Masters Madrid has finally reached the playoffs! The top four teams from all the regions have been chosen to start out in the upper semi-final. This event started off with a bang, pulling in viewers from all over the globe this past weekend. Tarik, the well-known Valorant streamer, was able to stream his watch party to 100k+ viewers on Twitch. For everyone who thought the Valorant esports scene was dying, this was a major eye-opener. The game still brings in a huge base of players who religiously follow every aspect of the game, and that alone was a breath of fresh air for everyone worried about the state of the game. With big names like Sentinels finally making it all the way to the playoffs to a Dramatic qualification, let’s dive into more details about the 4 teams that made the Valorant Masters Madrid playoffs.
Sentinels – The First Team to Make it to Masters Madrid
Sentinels qualified for Madrid, ending their long streak of 900+ days without a Valorant tournament. Now the team was the first org to qualify for the playoffs. There was enough drama surrounding the team because of Zelsis filling in for the highly-rated pro, Pancada. The reason for this change still remains a mystery, but it did seem to work out well for Sentinels. Zelsis had his moments of madness, clutching out really tough rounds for the team. With their main player, Tenz, opting to play controller on many maps, Sentinels look like they made the changes they need to compete with the best.
Paper Rex – The Singapore Elites
To this date, Paper Rex is considered an underdog team by many. Hailing from a region that doesn’t have as many stars as EU and NA, Paper Rex might just be the most consistent team from Asia. With their main Raze player “Jing” taking a break from Valorant for a year, ex-global esports player Monyet was signed as a replacement. The team was dominant from day one and had one of the most intense Valorant matches ever against Team Heretics. Now the team has made it to the upper semifinals and will be facing another Asian super team, Gen.G.
Gen.G Represent South Korea for Valorant Masters Madrid
Gen.G has had the most dominating performance in this tournament so far. They’ve already won against 2 team semifinalists, Loud and PRx, in the early stages of the tournament. GeT_RiGhT is said to be having the best tournament of his career so far. Many pundits have lauded him as the best duelist of Valorant Masters Madrid. Gen.G has managed to take the spot of DRX as the best team from Korea this year. Whether they manage to hold their nerves for the entire tournament still remains a question. Many playoff newcomers have crumbled under the pressure of the big stage, and it’ll be interesting to see how Gen.G plays this out
Loud – The Veterans of VCT Events
LOUD, the ex-champions, have consistently turned up in all the big events, and it is no surprise they’re in the semifinals. The team has experienced pros like Sadak and Less who’ve been with the team throughout their ups and downs. They’ve won the Masters trophy before, so this event is familiar territory for them. They did struggle against Gen.G in the initial group stages but later made up for it by crushing all the other teams they had to face. LOUD will represent South America and face the NA giants Sentinels in the upper semifinals.
