Sentinels at VCT Masters Madrid: Can NA's favorites rebuild their dynasty?

Sentinels, one of North America's leading Valorant organizations, earned the first of NA's two VCT Master Madrid spots by winning the VCT 2024: Americas Kickoff. Despite facing a heavy loss in their opening match, they bounced back and performed exceptionally. Throughout the tournament, they defeated heavyweights like 100 Thieves, Leviatan, and NRG. After a promising victory against LOUD in the Grand Finals, the NA organization became the first North American team to qualify for this year's first Masters event.

That said, now that Sentinels is crowned the regional champion, they’re all set to rebuild their dynasty by dominating the Valorant competitive scene in 2024. These achievements demonstrate their extraordinary skill, better team communication, and tenacity.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer’s opinion.

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Sentinels Team History

Sentinels is a North American esports organization previously known as Phoenix1, which rebranded itself as Sentinels in 2018 and started competing in three esports: Valorant, Halo, and Apex Legends. They entered the Valorant’s competitive scene in April 2020 after acquiring ShahZam, sinatraa, zombs, and SicK, with dapr joining later as the fifth man.

The Sentinels Valorant roster was off to a great start soon after its formation, but it wasn't until the addition of the prodigy, TenZ, that the organization achieved unparalleled recognition. This kick-started the team's golden era.

The aforementioned roster won several tournaments, the most notable being the first-ever international Valorant Masters, VCT 2021: Stage 2 Masters Reykjavik. They've also won regional VCT events like VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Masters, VCT 2021: Stage 2 NA Challengers, and the 2021 Stage 3 NA Challengers.

After the golden era, the NA organization remained in the shadows for a long time as they failed to qualify for any major tournaments. However, fans stayed hopeful once the organization was announced in September 2022 as one of the partnered Valorant teams representing North America.

To arm themselves for VCT 2023, the inaugural season of the franchised model, Sentinels added Sacy, zekken, followed by pANcada to their roster. Marved and Kaplan joined later on, with Marved as a substitute and Kaplan as the head coach.

Marved filled in for the IGL role, which Sentinels has had trouble with since 2022. However, when they were about to find their rhythm, his contract expired, and he joined a new team. The organization had to find a player who could fill that empty spot as an IGL while harnessing raw firepower like Marved.

Soon after the 2023 season concluded, Johnqt came to the rescue by joining as the team's new IGL, followed by Zellsis' return. After this, the team won the offseason event, AfreecaTV Valorant League, followed by the recent VCT Americas Kickoff event.

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Sentinels’ current roster and their achievements

Sentinel’s current roster consists of a diverse set of players who proved their prowess throughout the season. The organization has undergone numerous roster changes but has never failed to impress the fans.

Currently, the Valorant roster of the organization includes:

• Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro (Role: Initiator / Controller / Sentinel )
• Gustavo “Sacy” Rossi (Role: Initiator )
• Mohamed “johnqt” Amine Ouarid (Role: Sentinel ) (IGL)
• Tyson “Tenz” Ngo (Role: Duelist / Controller )
• Zachary “zekken” Patrone (Role: Duelist )
• Rahul “Curry” Nemani (Role: Flex)

The team has proven themselves more than once in several major tournaments by maintaining consistency compared to their competition. Besides performing in regional tournaments, they’ve also shown dominance in international events. These performances under johnqt’s captaincy showcase the squad’s compatibility and flexibility to compete in any top-tier competition regardless of the region.

Here are some of the major achievements of the NA organization

throughout their journey in this Valorant competitive scene:

• VCT 2024: Americas Kickoff - 1st place
• AfreecaTV Valorant League - 1st place
• Valorant Champions Tour Stage 1: Master Reykjavik - 1st place
• Champion Tour 2023: Americas LCQ - 1st place
• Champions Tour NA America Stage 1: Masters - 1st place
• Champions Tour NA Stage 2: Challengers 2 - 1st place

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Expectations for Sentinels at VCT Masters Madrid

By winning the Americas kickoff, Sentinels has shown astounding prowess and immense potential to win the upcoming Masters Madrid. Moreover, the recent addition of Curry has added an extra layer of depth to their current roster. The organization has learned from its mistakes, shown individual capability to finally secure first place, and taken a step toward rebuilding its lost legacy.

Sentinels’ dominance in the big-stage matchups, alongside fine-tuned coordination, will be the key to outplaying other heavyweights in VCT Masters Madrid. Their way of executing spike sites and retake strategies has brought back smiles on the faces of the NA powerhouse's fans.

Tenz, being in the Controller role, has proved his dominance in the last couple of months with Omen. Meanwhile, players like zekken, Zellsis, and Sacy bring another layer of core firepower. Additionally, if they can keep up their form, there’s a massive possibility for the superteam to lift the VCT Masters Madrid trophy.

The NA organization will face Team Heretics, the runner-up team of VCT: 2024 EMEA kickoff in their first group stage/Swiss stage, on March 14, 2024. The scales are slightly tipped towards Sentinels’s side, considering the recent performance in their respective regions.

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Read more about VCT Masters Madrid:

Karmine Corp: The new EMEA superteam? || All Valorant teams in Masters Madrid || Top 5 duelist to look out for || Global Head of Valorant on VCT