Paper Rex made a huge statement at VALORANT Masters Toronto after crushing the iconic esports team Sentinels for the first time. The squad handed Sentinels a 2-0 defeat in the Upper Bracket Semifinals on Monday, June 16.

The Pacific team entered the match as underdogs. Sentinels had gone undefeated on the Swiss stage, showing clean form against Wolves Esports and Bilibili Gaming. They even went on a 2-0 victory against Xi Lai Gaming in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals. The Sentinelsâ€?winning streak came to a halt when Paper Rex turned up the heat in the playoffs. 

Their match kicked off on the map Split, where Paper Rex took full control. They stormed through with a 13-3 win, led by standout play from Ilya ‘something�Petrov's Yoru and Wang ‘Jinggg�Jing Jie's Raze. The energy never dropped as they closed the series with a 13-11 finish on the Sunset map.

With this win, Paper Rex is now through to the Upper Finals, where they’ll face Wolves Esports on Friday, June 20. A win against the Wolves will take them straight to the Grand Final for their first major global title.

Meanwhile, Sentinels fall to the Lower Bracket Quarterfinals against Fnatic. They have to fight back up to reach the final again.

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Sentinels defeated Wolves Esports 2-0 in their opening series at Masters Toronto, moving one step closer to the playoffs. Despite losing the first few rounds on Split, Sentinels came back strong to win the map 13-11, then secured the second map, Lotus, 13-8.

Wolves started the first map with a 4-0 lead and were up 8-4 at half-time. Their strategy targeted how Sentinels moved on defence, allowing them to stack early rounds. But in the second half, Sentinels' double-initiator setup paid off. They won key rounds with early ultimates and took control.

Lotus saw less resistance. Sentinels took an early lead, helped by strong utility use from Jordan ‘Zellsis�Montemurro’s Vyse. Wolves failed to win important after-plants and only managed three rounds in the first half. Sentinels closed it out with smart plays, including a clutch from in-game leader Amine ‘johnq�Ouarid.

Coach Adam ‘kaplan�Kaplan said the team expected a tough match and didn’t underestimate Wolves. He praised the newcomers, Sean ‘bang�Bezerra and Marshall ‘N4RRATE�Massey, for fitting in well after Tyson ‘TenZ�Ngo and Gustavo ‘Sacy�Ross stepped down.

Despite the loss, the Wolves impressed fans and analysts with their early performance. Their IGL, Pong ‘SiuFatBB�Ka-hei, said the team learned a lot from the match and stayed calm under pressure. Sentinels now prepare to face Bilibili Gaming in Round 2.

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Tyson ‘TenZ�Ngo is back in action after stepping away from the pro VALORANT scene. The 23-year-old Canadian star is set to stand in for Cubert Academy during the VCT Challengers Stage 2 Playoffs. His return follows Cubert’s recent roster shake-up, after Logan ‘skuba�Jenkins transferred to NRG’s VCT roster, opening a slot for the same role.

During this period, TenZ won’t only appear on broadcasts; he’s also streaming his own POV of the matches on both his YouTube and Twitch channels. This is due to his strong viewership, which counts over 100,000 viewers.

TenZ’s first match with Cubert Academy was against Winthrop on Tuesday, May 20, which ended at 2-0. The VCT playoffs follow a double-elimination format, which means fans will see TenZ play at least two matches with the roster.

TenZ last played in pro in August 2024 before shifting to content creation and streaming. His move to Cubert is not a full-time return but rather a short-term sub role. 

TenZ and the Sentinels

On May 8, TenZ announced that he had officially ‘parted ways�with Sentinels. However, the official Sentinels and their CEO Rob Moore shared that their split was made to open more opportunities for TenZ. ‘TenZ will always be Sentinels family� the Sentinels posted.

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G2 Esports took down Sentinels 3-1 to win VCT Americas Stage 1. With this win, they got 10 VCT points and a pass to the next big VCT series �Masters Toronto in June.

Twelve teams from the Americas joined the event from March 21 to May 4. G2 stood out early on, winning all five games in the Omega Group. Their strong start sent them to the Playoffs Upper Bracket Semis, but they lost to Sentinels and had to fight through the lower bracket. G2 bounced back strong, beating Evil Geniuses 2-1 and MIBR 3-1.

In the Grand Final, G2 made clear improvements. They won the first two maps (Haven and Split), lost Pearl, and sealed the deal on Ascent. All games were close, but G2 kept calm and showed real growth.

Trent ‘trent�Cairns was named MVP and shared his joy online, calling the team’s run back-to-back champions and praising their hard work.

G2, Sentinels, and MIBR will participate in Masters Toronto from June 7 to 22. The event will feature 12 teams across different regions and a $1 million prize pool.

With 16 total VCT points, G2 leads the Americas region. The top teams after Stage 2 may go straight to the big VALORANT Champions tournament later this year.

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