VALORANT fans never tire of hearing the latest news about Sentinels, and it’s hard to blame them for that. Since late 2020, the organization that was first propped up by streamers and Fortnite World Cup winners has been an established VALORANT institution, going through tremendous highs and crashing lows ever since.
At this moment in time, the latest buzz about Sentinels has been regarding their preparations for the VCT Americas Last Chance Qualifier, which, as the name suggests, represents the last chance partnered teams from the region have at making Champions. There have been hints at some audacious agent picks, and just maybe, Sentinels are a more-than-solid pick to win the whole thing.
Since scrims for the LCQ started, the Sentinels name has risen to the top of the list of teams in good form. Two of the top in-game leaders in the region in Cloud9’s runi and Evil Geniuses’ boostio both have gone on the record to say that Sentinels are looking strong. Boostio’s comment that Sentinels are “winning [Champions]” could be a jinx, but the Masters Tokyo grand finalists did just get beaten down by Sentinels in scrims.
The confidence is there in the Sentinels camp as well. Back in late June, head coach Kaplan said the team had been hard at work “despite the Sentinels tradition of not grinding.” Most interestingly, he also noted that “certain” teams had only just started preparing for the LCQ, whereas Sentinels started scrimming five days after the Americas league ended.
The task ahead is still a tricky one, though. Sentinels have to overcome 100 Thieves in a one-off match to reach the double-elimination portion of the bracket. If they lose against 100T, the run is over already. But Sentinels do have the slightest momentum advantage, with 100T entering the match having lost three of their last four, including a devastating loss to MIBR that cost them a playoff spot and ignited the miraculous EG run through Masters Tokyo.
Even with extra prep, Sentinels are gambling at the LCQ, betting on Marved to continue to stand out in this group shot-calling practice and potentially putting TenZ on Reyna in a move that’s only worked for a single team in all of the VCT—and that’s with an unquestionable star of the future.
Related: All teams qualified for VALORANT Champions 2023
A coach’s confidence and praise from a couple of in-game leaders? Sentinels fans have had higher hopes with less; at least they’re not bringing in a retired streamer with no pro VALORANT experience (again).
The 2023 VCT Americas LCQ is set to take place from July 15 to 23.
