ShahZam blasts TenZ ‘agent pool’ critics following VCT loss to OpTic

Sentinels captain Shahzeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan has fired back at criticism of Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo’s agent pool following the team’s loss against OpTic Gaming in VCT Challengers 1.

The red-and-black got its first loss in the Challengers Group Stage against the Greenwall that started off in a 13-2 opening map rout. The series would get closer from there but the end result opened up the floodgates from online critics.

During his February 27 stream, ShahZam responded to comments on TenZ’s agent pool, which typically leans to Jett when he’s not using Reyna or Raze.

The Sentinels IGL quickly refuted the notion that TenZ would refuse to play one agent over others, reaffirming the NA star’s malleability in light of the team’s recent loss.

“TenZ does not refuse to play anything, ShahZam said. “TenZ will literally play anything we ask him to. I don’t understand why people think they understand how a f**kin team works.

“They say ‘he’s a one-trick this. He needs to learn this.’ Bro, Tyson will literally play anything we ask him to.”

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Through the team’s three series in VCT Challengers 1, TenZ has played all nine maps on Jett. In the maps Sentinels lost against OpTic, the team’s talisman had a combined KDA of 20/31/10.

Some viewers surmised that it was TenZ who hurt his team by not playing a different agent. ShahZam did not agree with that assessment.

“‘Because he’s a one-trick.’ No he’s not dude. You just don’t know what you’re talking about,” ShahZam said. “If I tell Tyson to play Killjoy, he’ll do it. He’ll grind it, he’ll learn it.”

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The IGL suggested that TenZ’s Jett pick was part of the team’s overall plan and not just an auto-fill for the Valorant superstar.

Sentinels are still in contention to qualify for Challengers 1 Main Stage and are favorites over Rise Nation in their next game. They will close the Group Stage against Group B leaders, Version1, who have yet to drop a series.