Sentinels survive group of death, eliminate Gen.G

In a win-or-go-home meeting between this year's two Masters champions, Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) and Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #4 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid squared off in the decider match of Group B, with Sentinels coming out on top.

The three-map series was played out on Lotus and Icebox, with Lotus being Sentinels's map pick and Icebox being Gen.G's pick. Sentinels won Lotus 13-9, and Sentinels won Icebox 13-6.

The rivalry between these two teams began at Masters Madrid, and it will continue after Sentinels put the last nail in Gen.G's coffin, ending their 2024 season in their home country.

The loss is just Gen.G's third this season on the international stage, after carrying an 11-2 record heading into Saturday's match.

Sentinels would grab an astounding four pistol, anti-eco and bonus rounds in the series, giving them an advantage. Days earlier, they managed just one pistol round against the Korean team in the opening round match.

The duel between the only two teams to have touched an international trophy this season was not nearly as close as the form of the two teams may have suggested.

Sentinels ended their attacking first half with a 7-5 lead, raising the question of whether seven was enough on an attack-sided map.

A few rounds of defense-side heroics from the likes of Zellsis brought Sentinels to map point, but a Gen.G timeout seemed to show the early makings of a comeback. The Korean team won three straight to make it 12-9, but an all-out brawl fighting for control of A main gave Sentinels their map pick.

With Ascent, one of their strongest maps, being banned, Icebox was Gen.G's pick.

Famously, Icebox was the map that Sentinels closed out map five of the Masters Madrid grand finals.

On Lotus, Sentinels won both pistol rounds, both anti-ecos, and both bonuses. On Icebox, excellent retakes and utility usage saw the American team's lead bubble even when playing a man down. Gen.G got nine first kills but finished the map with just six rounds.

Gen.G, who had been relatively strong following timeouts, called one in hopes of clawing back into the map.

Down 11-5, and on a six-round loss streak, It looked as though Gen.G would be pushed to map point. A moment of heroism in a 4v2 scenario would give the Korean outfit their first win of the half.

Following the ace, t3xture 's first since April, Gen.G won five straight rounds, and finished their attacking half in much better shape, trailing 7-5. It's the same halftime deficit they faced on Icebox, in map five of the grand finals at Madrid.

On their attacking half, Sentinels continued their dominance in the early-half rounds, winning their fourth pistol, anti-eco and bonus rounds of the series. That's twelve rounds earned of the 26 they'd need in a two-map series.

In comparison, in their opening round match against Gen.G, Sentinels won just one of four pistol rounds. Gen.G head coach solo appeared to take responsibility for his team's pistol round performances.

“We needed better pistol-round strategies from the coaching staff. If we had better strategies, we would have won more pistol rounds,” he said.

Once again, Sentinels started their attacking half strong, grabbing four straight rounds. Gen.G clinched their sixth of the map the following round, but Sentinels responded to bring them to match point.

Now one round away from reaching the playoffs, Sentinels grabbed the all-important round dominantly to win 13-6 – the exact Icebox scoreline they beat Gen.G at months before at Madrid

A well-rounded performance from Sentinels saw duelist zekken finish with the most kills in the team with 40. Every player on Sentinels finished with more kills than deaths.

Fan-favorite t3xture finished with a server-leading 41 kills, while teammate Lakia would leave more to be desired, finishing 9-30.

Surviving the group of death by finishing with the second seed, Sentinels will move on to the playoffs, while Gen.G's 2024 season has come to a close.