SEN TenZ after the 2-0 victory over NRG "They're still a strong team"

On the first day of VCT Americas 2024 Split 2, we saw the 2024 Madrid Champions Sentinels taking on the a rejuvenated NRG.

Bolstered with FNS and s0m, the NRG squad put up a strong fight against Sentinels, unfortunately, TenZ and Friends proved to be a strong opponent, spoiling the return of NA's beloved pros turned streamer turned pros.

A game that lasted two maps, saw Sentinels secure strong leads on the first halves of both maps. NRG almost came back on the second map, but ultimately lost the map and the series 0-2.

After the game, Strafe sat down with Sentinel's superstar Tyson "TenZ" Ngo. In an exclusive interview, TenZ talks about playing NRG, missing Shanghai, League format and more.

First of all, congratulations on your victory. It was a great win. First win of the split too. How are you feeling about it? You faced NRG and they brought back FNS and S0m. What do you think about the team?

It makes more sense and I think that they have the structure that they lacked previously. I do think though they didn't have much time to prepare because of the change at the last minute, whereas other teams have been kind of the same team throughout the entire year.

Changing your caller like that midway through the season can be quite hard, especially when there's just so much to relearn and to get used to, especially for a new team and to get used to calling styles.

I do see it from their end where it was pretty difficult for them to prepare. I don't think this NRG that we faced today was 100% at their peak, but they're still a solid team nonetheless.

Talking about the game, you started on Lotus and you guys changed the comp. You switched to Deadlock and Cypher. Was there a reason to switch comps?

We've been experimenting with different comps just because of the time that we had off in Shanghai and we've noticed a recent trend with a lot of teams running double Sentinel, so we definitely gave it a try on certain maps and with Lotus I think it just clicks.

The game started really well. You guys had a good lead despite the back and forth initially, but NRG did show some signs of life in the later half of the game that they were attacking. Were you guys worried at all on the map for the second half of Lotus?

We were able to just play our game and we were able to just focus on us and I think if we just played to our normal standard that we would beat them in the end.

In the Sunset composition you switched from Breach to KAY/O, what was the reason behind the change?

We had the luxury of time on our side not attending Shanghai, so we were experimenting a bit and we are able to flexibly switch between certain compositions depending on our opponents. We do think at the moment Breach provides certain utility. Breach will be better for main fights compared to Kay/O.

Breach is better for post plants and setting up people. Fast plays really thrives with Breach and the ult is insane for that map.

Definitely something that we can switch off anytime just because I think it's really nice to be a team that is not readable as much and a team that can flexibly pick their comps and I think that we are being able to adapt towards that style.

In the second half of Sunset they [NRG] came back strong. What do you think was going on? What helped them to come back and force overtime?

I think there were a few unfortunate rounds from us where they hit some really nice shots or I do think sometimes they did get a little bit lucky.

There were two certain post plant rounds on B. I feel like we should have won but then we messed up or we got accidentally spammed through a smoke.

It came down to the little things in the end. NRG is a really strong team especially with FNS's calling. I think their macro is really really good.

I think overall they started getting really close just due to the micro stuff and the small decisions and the shots that they were hitting at the time were really really good. I definitely think that was contributing towards their comeback near the end of Sunset.

I won't lie it was getting kind of worrying just because we have been in a similar spot against EG where we just completely tossed a 2-10 lead which resulted in us not attending playoffs and not going to Shanghai.

We just need to be able to keep composure and focus on our game and not choke and win and close the map.

You will face KRU Esports next. What are your thoughts on the team?

I won't lie, I haven't watched too many of their matches so it's hard for me to say exactly and pinpoint. I think the others on my team such as the coaching staff or IGLs and mid-rounders would have a better idea of how they are as a team.

On paper they look like a really good mechanical team so as long as they are able to work together really well I think they can be a really scary team to play against.

KRU is a team with a strong Split 1 record, whereas you struggled during the first split and that has put you in a tough spot, since the playoff qualification relies on the overall record. What are your thoughts on this specific format?

I have very strong opinions on the matter. I think we are going to be entering a new meta with the new duelist changes especially where teams are able to experiment a lot more and play different compositions.

I don't really think it makes sense to carry over the points because when VALORANT changes it becomes a quite different game. Since the game came out in double duelist meta compared to now, where utility is very dominant the game is completely different at a pro level.

So I think carrying over points from a past split can be quite controversial in my opinion in my eyes. Especially going into playoffs the maps are going to be changing to Abyss is going to be subbing in for Split I believe. I also think that's super ambitious just because now teams have to practice 8 maps instead of 7 which doesn't really make sense but Riot Games.

Do you think teams would even think about preparing for Abyss? Do you think they have to or would?

I think teams that feel like they're playoff bound should definitely experiment with Abyss because whatever team has Abyss figured out faster will have an upper hand in vetoes.

Especially if their map pool is already strong. If they're able to add Abyss onto that it will kind of pressure teams especially with teams having certain permabans.

I think it can be quite scary. So I do think whoever does prepare for Abyss and if you do qualify for playoffs you will have quite a map advantage just in the vetoes.

You did mention that you got time on your hands. As a competitor you obviously hate missing out on good international competitions. But do you think in the long run, especially for this year where the schedule is quite tight, this break sort of might have also helped you?  In the sense that you could change the comps, practiced a lot more and would be less exhausted going to the champs whereas teams like Gen.G who barely got any break might run out of gas towards the end?

Yeah, I definitely think that there's a certain amount of times you play and you're stuck playing the old meta because you don't really have time to practice the new stuff.

Especially with just playing constantly, traveling constantly, being overseas I think can contribute to fatigue and I do think team fatigue can happen. It happened to us after we went to Madrid and we came back.

Also I think the same thing happened to LOUD where they weren't able to play up to their standard just due to them having visa issues and so they weren't able to practice right away.

So I think it's stuff like that that kind of contributes to teams being less prepared for the next split.

I do wish that if a team did come back from an event I think it's really nice being able to completely swap the meta which would kind of result in all the teams being on even playing field, even the teams that stayed behind and were able to practice 10 times more than the team that actually qualified to the event and were playing there.

So blessing in disguise, I think not attending Shanghai, I think we were able to relax a bit. We were able to rest our minds and play together as a team better because of it.

Thank you so much for your time and all the best for the Superweek.

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TenZ and Sentinels will play KRU Esports during the VCT Americas 2024 Split 2 Superweek. You can catch the game live on Twitch or YouTube.

You can watch the extended video cut of the interview on Strafe YouTube.

Follow Strafe for everything esports. 

Featured Image Credits: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

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