A statement win by a VALORANT organization and an extremely cool event from Pokémon Go round out our Who Won the Weekend for this week.
Winner: Sentinels
Once upon a time this org was known simply because of Fortnite World Cup solos winner Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf. Fast forward several months later and Sentinels made a major splash in this new game called VALORANT, signing away reigning Overwatch League MVP, Season 2 champion and Overwatch World Cup winner Jay "Sinatraa" Won and creating a VALORANT five stack that included players from OW, CS:GO and Apex Legends. At a time when Counter Strike seemed to be the best path to transition, this seemed like a gamble.
If early results for Sentinels were optimistic yet inconclusive, this weekend's victory at the PAX Arena VALORANT Invitational was emphatic. The team went a perfect 4-0 in groups, including a 2-0 victory over Tyson "TenZ" Ngo and Cloud9. Then, a strong playoff run that saw sentinels pull off a mini reverse sweep against Gen.G, followed by an absolutely dominant 2-0 over what many would call the No. 1 team in NA going into the tournament, TSM (with scores of 13-3 and 13-4), then a rematch against Cloud 9 and another convincing win, taking the series 3-1 and becoming PAX Arena champions.
Sinatraa indeed made that Odin go BRRRR: he finished the tournament with a 261.8 average combat score and a 1.16 KDA. In a post game interview, teammate Shahzeeb "ShahZaM" Khan called him "the best player in two different games". But while Sinatraa will certainly garner headlines because of his previous success (he is "Mr. 150k" after all), this also felt like a team effort: Hunter "SicK" Mims with clutch 1-vs-3 plays (including at the end of the tournament), 42 first bloods and absolutely crushing the metrics on Sage, Shahzam with a 229.6 ACS on Jett, Breach and Sova, Michael "dapr" Gulino with slick Cypher play bringing his team valuable intel, and Jared "zombs" Gitlin making Twitch chat spam "Zombs nation" with his Brimstone/Omen play.
Dapr mentioned in the post-championship interview that the team knew they were the best in North America, they just needed a chance to prove it. PAX Arena was that chance, and they proved that they are No. 1 in my Power Rankings right now. Yes, it's still very early in competitive VALORANT, and good results in major tournaments will certainly sway the PRs more than once the scene is more established in years to come, but if there was any tournament performance that is the prototype for this, it's this one from Sentinels. -- Arda Ocal
Runner-up: POGO Fest
This weekend also belonged to Pokémon Go. Niantic, the makers of everybody's favorite phone AR game, hosted Pokémon Go Fest 2020 on Saturday and Sunday. As with practically every other event this year, Pokémon Go's biggest annual event took place completely online as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
With COVID-19 forcing people around the world into lockdowns and quarantines, Niantic has been making it easier for people to play Pokémon Go -- a game designed to be played outdoors -- from the comfort of their own homes. Pokémon Go Fest was the latest and biggest effort by Niantic to take the Pokémon Go experience indoors. For 10 hours on both Saturday and Sunday, players could take part in a variety of challenges and encounter a range of Pokémon that aren't normally available at all.
Saturday's gameplay featured different Pokémon available every hour and hourly challenges that players around the world could all help complete in order to yield special bonuses for everyone. Niantic hosts monthly community days that spotlight one particular species of Pokémon and challenges throughout the day, but Day 1 of POGO Fest felt like 10 community days all rolled into one. Sunday's event was focused less on catching Pokémon and more on battling Team Rocket grunts and leaders in order to unlock various rewards. Legendary raids were also available throughout the weekend, offering players the opportunity to catch rare Pokémon.
With Pokémon Go being a Google trending topic on Saturday and #PokémonGoFest2020 trending on Twitter throughout the weekend, it's safe to say Ninatic's Pokémon Go Fest was a success.
Esports editor Sean Morrison and I both spent the better part of our weekend participating in Pokémon Go Fest. The beauty of the remote event was that no matter where in the world you were -- he was on the East Coast and I was on the West Coast -- you got to share in a similar experience without having to travel somewhere as had been the case with Pokémon Go Fest in years past. On Saturday, there were so many different Pokémon to catch, so many challenges to complete and so many raids to take part in that midway through the day I was already running low on Pokeballs. And that was after receiving 200 Ultra balls for simply using incense to attract Pokémon at the start of the event!
Pokémon Go player, host of the first Pokémon Go Fest and veteran Pokémon fan Rachel Seltzer told ESPN she was sad that this year's Go Fest couldn't take place in person, but that participating in this year's virtual event was special nonetheless.
"When Pokémon Go first launched in 2016, the whole world went out into the streets to play a game, and for a moment, there was this awesome feeling of togetherness and fun," Seltzer said. "Seeing my neighbors in the streets with their Pokémon shirts and battery packs and water bottles, walking with their friends and families, reminds me a bit of that 2016 fervor. And after five months of isolation, seeing my favorite game community all come out to play this weekend, in my own neighborhood, and on social media in neighborhoods around the world, makes me happy in a way I can't describe."
What the world needs this year more than ever is a little happiness, and by that metric, Pokemon Go won the weekend. -- Brian Bencomo