Despite the additions of legend shroud and former Version1 standout Zellsis, Sentinels, who were winners of the first ever international VALORANT event, are still placed at 9.00 by oddsmakers at bet365.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 2, 8:00 P.M. (EST)
The Guard who managed to obtain the most circuit points out of the unqualified teams are priced at 17.00, which is very surprising given their strong results throughout the year. Fourth place circuit point finishers for the NA region FaZe Clan are heavy favorites to win at 3.50 with their longest tenured player Babybay looking to carry his team to the Champions stage.
North American staple teams Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, NRG, 100Thieves, and former Luminosity Gaming now Shopify Rebellion round out the teams fighting to represent the region in Istanbul come September.
Cloud9 boasts former CS:GO players such as leaf, Xeppa, and Vanity who have transitioned well into VALORANT and are hoping to play their first international event for the game. Meanwhile, Asuna looks to boost 100Thieves who dismantled their entire roster and kept only him. A strong performance will certainly justify that decision as they are also favorites to make it to Istanbul after FaZe Clan.
NRG’s roster outside of Ethan has been together for a long time. Their chemistry will be a big factor in a high-pressure tournament such as this one. Evil Geniuses and Shopify Rebellion are very likely underdogs against these star-studded rosters as one of the most competitive regions in the game.
Though only barely making it into the LCQ after their tenth place finish, all eyes will be on Sentinels as their revamped roster is stacked. TenZ and ShahZaM headline the team with long-standing player dapr. The team managed to nab VALORANT’s biggest streamer and former CS:GO star shroud and include him as part of their roster for the upcoming LCQ. This will be shroud’s first professional VALORANT stint despite being a household name for quite some time. Zellsis meanwhile, used to play for NA team Version1 who failed to qualify for the LCQ.
The team has been struggling ever since the start of the season and have gone through several roster changes replacing their championship winning core after the departure of zombs and SicK. They also tried pubstar Kanpekki, however that did not pan out as he stepped down from the roster after only three months of playing.
As for the tournament’s format, it is a simple double-elimination bracket with all matches being best of three apart from the grand finals and the lower bracket finals, which will be best of five.
Will the additions to the Sentinels roster prove to be worth their weight in gold in aiding them to win this LCQ or will they once again fall to one of their North American rivals?
