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If there is a Valorant team that is most likely to come to mind when thinking about North American VCT, it is Sentinels. Since the inception of the game's esports scene with the Ignition series in 2020, the men in red have dominated the average viewer's imagination. Although over three years have passed since then, their hold over their core fanbase is unmatched by most teams in the region.
Sentinels' Valorant team rose to fame fast in 2020 and reigned supreme in 2021. They absolutely dominated the North American Valorant circuit with their original roster and even had a flawless run through the game's first-ever international tournament in Masters Reykjavík 2021.
2022 was a quieter season for the team, with no international appearances. The advent of the franchising system into Valorant for VCT 2023 was expected to turn things around for the most clouted organization in North America. Unfortunately for Sentinels, things did not go quite as planned.
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Why Sentinels Valorant's super team for VCT 2023 did not work out as planned
Following Champions 2022, where the format for the upcoming years of VCT was announced, Sentinels let go of all their former players except Tyson "TenZ" Ngo. They brought over Rory "dephh" Jackson and Zachary "zekken" Patrone from XSET (a team that did not make it into Riot's partnership system) and Gustavo "Sacy" Rossi and Bryan "pANcada" Luna from world champion LOUD.
On paper, everything was perfect. Each player on the team was playing consistently at the highest echelons of the game's esports. This roster looked like a super team that would beat every other team in the upcoming Americas League.
However, as soon as they played for the first time at VCT LOCK//IN in Sao Paulo in February 2023, the cracks in their structure began to surface. Given that they had only played together for a short while and lost to eventual tournament winners, Fnatic, fans, and analysts gave them the benefit of the doubt. They were hopeful that they would bounce back in the Americas League.
Americas League, role issues, and roster changes in the Sentinels camp
Sentinels won against 100 Thieves (100T) in their opening series at VCT Americas League. It looked like the roster had made some role changes. This is the list of Agents each of the players played in the series that went on for three maps:
Everyone else played multiple roles except for TenZ, who was stuck with a singular role (even Agent) across all three maps. Sacy, one of the best Initiators in the world, played only Controllers and Sage. pANcada, known to be a Controller main, had been shifted to the role of the primary Sentinel for the team.
While this style of playing Valorant wasn't unheard of before, teams like DRX have mastered it over years of playing together. The problems of making this kind of change at such short notice became more and more evident in the subsequent weeks of the tournament.
Sentinels lost to NRG Esports and Leviatan in Weeks 2 and 3, as they kept trying out different iterations of similar Agent compositions with equally mixed-up roles.
After this came the next big hurdle in their VCT 2023 journey. Between Week 3 and Week 4 of the tournament, TenZ took a break from playing for personal reasons. This was when Jimmy "Marved" Nguyen stepped in.
The addition of Marved brought some much-needed structure to the Sentinels Valorant team. pANcada was now a more seasoned Sentinel-main, and Sacy and Zekken returned to playing Initiators and Duelists, respectively. Marved was the primary smoker for the team, while dephh played the flex role.
This did not bring about a massive change in results, as Sentinels lost to the seemingly unstoppable Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses with Demon1. Notwithstanding that, things were looking brighter for the roster moving forward. With TenZ's return, space had to be made on the roster again. dephh, who was by far the weakest link in the roster, had to leave.
After TenZ's homecoming, Sentinels won its final matches in VCT Americas against KRU Esports and FURIA. Although this did not garner them a place in the playoffs, the team's die-hard fanbase counted their blessings for a massive resurgence in the VCT Americas LCQ.
Demise of the Sentinels' dreams in VCT Americas LCQ 2023
Like the Americas League, Sentinels started their LCQ run by defeating 100T. Despite still having glaring issues, they looked more comfortable in their roles. Their executions, however, looked one-dimensional and readable. The team also tried out new compositions for maps like Pearl and Fracture.
While a stellar performance from TenZ on Yoru got them across the line against 100T, the team fell short against Cloud9 in the semifinals and was knocked out by Leviatan in their lower bracket bout.
This effectively brings the team's VCT 2023 run to an end. The members of the roster have to watch Champions 2023 in Los Angeles unfold as they prepare for the upcoming 'roster mania' in the subsequent off-season.
What will happen to TenZ and other Sentinels Valorant members for VCT 2024?
According to Riot Games' Global Contract Database of Valorant players in partnered teams, TenZ's contract with Sentinels expires in 2023. The same is the case for Marved. This leaves them both vulnerable to potential cuts during the impending roster-change season.
Sacy, pANcada, and zekken have contracts till 2024, but that doesn't leave them out of harm's way, as esports organizations have been known to make difficult decisions at the cost of leaving promising players without a team.
That said, each player on the roster shows immense promise and has proven their mettle in Valorant esports. The team has also looked much sharper ending the season than it did at the beginning, leaving seeds of hope alive for a redemption arc in 2024 that could take the organization back to its 2021 glory days.
