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Doublelift Announces Sentinels Entry into League of Legends
North American organization Sentinels have now officially announced their latest venture – League of Legends. Their brand has long been associated with another Riot Games title, VALORANT, and before that Hearthstone, Fortnite, Halo, and Apex Legends.
A Return to Their Roots
Not many modern fans might know this, but the brand we now know as Sentinels in fact began as a League of Legends venture. The team, then known as Phoenix1, debuted as a squad back in 2016 and competed in the NA LCS in 2016 and 2017. When the LCS swapped to a franchised model for the 2018 season, Phoenix1 was unfortunately denied a slot.
Nearly a decade later, they have returned, rebranded and with a fan following that dwarfs that of most other modern North American organizations’ in their respective games. While their VALORANT division in recent times has not found quite the success they did back in 2024, their following only continues to thrive with their mix of signed players’ popularities, memorable creative content, and investments into the scene through off-season tournaments.
Should they bring that same mentality to League of Legends, and we see no real reason why they shouldn't, it will be a difficult world to imagine where they don’t immediately capture many North American hearts.
The Key to The Top
One thing Sentinels has managed across at least two of their title iterations has been their success at finding that ‘key’ figure, their franchise player around which their branding is centered.
For Fortnite, it was Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, a prodigious player within the scene who won the Fortnite World Cup the same year he signed with the organization.
And for VALORANT, that is none other than Tyson “TenZ” Ngo. Initially signed on as an emergency sub, the pairing of TenZ, already one of the most popular players in the scene, and Sentinels, was a match made in heaven that jettisoned both names into the VALORANT stratosphere.
Now, the team assembling their debut roster will have a tall task on their hands. It won’t have to be immediate, finding that franchise player, but that will be the key for Sentinels to firmly embed themselves within the LCS consciousness for the years to come.
A Much Needed Win for the LCS
The addition of Sentinels to the LCS makes sense. And without a shadow of a doubt, it is a positive for a league brand that has been slowly withering. The announcement last month of the return of the LCS and CBLOL brands has done little to assuage concerns from remaining fans and onlookers as we are looking at the sunset years for the former especially. With a loud and passionate fanbase, the addition of Sentinels could be the catalyst to a much more promising 2026 League of Legends year in North America. This, after all, is a team that wins even more hearts than trophies.
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Featured Image Credit: Sentinels LoL X
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