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Sentinels (esports)

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Sentinels
FormerlyPhoenix1
Company typePrivate
IndustryEsports
Founded2016
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California,
U.S.
Key people
ParentP1 Esports, LLC
Divisions
3
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Sentinels is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. The organization was founded as the League of Legends team Phoenix1 and competed in the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS). In June 2018, Phoenix1 rebranded to Sentinels. The company currently fields teams in Valorant, Apex Legends, and Halo.

History

[edit]

Phoenix1 was founded in May 2016 as a League of Legends team to compete in the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS). After the NA LCS became a franchised league, Phoenix1 sold its LCS spot. Following, Phoenix1 partnered with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) to launch their Overwatch League franchised team Los Angeles Gladiators for the video game Overwatch. After successfully launching the Overwatch team, the company rebranded to Sentinels in June 2018.[2] Sentinels opened two new divisions in 2018; in June 2018, they entered Hearthstone esports, and the following month, they began their Fortnite division.[3]

In August 2019, Sentinels co-founder and CEO Rob Moore filed a lawsuit against KSE; Moore alleged that KSE purchased the organization Echo Fox without his knowledge.[4] Following the suit, Sentinels split with KSE, leaving the latter as the sole owner of the Gladiators.[5]

In February 2020, Sentinels expanded into the competitive Halo scene.[6] Two months later, they established their Valorant division.[7]

Divisions

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Valorant

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Sentinels began their Valorant division in April 2020, signing former Overwatch player Jay "sinatraa" Won and former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan, and Hunter "SicK" Mims, as well as bringing in Jared "zombs" Gitlin from their Apex Legends division.[7] In June 2020, they rounded out their roster with the signing of Michael "dapr" Gulino.[8] After sinatraa was suspended in 2021, Sentinels acquired Tyson "TenZ" Ngo on loan from Cloud9 in March of that year for Valorant Challengers Stage 1 and 2.[9] Sentinels won the first international event in the Valorant competitive scene, VALORANT Champions Tour 2021: Stage 2 Masters – Reykjavík, without losing any map points.[10] In June 2021, Sentinels fully acquired TenZ from Cloud9, buying out his contract.[11] In September 2021, Sentinels finished 5th–8th place at the Valorant Champions Tour Stage 3: Masters Berlin after a defeat to Team Envy.[12]

Sentinels signed Matt "Weltis" Liu as their analyst on July 22, 2022.[13] On September 21, 2022, Sentinels was selected as a partner by Riot Games to compete in the Valorant Champions Tour Americas League for 2023.[14] Sentinels overhauled their entire Valorant roster by letting go of Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan, Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro, Michael "shroud" Grzesiek, and Eric "Kanpeki" Xu and replacing them with former XSET players, Zachary "zekken" Patrone and in-game leader Rory "dephh" Jackson, as well as 2022 Valorant Champions winners Gustavo "Sacy" Rossi and Bryan "pANcada" Luna. Sentinels also let go of their head coach Shane "Rawkus" Flaherty and replaced him with Don "SyykoNT" Muir as head coach and Adam "kaplan" Kaplan as a strategic coach.[15][16] On March 13, 2023, Sentinels announced the signing of former OpTic Gaming player Jimmy "Marved" Nguyen, as a substitute.[17] On April 17, 2023, SyykoNT announced his departure, promoting kaplan to head coach and Drew "DrewSpark" Spark-Whitworth as assistant coach.[18] On May 9, 2023, Tyson "TenZ" Ngo returned to the active roster following a wrist injury.[19] Following his return, dephh was let go and later replaced with Marved, who would compete with Sentinels for the remainder of the season as their in-game leader. Sentinels did not qualify for the Americas League playoffs, forcing them to compete in the Americas Last Chance Qualifier for 2023 Valorant Champions — of which they were then eliminated by Leviatán, putting their season to an end.[20]

On September 13, 2023, Sentinels announced the signing of in-game leader Mohamed "johnqt" Ouarid.[21] One day later, Sentinels re-signed Zellsis, now as their substitute player.[22] Following the signing of Zellsis, Sentinels began a series of multiple off-season events culminating in their participation in the "AfreecaTV Valorant League" in Seoul, South Korea where they finished 1st place after beating Paper Rex.[23] This was the last off-season event they participated in ahead of the 2024 season. As of February 9, 2024, Sentinels have moved pANcada to the bench and promoted Zellsis to the starting roster.[24]

In the onset of the 2024 season, Sentinels beat out LOUD 3-2 in the grand final of the Americas Kickoff and qualified for Masters Madrid. Their performance in Madrid earned them a spot in the grand final; on March 24, 2024, they defeated Gen.G 3-2 in the grand final, earning the organization their second Masters trophy (and becoming the only organization to do so).[25] As well, TenZ becomes the second player to have won two Masters titles, and Sacy becomes the first player to have won both a Champions and a Masters title.

Sentinels had a poor record in the subsequent Americas Stage 1, missing out on playoffs and being unable to qualify to Masters Shanghai. However, in the wake of Americas Stage 2, Sentinels recovered their performance and qualified for the playoffs; despite being eliminated early, they narrowly qualified to VCT Champions 2024 from having accumulated the most Championship Points across the season. In the Champions 2024 group stage, after a rematch loss to tournament favorites Gen.G, they went on to defeat FunPlus Phoenix and later defeated Gen.G by a score of 2-0, eliminating the favorites and clinching their spot in the playoffs. They began their playoff run with a win against DRX, but in the ensuing loss to eventual tournament winners EDward Gaming, whom they were assumed slightly favored to win against, Sentinels were sent to the lower bracket to face off against Fnatic. After a close 2-1 victory to FNATIC, Sentinels' run ended in the Top 4 as Team Heretics eliminated them 2-1 in the lower bracket.

On September 14, 2024, TenZ announced his retirement from Valorant competitive play after over four years of competing, removing his spot from the active roster.[26] The following day, Sacy announced his retirement.[citation needed] Later that month, Sentinels signed Reduxx for the 2024 Red Bull Home Ground NA Qualifier, and Sentinels' substitute player, Rahul "curry" Nemani, would join the active roster for this event.[27] They were eliminated by Cloud9 and did not qualify to the main event.

On October 7, 2024, Sentinels announced Marshall "N4RRATE" Massey and Sean "bang" Bezerra to the starting roster. The former had previously played for Karmine Corp, while the latter hails from 100 Thieves. On October 11th, Reduxx was officially signed as Sentinels' 6th man.

Current roster

[edit]
Sentinels Valorant roster
Players Coaches
Handle Name Nationality
zekken Patrone, Zachary Jude United States
johnqt Ouarid, Mohamed Amine Morocco
Zellsis Montemurro, Jordan United States
reduxx Substitute player Aboulalazm, Yassin United States
N4RRATE Massey, Marshall United States
bang Bezerra, Sean United States
Head coach

Adam "kaplan" Kaplan

Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness
  

Roster updated October 7, 2024.

Halo

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Sentinels entered the Halo scene in February 2019, signing Halo veterans, previously of TOX Gaming, consisting of Paul "SnakeBite" Duarte, Tony "LethuL" Campbell Jr., Bradley "aPG" Laws, and Mathew "Royal2" Fiorante, with Chris "Royal1" Fiorante, as their coach.[28] In October 2020, Sentinels announced the signing of Bradley "Frosty" Bergstrom, a two-time Halo World Championship winner.[29]

On January 13, 2023, SnakeBite, Royal2, Frosty, and Royal1 departed the organization. On the same day, Sentinels signed Kahari "Kuhlect" Miller, Tyler "Spartan" Ganza, Nick "KingNick" Panzella, and Kyle "Chig" Lawson.[30] Exactly three months later, Kuhlect is released from the active roster,[31] and a few days later on April 17 the organization signs Ayden "Suspector" Hill.[32] A few months later on June 23, Suspector and KingNick depart the team, and Sentinels pick up Jesse "bubu dubu" Moeller and Michael "Falcated" Garcia.[33][34]

Current roster

[edit]
Sentinels Halo roster
Players Coaches
Handle Name Nationality
LethuL Campbell Jr., Tony United States
Spartan Ganza, Tyler United States
bubu dubu Moeller, Jesse United States
Falcated Garcia, Michael United States
Head coach

Kyle "Chig" Lawson

Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness
  

Roster updated February 22, 2024.

Former divisions

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League of Legends

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For Phoenix1's inaugural season, the team signed top laner Derek "zig" Shao, jungler Rami "Inori" Charagh, Sang-ook "Ryu" Yoo, bot laner Dong-hyeon "Arrow" No, and support Adrian "Adrian" Ma.[35]

Fortnite

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In July 2018, Sentinels began their Fortnite division after signing the players of the North American team TT. Included in the signings were Owen "Animal" Wright, Jaden "rieo" Leis, Mike "mikeqt" DeMarco, and Cayden "Carose" Bradford.[3] In March 2019, Sentinels signed Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf.[36] On December 29, 2022, Sentinels announced their exit from competitive Fortnite.[37]

References

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  1. ^ "Sentinels Management". sentinels.gg. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  2. ^ Hollingsworth, David (June 7, 2018). "Former North American LCS organisation Phoenix1 rebrands to Sentinels". Esports Insider. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Byers, Preston (July 12, 2018). "Sentinels sign Fortnite: Battle Royale team". Dot Esports. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  4. ^ Wolf, Jacob (August 1, 2019). "Sentinels CEO sues Kroenke Sports & Entertainment over Echo Fox purchase". ESPN. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  5. ^ Hayward, Andrew (September 18, 2019). "Report: Kroenke Sports & Entertainment Splits with Sentinels for LA Gladiators Management". The Esports Observer. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  6. ^ Geracie, Nick (February 17, 2020). "Sentinels enters Halo competitive scene; signs former TOX Gaming roster". InvenGlobal. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Alford, Aaron (April 29, 2020). "Sentinels Announce VALORANT Team". Hotspawn. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  8. ^ "Sentinels sign dapr to complete Valorant team". Reuters. Field Level Media. June 2, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  9. ^ Robertson, Scott (June 1, 2021). "Sentinels reportedly acquires TenZ in 7-figure buyout from Cloud9". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  10. ^ Gursoy, Eren Merdan. "Sentinels Becomes The Best Team In Valorant". Archived from the original on May 31, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  11. ^ "Breaking: Sentinels Complete Purchase of Ngo's Contract from Cloud9 – The Esports Observer". June 1, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  12. ^ "Valorant Masters Berlin Playoffs: Scores, Streams, Schedule & More". EarlyGame. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  13. ^ "Sentinels add new analyst, ShahZaM calls him their 'secret weapon' | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. July 22, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  14. ^ "Introducing the VCT Americas International League". Valorant Esports. September 21, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  15. ^ "Sentinels add former XSET IGL dephh to Valorant roster | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. October 19, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  16. ^ "Sentinels officially sign Valorant champions Sacy & pANcada | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. October 16, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  17. ^ "Mans is a Sentinel now". x.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  18. ^ "I am no longer Head Coach of Sentinels". x.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  19. ^ "TenZ is back on the main roster as his replacement, as previously announced". Twitter. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  20. ^ "Champions Tour 2023: Americas Last Chance Qualifier". vlr.gg. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  21. ^ "The whole world wondered, now the secret's out @1johnqt is officially your Sentinels IGL". Twitter. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  22. ^ "spreadsheets didn't catch this one". x.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  23. ^ "Sentinels go on an undefeated run at the AfreecaTV Valorant League". Dexerto. December 10, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  24. ^ Melo, Ricardo Vaz de (February 9, 2024). ""(Ansioso) pra quê? Eu não vou jogar", diz pANcada sobre Kickoff". VALORANT Zone (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  25. ^ Stubbs, Mike. "Sentinels Win The $500,000 'Valorant' Masters Madrid Tournament". Forbes. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  26. ^ "I'm grateful for this incredible journey, and it's time to start a new one. Thank you for your support!". x.com. September 14, 2024. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  27. ^ @Sentinels (September 27, 2024). "The Red Bull Home Ground roster is locked" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "SENTINELS SIGN HALO WORLD CHAMPIONS". SENTINELS. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  29. ^ "LEGENDARY HALO PLAYER FROSTY TO COMPETE IN HALO INFINITE, JOINS SENTINELS". SENTINELS. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  30. ^ "LIVE: HCS 2023 Rostermania hub: all roster changes". Dexerto. January 27, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  31. ^ "Restricted F/A, thank you SEN for the opportunity". Twitter.
  32. ^ "Can't wait to get to work with these guys! Excited for the opportunity to be teaming with these goats and representing @Sentinels". Twitter.
  33. ^ "Joined @Sentinels🤓". Twitter.
  34. ^ "Joined @Sentinels😁". Twitter.
  35. ^ Volk, Pete. "Phoenix1 signs Ryu, Arrow, completing 2017 roster". The Rift Herald. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  36. ^ "Sentinels Sign Bugha". Sentinels. March 25, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  37. ^ Snavely, Adam (December 28, 2022). "Sentinels abandons competitive Fortnite, leaving a former world champ teamless". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
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