Marvelous Form: Sentinels add former Optic powerhouse Marved as sixth man

After a few days of teasing, Sentinels has officially confirmed their new sixth man, and it is none other than Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen. Following the suspension of previous sixth man Hunter “SicK” Mims, Sentinels have confirmed they are on the search for a replacement. His addition was first confirmed by George Geddes of DotEsports.

It doesn’t get much better

In 2022, “Marved” was dubbed as the best controller player in the world, and was instrumental in OpTic’s reign of terror on the Valorant world. Following the earlier Strafe reports that “SicK” was suspended from the Sentinels’ roster, “Marved” is one of the best Free Agents (F/A) currently available.

Moreover, his addition to the Sentinels’ roster has similar beats to when Sentinels added Tyson “TenZ” Ngo to the roster following the suspension of then-star player Jay “Sinatraa” Won. The addition of “TenZ” led to Sentinels’ first international Masters win, with a perfect run through the tournament.

“Marved” will also be joining with an incredible pedigree of his own, having won Masters Reykjavik in 2022 with OpTic Gaming. OpTic also placed second at Masters Berlin in 2021 and Champions 2022.

Well Rested and Recharged

“Marved” has yet to compete professionally since his release from OpTic Gaming at the end of 2022. His last semi-professional bout was with Jay “Sinatraa” Won on the UNTAMABLE BEASTS, and they attempted to qualify for North American Challengers through the Open Qualifiers.

UNTAMABLE BEASTS fell in the Lower Round 3 of the NA Last Chance Qualifiers, losing in 2-0 fashion to an ‘unfazed’ roster that included names such as Jake “Paincakes” Hass, Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty, and Eric “Kanpeki” Xu.

At the Cusp of Greatness

Sentinels in 2023 is on the cusp of greatness, well-positioned as potentially one of the top three teams in North America, and one of the more stacked rosters in the Americas League- talent-wise.

The addition of “Marved”, if he is well-utilized, could be interesting. However, currently Sentinels have former LOUD star Bryan “pANcada” Luna as their primary controller player. “pANcada” is another player who has claims as one of the best controller players in the world, currently. How Sentinels’ chooses to utilize their new addition remains to be seen.

Image credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games