesn’t mean that the winning organization will get a ticket straight to Stage 2 Challengers 1.
Future of Sentinels
With the chance of qualifying for the upcoming Challengers 1 extinguished, Sentinels have only one chance left for redemption. Should they fail to qualify for Stage 2 Challengers 2, they will forever miss the chance to compete in the upcoming 2021 tournament in Valorant Esports.
