Sentinels (esports)

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'', '' Marvel Rivals'', and ''Halo''.

History

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. Sentinels opened two new divisions in 2018; in June 2018, they entered ''Hearthstone'' esports, and the following month, they began their ''Fortnite'' division.

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. Following the suit, Sentinels split with KSE, leaving the latter as the sole owner of the Gladiators.

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

Divisions

''Valorant''

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. In June 2020, they rounded out their roster with the signing of Michael "dapr" Gulino. 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. Sentinels won the first international event in the ''Valorant'' competitive scene, VALORANT Champions Tour 2021: Stage 2 Masters – Reykjavík, without losing any map points. In June 2021, Sentinels fully acquired TenZ from Cloud9, buying out his contract. In September 2021, Sentinels finished 5th–8th place at the Valorant Champions Tour Stage 3: Masters Berlin after a defeat to Team Envy. Sentinels were eliminated from VALORANT Champions 2021 during group play by KRÜ Esports, which was regarded by many as the greatest upset till then in professional Valorant.

Sentinels signed Matt "Weltis" Liu as their analyst on July 22, 2022. On September 21, 2022, Sentinels was selected as a partner by Riot Games to compete in the Valorant Champions Tour Americas League for 2023. 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. On March 13, 2023, Sentinels announced the signing of former OpTic Gaming player Jimmy "Marved" Nguyen, as a substitute. On April 17, 2023, SyykoNT announced his departure, promoting kaplan to head coach and Drew "DrewSpark" Spark-Whitworth as assistant coach. On May 9, 2023, Tyson "TenZ" Ngo returned to the active roster following a wrist injury. 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.

On September 13, 2023, Sentinels announced the signing of in-game leader Mohamed "johnqt" Ouarid. One day later, Sentinels re-signed Zellsis, now as their substitute player. 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. 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.

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, As the number one seed representatives from the Americas region. Heading into Masters Madrid where they faced off 2 of the top teams from other regions and Loud they dominated group stage with a close 2–1 victory over the home town team Team Heretics, and a 2–0 sweep over EMEA no.1 seed Karmine Corp they headed into the playoffs as the first team to qualify. They then beat Loud once again in their first match then lost to GenG in the upper finals, they were knocked down to the lower finals where they faced an elimination match against PaperRex. In a Bo5 series they won 3–1 over PRX and headed into the grand finals vs Geng; 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). 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. The following day, Sacy announced his retirement. 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. 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 11, Reduxx was officially signed as Sentinels' 6th man.

Current roster

''Halo''

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. In October 2020, Sentinels announced the signing of Bradley "Frosty" Bergstrom, a two-time Halo World Championship winner.

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. Exactly three months later, Kuhlect is released from the active roster, and a few days later on April 17 the organization signs Ayden "Suspector" Hill. 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.

Current roster

''Marvel Rivals''

The org entered the '' Marvel Rivals'' scene in March 2025; Sentinels signed several players who previously played for the Miami-based organization NTMR. Sentinels' roster is made up of Vanguard players Colin "Coluge" Arai and Zairek "Hogz" Poll, Duelist players Ryan "Rymazing" Bishop and Anthony "SuperGomez" Gomez, and Strategist players Chassidy "aramori" Kaye and Mark "Karova" Kvashin. They are coached by William "Crimzo" Hernandez, with "Anexile" serving as an analyst for the team.

Former divisions

''League of Legends''

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.

''Fortnite''

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. In March 2019, Sentinels signed Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf. On December 29, 2022, Sentinels announced their exit from competitive ''Fortnite''.

References

External links

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{{Apex Legends

2016 establishments in California
Apex Legends teams
Defunct and inactive Super Smash Bros. player sponsors
Esports teams based in Los Angeles
Esports teams based in the United States
Esports teams established in 2016
Former League Championship Series (esports) teams
Fortnite teams
Halo (franchise) teams
Valorant teams
Marvel Rivals teams