TSM has taken the title of best North American Valorant team in the Faze Clan Invitational, which was part of the Ignition Series. After coming from the winner’s bracket by defeating Sentinels in an already incredible series in the upper final, they had to face their rivals once more in the grand final, though this time in a best-of-five with a game win advantage.
[#VALORANT | Ignition Series]
What. A. Comeback. @TSM are your FaZe Clan Invitational champions, taking down arch-nemesis @Sentinels!
Full results, placements & recap: https://t.co/E7en2Hyu8K pic.twitter.com/FOvPHnlfha
— Valorant News (@ValorantUpdates) August 10, 2020
TSM vs Sentinels, an ever-growing Valorant rivalry
The winner’s final between TSM and Sentinels was already a series to write home about. Though TSM ended up taking the win 2-0, those numbers don’t tell the whole story. The second game ended up going to massive overtime that kept swinging back and forth. Ultimately, it was TSM pulling the victory towards them with an 18-16 scoreline. But they would soon meet again in the grand final.
Sentinels faced Immortals in the lower finals, but they were feeling hot. Despite a loss against TSM, the team was on fire and ready for a rematch. After making fairly quick work of Immortals, Sentinels moved on to what would become a legendary grand final.
Once again, the two teams traded blows, winning on each other’s map picks. By the time game five started, the sun was beginning to rise for European viewers. In an incredibly close and exciting game five, TSM claimed the win to crown themselves champions and took home the lion’s share of $50,000. Once again, overtime was required to determine the victor, but not before TSM had to make a comeback.
0.03#FaZeInvitational | #IgnitionSeries pic.twitter.com/0k6siVixV7
— Nerd Street Gamers (@nerdstgamers) August 10, 2020
Being down 8-12, Sentinels were on tournament point for four rounds until TSM forced overtime by winning four in a row, and then subsequently clutched the following two rounds to take the series and tournament 14-12.
“It feels so good to beat Sentinels,” said 31-year-old James “Hazed” Cobb in the post-match interview. “Someone had to put them in their place, they’re so disrespectful, I’m just tired of it. The old man had to come in and take care of the children, that’s all it is.”
The weekend also saw Valorant viewer numbers soar towards 200K, proving that the young esport has a promising future indeed.