It’s getting down to the wire in the group stage, as we’re beginning to see the top seed emerge.
Today featured a highly anticipated matchup between Sentinels and Liquid, along with what turned out to be an amazing battle between Vikings and Gambit.
Riot Games
The first game of the day was set to be a dull, dominant performance from the reigning Masters champs.
Split went about as expected. Vikings took an early lead but Gambit came back and only lost two more on their way to the map win.
That’s where things changed. Gambit has had some recent struggles on both Bind and Icebox, the next two maps in the rotation. They looked out of sorts on Bind, and couldn’t get anything together in either half – losing 13-5.
It looked like we’d see a massive upset on Icebox. Vikings were leading 9-3 going into the half, but the 9-3 curse took hold. After losing three out of the first five defending rounds, Gambit held on, took it to overtime and won.
Gambit is now the first team to qualify for Playoffs with a top seed.
The much-anticipated Sentinels vs Liquid matchup didn’t disappoint, with both teams showing why fans picked them as two of the potential winners of Masters.
I suggest that you watch the VoD if you’re a fan of either one of these teams. The three-map battle featured an overtime on Breeze, Sentinels blowout win on Bind, and a hard-fought Split to end it.
After the dust settled, it was Liquid that came out on top this time, although it could have easily went the other way. Actually, Sentinels won 6 more total rounds than Liquid did.
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