Upsets continue at Champions Paris: Sentinels sent home early
The upsets at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions continue, as Sentinels becomes the second team eliminated from the biggest tournament of the year. In a close three-map series against Xi Lai Gaming, none of Sentinels’ star fraggers were able to show up when it mattered most, and the team now heads home without a trophy.
A somber Sentinels entered the post-match press conference after being knocked out of Champions Paris by XLG. Disappointed, but proud, Head Coach Adam "kaplan" Kaplan still saw growth in the squad despite the loss:
“They were the better team at the end of the day. The boys did a good job and I’m proud of them. The energy and communication were really good. I think we’ve grown a lot this year, especially from the GIANTX match till now, and I think XLG is a really good team.”
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Xi Lai Gaming
“Hard to tell what went wrong”
The series kicked off on Abyss - a map Sentinels historically haven’t looked comfortable on. Still, they managed to edge out XLG 13-10, putting them up 1-0 going into their comfort pick: Lotus.
But XLG came prepared. They jumped out to a dominant lead in the first half and held firm as Sentinels tried to rally. Despite a few clutch moments, Sentinels couldn’t close the gap and dropped their map pick 13-11.
It all came down to Haven. As the rounds went on, XLG had firm control. Sentinels struggled to find footing as XLG kept them at bay, eventually closing it out 13-8 and eliminating one of North America's most iconic teams. At the press conference, in-game leader Mohamed Amine "Johnqt" Ouarid credited XLG for simply being the better squad:
“I don’t think we underestimated XLG at all. We knew they were good opponents. To be honest it’s really hard to say right now what went wrong on Haven. Some rounds we didn’t execute well and there was individual stuff too.”
Despite the early exit, there were no regrets from Sentinels. After months of grinding and improvement, kaplan hopes the team can take pride in how far they’ve come - and find time to enjoy the journey and celebrate, even in defeat.
XLG’s Future on the Line
With Sentinels out of the picture, XLG moves on to face GIANTX on September 21 - their final shot at reaching the playoffs.
It’s a must-win situation. To stay in the VCT, XLG must place higher than Dragon Ranger Gaming, the second Ascension team from China. If DRG lose their match on September 20, XLG locks in a spot in the 2026 VCT China. But if DRG win, XLG’s fate hangs in the balance as a potential return to Ascension is on the table.
For all things VALORANT-related, make sure to stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG as we continue to update you with the freshest game and esports news.
Featured image credit: Adela Sznajder/Riot Games.
After earning a bachelor's degree in journalism and media creation and working as a journalist for two years, Gry set her sights on her true goal: becoming an esports journalist. Although she's relatively new to esports writing, the scene itself is far from unfamiliar. After spending a few years dominating in CS:GO, she dove into VALORANT when it launched-and her passion for the game has never faded. Now, Gry is part of the content team at THESPIKEGG, where she'll conduct interviews and write a variety of articles.
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