There was an insane drama that hit Valorant just after the Sentinels’ tweet, with everyone losing their cool. The original post was rather innocent, being “Wait, we can ban icebox?” But the replies… little did you know, those were something. If ranked chat was toxic enough for you, well, you haven’t seen anything yet.
First off, let’s just go ahead and explain why all this merits explanation. Sentinels, probably one of the most popular and highly controversial esports organizations in Valorant, must have had an awful showing on Icebox in their tournament matches. Awful, meaning they were style drilling them, punished so frigidly that the punisher could have justified calling it io-trackpad player level punishments. The tweet just screams frustration to me, entwined with the realization of the wrong choices one might have been making in life.
The replies? Oh, what chaos! Players kept going on about the roster; some called for JohnQT and Zellsis to swap roles, others insisted on roster changes or simply wasted time roasting the team, with clips of these guys just missing shots. One user even casually asked if there was some “gay love triangle” messing with team chemistry?? What kind of fan-fiction is that?
Now onto strategy takes—that’s when the armchair analysts truly took to the streets! Several declared that JohnQT should not be Omen; Bang should be playing Omen; the team’s map pick strategy was questionable at best. There are screens going around that prove JohnQT and Zekken collectively went an abysmal 8-28, and… yikes. That’s a kind of stat line that makes you want to uninstall the game for them.
But here comes the real kicker. Retreating veterans claim this tournament is no big deal-Mickey Mouse to them-as teams are still just experimenting with strategies; others, however, disagree suggestively, insinuating, “No, this team is just bad now.” The rift is so real. Then comes yet another story about Zekken getting caught at the airport and his Adderall being confiscated!!! Valorant Twitter invested never fails!
One thing is for sure-about the separation of Sentinels’ fanbase: one side prefers being unabashed supporters of the team, with the other willing to grease and set the rest of the roster aflame. Really? That’s Valorant esports in a nutshell. Welcome to the rise of teams and the fall of teams, while the replies are peppered with hot takes, memes, and random existential crises.
Feel like asking, “Will Sentinels bounce back?” Nobody knows. But if this is the way they keep operating, the only thing going to get banned will be them: kicked down hard. Oof.
