Sentinels Valorant to bootcamp ahead of VCT LCQ

Declan Mclaughlin
Sentinels Valorant player ShahZam throws up to peace signs at VCT Champions

Sentinels have announced that the team is starting up a bootcamp in July for their Valorant squad ahead of the North American VCT Last Chance Qualifier which is set to begin sometime in August.

Sentinels did not specify how long the bootcamp will last, but Kyedae ‘Kyedae’ Shymko, Sentinels player Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo’s girlfriend, suggested in a reply to the announcement that it will be about a month and a half.

The 2021 VCT Stage 2 Masters champions have hit a major slump in 2022 as they missed Stage 1 Masters and failed to make it to the playoff stage of Stage 2 Challengers and thus are out of the running for Stage 2 Masters in Copenhagen.

The squad has gone through some major roster changes and one of the team’s most consistent players Hunter ‘SicK’ Mims revealed on June 20 that he has been dealing with mental health issues for about a month.

Riot Games has yet to announce the dates for the North American LCQ event, but according to the global schedule, the tournament should start that month as Valorant Champions begins in September.

Sentinels recent VCT struggles

Sentinels player TenZ during his walkout
TenZ missed on game in VCT Stage 2 Challengers due to illness.

Sentinels started 2022 with no changes to their roster as they were directly seeded into VCT Stage 1 Challengers and did not need to go through the qualifying stage. They finished the group stage with a 3-2 record, good enough to make playoffs, but then bombed out of playoffs after losing their first two matches.

The team had to requalify for VCT Stage 2 Challengers in the open qualifier and before they started the campaign they announced a roster move, adding in Akrew standout Eric ‘Kanpeki’ Xu in the place of Jared ‘zombs’ Gitlin.

The team managed to qualify for Stage 2 Challengers but their struggles continued. It got to the point that the community was asking for the team to get a coach to help with their in-game problems.

Eventually, the team announced their head coach, Shane ‘Rawkus’ Flaherty, who previously coached them for a time in 2021. But the new addition did not help the squad as they eventually finished Stage 2 Challengers with a 0-5 group stage record.

Because of this, Sentinels were in danger of missing the North American LCQ tournament as they only earned 45 circuit points toward the event. But, thanks to NRG Esports defeating Ghost Gaming in the playoffs Sentinels locked in their tournament berth.

The VCT Stage 2 Challengers playoffs are still ongoing as North America has yet to lock in its representatives for Masters Copenhagen.

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About The Author

Based in Indiana, Declan McLaughlin is an esports reporter for Dexerto Esports covering Valorant, LoL and anything else that pops up. Previously an editor and reporter at Upcomer, Declan is often found reading investigative stories or trying to do investigations himself. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University. You can contact him at declan.mclaughlin@dexerto.com.