This Thursday, August 4, the Last Chance Qualifiers NA starts off with an exciting matchup, Sentinels vs The Guard. The match will begin at 4pm EST (1pm PT). Here’s a look at how both teams have been doing this season.
[Related: Valorant Last Chance Qualifiers 2022: Where to Watch & Who’s Playing]
Key Stats
Polling by thespike.gg
Sentinels: 86%
The Guard: 16%
Last Head-to-Head
The Guard beat Sentinels in a flawless 2-0. In the second game, the Sentinels only managed to win a single round.
NA Point Standings
The Guard is ranked second in NA by overall circuit points. The Sentinels come in at eighth.
Career Win Rate
Sentinels: 77%
The Guard: 69%
The Sentinels
When Sentinels make their return, they’ll be a different team. After a devastating run without any wins in both Challengers tournaments, Sentinels decided to make some changes. Previously, both coach Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty and Eric “Kanpeki” Xu were temporarily filling in two empty spots on the team.
Missing out on Masters gave Sentinels a chance to sort themselves out. Over the past month, they signed on Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek and Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro. They boasted about their boot camp on their twitter, and every member of the team has been working hard to get ready for August.
the bootcamp has arrived pic.twitter.com/LjvdF3Pwy1
— Sentinels (@Sentinels) July 20, 2022
Newcomers
Although Shroud has been playing VALORANT competitively since its inception, this is his first time in the spotlight. He is better known for his career in Counter Strike: Global Offensive from 2013 – 2017. During that time, Shroud mainly played for Cloud9 and championed the ESL Pro League two years in a row. Now, he will be filling the all-important role of smokes that was previously occupied by the legendary Hunter “SicK” Mims, and waveringly by coach Rawkus. This upcoming game will be Shroud’s first time playing in a VCT tournament, other than for qualifiers.
Zellsis is another former Counter Strike player who had been playing from 2016 up until 2020. He is a veteran of VCT. Last year, his team, Version 1, made it to Stage Two Masters in Reykjavik. Hopefully, that success will translate well for Sentinels, where Zellsis will be playing Raze.
The Guard
The Guard is a newcomer to the VALORANT competitive scene. It was formed late last fall by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, a Denver-based holding company. Despite their relative inexperience, The Guard have been crushing the competition. They took first place in Challengers Stage One, their first-ever VCT tournament. Since then, however, they have been struggling to keep up the momentum. The Guard landed a tie for seventh and eighth place in the following Masters competition, and between ninth and tenth place in the next Challengers tournament. Their strong initial performance has still kept them high in the rankings and ensured their spot in the Last Chance Qualifiers, where they will get one more opportunity to prove their worth as a competitive team.
All eyes on us as we kick off #VALORANTLCQ.
🆚 @Sentinels
⏰ 1 PM PT
📅 8/4#StandGuard pic.twitter.com/Rx9xRWff52— The Guard (@TheGuard) August 2, 2022
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