Sentinels head coach calls for patience after VCT LOCK//IN exit
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesSentinels bombed out of VCT LOCK//IN after a 2-0 loss to Fnatic in the first round of competition. In a post-match press conference, the team’s head coach called for patience as they ramp up for more important competition.
Sentinels came into VCT LOCK//IN with one of the more hyped rosters of the event, and with a first-round matchup against another heralded super team in Fnatic. The match was billed as a potential marquee series of the event, but Fnatic managed to beat Sentinels with a 2-0 scoreline.
Sentinel’s head coach Don ‘SyykoNT’ Muir said in a pre-event press conference that there was no pressure on the team to perform at the event and that the tournament is a step toward their real goals of qualifying for VCT Master Tokyo and Valorant Champions.
After the match against Fnatic, SyykoNT doubled down on his statements and said the tournament experience was valuable despite the result.
Sentinels to use VCT LOCK//IN as a stepping stone
“Building a championship team takes a long time,” SyykoNT said. “It’s a process, right? We learned this back on XSET…It’s all process. I know this, the guys know this. All we can do is trust the process and keep working hard in the offseason and preparing as well as we can for the league.”
The head coach did admit that a first-round exit was not what they expected coming in, but the team still got time on stage in a tournament atmosphere.
“This is just one step along that path and our goal this tournament was to get as much experience as possible. I think we fell a bit short of our own aspirations and expectations. However, we did learn a lot from this tournament and I’m really looking forward to getting back with my assistant coaches, Adam ‘kaplan’ Kaplan and Drew ‘DrewSpark’ Spark-Whitworth as well as the team and looking over the VODs,” the Sentinels coach said.
Fans will have to wait and see if Sentinels can become a championship-caliber team as they will not see VCT competition until late March when the VCT international leagues begin. The North American team will be watching VCT LOCK//IN along with everyone else as the competition continues.