The NA Masters Lacked Thrilling Series
By comparison to Europe, NA Masters Stage 1 was actually somewhat disappointing in terms of closely contested series. There really weren’t any to speak of, with both Sentinels and Faze more or less crushing the competition until facing off against each other — at which point Faze was totally dominated, both in the upper finals and grand finals.
Don’t get me wrong, there was great Valorant being played throughout, with plenty of close rounds punctuated by memorable plays. But there was a distanct lack of the competitive, back-and-forth series that were a takeaway during the Challengers leading up to the competition.
That’s just the way it goes sometimes, of course; not every series is going to prove a nail-biter. It’s just a shame that just when, for example, Team Envy seemed as though they were on the cusp of rising to the very top of the pile, they failed to put a decent fight versus Faze.
100 Thieves, too, seemed destined for a comeback after a great showing in Challengers 3 but couldn’t win a single map against Sentinels or Gen.G when it came to Masters.
