Luminosity Gaming beat Sentinels in the finals of Nerd Street Gamers Winter Championship with a score of 3-2 in a thrilling Bo5 Valorant match, bagging a total of $15,000.
The NSG Winter Championship concluded today with Luminosity Gaming emerging victorious, despite facing tough opposition since the group stages. Being the underdogs of the Valorant tournament, the finals were nail-biting and kept the audience on the edge of their seats throughout. While Luminosity took the victory, it wasn't easy.
Luminosity qualified for this Valorant competition from the NSG Monthly September. They started in Group C with Team Envy, XSET, and Team 2D. Initially, they had been clean swept by XSET but later took revenge in the lower brackets to qualify for the playoffs.
Luminosity then faced NRG Esports and Equinox Esports, beating both of them with a 2-1 score to qualify for the Grand Finals against Sentinels.
Sentinels, on the other hand, was one of the four invited Valorant teams. They started in Group B and lost against NRG Esports but later managed to qualify for the playoffs. The journey to the finals was smooth for them, clean sweeping most of the Valorant teams.
This is what the IGL of Luminosity had to say before the match:
The maps and scores of the finals are the following:
- Icebox (Sentinels pick) - SEN 13 - 15 LG
- Bind (Luminosity pick) - SEN 10 - 13 LG
- Split (Sentinels pick) - SEN 13 - 11 LG
- Haven (Luminosity pick) - SEN 13 - 8 LG
- Ascent - SEN 10 - 13 LG
Luminosity vs Sentinels Map #1- NSG Winter Valorant Finals
The finals of the NSG Winter Valorant Championship started with Sentinels' Icebox pick. They seemed comfortable with the map since First Strike. However, things were unexpected in this final.
The map started with Sentinels' aggression on the attacking side, grabbing the initial two rounds. However, with a patient economy build, Luminosity comeback winning three rounds.
The first half continued with LG winning back to back rounds against the fierce attackers and getting a score of 8-4. The rounds were close, with ShahZaM and Sinatraa's vicious duelist combo.
Stellar did an amazing job getting crucial kills. Moose started late, but his impact in the game saved the day for LG as they progressed towards overtime.
The overtime started off by favoring Sentinels. ShahZam took multi-kills with the Operator. Going aggressive and picking kills off guard, the thief managed to bring the map to a close, with LG winning Icebox with a score of 15-13.
Luminosity vs Sentinels Map #2- NSG Winter Valorant Finals
The second map was Bind, which was a pick from Luminosity. Sentinels started on the defensive side. However, things did not work out for them.
While Sentinels started off winning the initial two rounds like before, LG managed to attack nine consecutive rounds successfully. Stellar had a mind-blowing effort with the Omen and left no room for Sentinels to defend the sites. The first half ended with a score of 9-3 in favor of LG.
The second half witnessed a slightly better performance from Sentinels' side. A wonderful game of Valorant with intense trading could be observed from both sides. Rounds that started in favor of Sentinels somehow ended up in LG's court.
SicK performed beautifully with the Raze on the attacking side. However, the thief came cluth with four kills, dodging SicK's ultimate and getting the map for Luminosity.
Luminosity vs Sentinels Map #3- NSG Winter Valorant Finals
The third map was Split, Luminosity's pick. Luminosity started on the defensive side, gaining a massive advantage already.
An incredible performance was observed from Luminosity in the first half. From making impossible retakes to getting multi frag kills from the side of YaBoiDre and thief. An amazing strategical play from stellar allowed LG to lead with a score of 10-4.
However, as the match progressed in the second half, Sentinels' dapr managed to defend the sites. Getting eight consecutive rounds and ultimately getting a map for themselves, Sentinels secured their first map.
Luminosity vs Sentinels Map #4- NSG Winter Valorant Finals
The next map was Haven, a map heavily favored by Sentinels. They started on the defensive side.
Luminosity won the pistol round. However, with a massive retake in the follow-up round, Sentinels were back on track. dapr did an amazing job holding sites successfully and even contributing to subsequent retakes. The first half ended with a score of 7-5 for Sentinels.
The second half was quick. SicK was fabulous with his Phoenix. The aggression he provided with the duelist secured the map for Sentinels easily. Despie thief's good start, it wasn't enough to bag this particular map of Valorant.
Luminosity vs Sentinels Map #5- NSG Winter Valorant Finals
The last map of the day was Ascent. Sentinels started on the attacking side and looked quite promising from the start of this Valorant map.
A nice retake made sure that the Sentinels lost the first pistol round, but the next few rounds featured ShahZam's mind-blowing attack. While aproto saved some of the crucial eco rounds for Luminosity, the fierce aggression of Sentinels penetrated Luminosity's defense and ended the first half with a 7-5 score.
However, the second half of the Valorant match grew interesting as Luminosity managed to pick up the initial rounds and equalized. Sentinels got back with a clean retake, but the underdogs retained their form.
An amazing amount of teamwork and Sentinel's broken economy helped lead Luminosity bag the final map and the title.