Total Shorty Kills
North American First Strike – Day 2 belongs to Sentinels and 100 Thieves
Brandon "Mothman" Moore
12/05/2020
The North American First Strike tournament is on to Day 2. Day 1 went off without a hitch and as many expected. Day 2’s festivities were originally meant to be played the other way around. For an unknown reason, the games swapped places. That means Sentinels and FaZe Clan started things off. After that, 100 Thieves and T1 went out.
It was another exciting day of Valorant action. Now, the Semifinals are set with the teams everyone expected to be there.
North American First Strike Day Two
Sentinels vs FaZe Clan
Map 1: Bind
Sentinels started Bind on defense. The first three rounds went by rather quickly. FaZe Clan tried to stop some early bleeding with some beautifully placed Sheriff shots by Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen and Corey “corey” Nigra. The ability to purchase guns was just a bit too much, though. Sentinels kept their shutout intact at 4:0. Corey and Hunter “SicK” Mims both popped their Showstoppers and sent an opponent packing for the round. SicK then decided to save after FaZe Clan started cleaning up, allowing their first round victory. After taking a second round, FaZe Clan started to kick it up a notch. They were able to enter the second half with a 7:5 round count in favor of Sentinels.
The start of Bind’s second half immediately saw FaZe Clan take the pistol round flawlessly. Sentinels retaliated with less weaponry on the back of a Michael “dapr” Gulino 3K. FaZe Clan would keep fighting, but with seven HP, Shahzeeb “ShahZaM” Khan picked up the 4K to take things to 10:7. FaZe Clan tried, but Sentinels didn’t give any room for them to work. The map ended 13:8 with a massive clutch from Jay “sinatraa” Won.
Map 2: Split
Split began much like Bind did. The only difference was that Sentinels was on attack while FaZe Clan was on defense. Sentinels were almost wiped out in the third round by an unseen Marved. The quick 3K wasn’t enough to shut down Sentinels, however. The Spike was planted and defended quite well by Jared “zombs” Gitlin and sinatraa. ShahZaM turned on the jets, pun intended, with the Operator and started lighting up FaZe Clan. Finally FaZe Clan would get on the board with four consecutive rounds. Split’s first half had a familiar 7:5 ending.
Another pistol round ended with all of FaZe Clan eliminated. Sentinels would continue to cruise, utilizing the abilities and weapons at their disposal. SicK and ShahZam continued to absolutely decimate the entirety of FaZe Clan. There was nothing that they could do. No rounds went in their favor once the second half began. Sentinels proved that Split is a map they are not to be messed with on. It ended 13:5 with Andrej “babybay” Francisty gunning down Sentinels. ShahZam was able to stick the defuse, however, and pull the plug on any sort of FaZe Clan triumph.
- Bind: Sentinels 13:8 FaZe Clan
- Split: Sentinels 13:5 FaZe Clan
100 Thieves vs T1
Map 1: Haven
Haven immediately saw 100 Thieves fall behind. Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham took matters into his own hands, slinging Operator shots left and right. He would follow that up with a set of gorgeous Bladestorm kills. Spencer “Hiko” Martin would retaliate with an Ultimate of his own, however. He sent out the Hunter’s Fury and closed out the round. T1 did not get discouraged after that round loss. They continued to handle things well on their defensive side. A close Spike defusal took place by Sam “DaZeD” Marine with .09 seconds left on the timer. T1 finished the first half 9:3.
The second half started off wildly. A massive battle took place with the Spike planted at C Site. Hiko was able to stick the defuse and withstand the spam shots from down C Long to start 100 Thieves’ defensive side off on the right foot. That would start the streak. On the backs of Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella and Joshua “steel” Nissan, 100 Thieves tied it at 9:9. The youngsters, Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk and Quan “dicey” Tran, started to show themselves as well. Keven “AZK” Larivière and Braxton “brax” Pierce eventually stopped the bleeding, making things 10:10. 100T refused any sort of lead change to T1, wrapping things up 13:10.
Map 2: Bind
100 Thieves picked up Bind right where they left off on Haven. A solid B Site retake saw them take the pistol round. 100T gave up very little ground as Asuna picked up a 4K and nitr0 finished off the fifth. Ha “Spyder” Jung-woo stepped up with a massive 4K of his own to prevent 100 Thieves from pulling ahead too far. A wild Asuna Showstopper through the teleporter took out AZK and denied a chance for T1 to tie it up. Spyder grabs another 4K and closes the gap for T1. 100T entered the second half with a 7:5 lead.
T1 was able to pull out the second half pistol round. This allowed them to purchase some weapons and utility. That set T1 up for a tied score of 7:7. Immediately after that, 100T got the Spike down quick and finished off all of T1 to take the lead again. Back and forth it went as T1 dominated the following round. 100T would then take the next round, truly making this a back and forth effort from both teams. 100 Thieves was finally able to break the trend due to some stellar Jett play by dicey. 100T was able to advance to the Semifinals against Sentinels with a 13:10 victory on Bind.
- Haven: 100 Thieves 13:10 T1
- Bind: 100 Thieves 13:10 T1
Stay tuned to Run It Back for more North American First Strike coverage, Valorant guides, breaking news, and player interviews!
