Sentinels Sub VALORANT Coach Rawkus and New Substitute Dani for Match Against OpTic Gaming
Sentinels, a renowned VALORANT team, faces a challenging match against OpTic Gaming in the NA VCT Stage Two Challengers group stage. In a surprising move, Sentinels will be subbing in their VALORANT coach Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty and new substitute Dani to replace Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and Hunter “SicK” Mims, who are unable to play due to illness and a family emergency, respectively.
The team’s current situation couldn’t be worse as they sit at the bottom of their group with a 0-2 record. Now they have to face the reigning Masters Reykjavík champions without two of their regular starters.
Rawkus, formerly a player for FaZe Clan, joined Sentinels as a coach in early 2021. He played professionally for FaZe Clan in the 2020 season and the entire 2021 VCT campaign. Despite temporarily parting ways with Sentinels, Rawkus rejoined the team full-time in February 2022.
Dani, a North American free agent, comes in as a substitute for Sentinels. He has previously played for Time In and Sum 2 Prove and is capable of filling the initiator, controller, and sentinel roles.
Even with TenZ and SicK in the lineup this year, Sentinels have not lived up to their dominant performance in 2021. In Stage One of the VCT, they were eliminated in the first round of the NA Challengers playoffs, missing out on their chance to participate in an international tournament. They barely made it into the current stage’s main event through the qualifier, and they currently have a tough schedule ahead of them, facing OpTic, FaZe, and Cloud9.
The match between Sentinels and OpTic is scheduled for today, May 28, at 3pm CT.
Sentinels, OpTic Gaming, VALORANT, NA VCT Stage Two Challengers, coach Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty, substitute Dani, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, Hunter “SicK” Mims, Masters Reykjavík champions, VALORANT team, illness, family emergency, group stage.