One of the most successful Valorant players, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, has announced his retirement from competitive Valorant.
The announcement was a video uploaded to his personal X account, sharing why he had left and his plans for the future.
TenZ started his professional career in Counter-Strike playing for Cloud9, but after Valorant was released, he and other players switched. His transition was easy with the help of Cloud9, knowing his talent and potential as a player, and switching from the Counter-Strike roster to the Valorant roster.
TenZ was considered the best Valorant player at that time. The fans loved him from the start and enjoyed watching him play on stream or in official matches. His talent and mechanical skills speak for themselves, and he was the first person to hit Radiant in North America.
After competing with Cloud9 for almost a year, TenZ decided to step back from the main roster and pursue content creation under Cloud9.
Following Jay “sinatraa” Won’s suspension from Riot Games, Sentinels needed an emergency replacement for Stage 1 of the 2021 VCT; TenZ was loaned from Cloud9 and made his first comeback to the competitive scene playing with Shahzeeb “ShahZaM” Khan, Hunter “SicK” Mims, Jared “zombs” Gitlin and Michael “dapr” Gulino.
TenZ was a perfect fit for this team. He helped Sentinels lift the first Valorant international tournament, Reykavik 2021, winning the event 3-0 against Fnatic and keeping their perfect run without dropping a single map in the entire game. Sentinels showcased an incredible amount of talent and dedication that year.
Sentinels Winning master reykjavik
After Sentinel’s success in 2021, the team started to show flaws and weaknesses, which led Sentinels to make numerous changes to players and staff to rebuild the 2021 dream. Still, with no luck, Sentinels would go on and not make a single international appearance in two years, which is devastating for the player and the fan.
But things would all change after the Sentinels showed a promised performance in the 2024 off-season, taking down strong teams like Paper Rex and Team Liquid in the AfreecaTV tournament.
During this time, TenZ started experimenting with smoke, playing Omen instead of Duelist like he used to. It was difficult for him to adapt to Omen at first, but once he got the hang of it, he was again on top of the world.
When the 2024 season arrived, Sentinels made their first international appearance in over two years, qualifying for Masters Madrid, upsetting many teams, and silencing the doubters.
Tenz made his first international appearance since 2021 and put on an incredible show. He and the rest of the Sentinels made the dream come true and managed to win Master Madrid after a long and hard battle, giving him his second Valorant title.
TenZ second trophy
While Sentinels didn’t make the second international event of the year, they appeared in Valorant Champions 2024, which was awesome.
Sentinels finished in the top four in Champions 2024 after intense matches in the lower brackets. They took down big teams such as Gen.G and Fnatic and stumbled against Team Heretics to end their season.
This would mark the end of the TenZ era, inspiring many fans and players to enter the gaming world.
TenZ Notable Acheivemets
- 1st – VCT 2024: Masters Madrid – $250,000
- 1st – VCT 2024: Americas Kickoff
- 1st – AfreecaTV VALORANT LEAGUE 2023 – $25,000
- 1st – Sentinels Invitational 2023 – $10,000
- 1st – VCT 2021: North America Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs – $40,000
- 1st – VCT 2021: North America Stage 3 Challengers 1 – $20,000
- 1st – VCT 2021: Stage 2 Masters – ReykjavÃk – $200,000
- 1st – VCT 2021: North America Stage 2 Challengers Finals – $40,000
- 1st – VCT 2021: North America Stage 2 Challengers 2 – $20,000
- 1st – VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Masters – $60,000
- 1st – Elite Esports – Rivalry Bowl North America 2020 – $1,000
- 2nd – PAX Arena Invitational 2020 – $5,000
- 2nd – Pulse Invitational 2020 – $3,000
- 2nd – Immortals First Light 2020 – $3,000
After almost four years of competing, TenZ has earned roughly $180,517 from prize pool money.
Sentinels Remaining Roster
- Mohamed “johnqt” Amine Ouarid
- Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro
- Zachary “zekken” Patrone
- Gustavo “Sacy” Rossi
- Rahul “curry” Nemani (Sub)
Adam “Kaplan” Kaplan (Head coach)
