Sentinels Face Potential Setback Ahead of VCT Americas Stage One
Fresh off their win at Masters Madrid, Sentinels may have to take on rivals 100 Thieves without their in-game leader Amine “johnqt” Ouarid at the start of VCT Americas stage one.
Johnqt has not been able to return to the United States at the time of writing, supposedly due to issues with his visa, according to TenZ on one of his recent streams. Johnqt has been streaming EU ranked gameplay and watching the VCT EMEA matches in the meantime. According to TenZ, Sentinels will either have to play with recently signed substitute Rahul “curry” Nemani, or play with johnqt with no practice since Masters if he’s even able to get back to Los Angeles in time. The team has been practicing with curry in recent days in the event that johnqt does not return in time.
Possible Absence of Johnqt Creates Uncertainty for Sentinels
The Sentinels in-game leader told ESN.GG that is very “possible” that he misses the first match against 100 Thieves. Sentinels has not provided a comment to Dot about johnqt’s game status, but did post on X asking the U.S. Embassy in Morocco to help get johnqt’s visa in order so he can join the team for their match on Sunday.
Secondary Calling and Curry’s Debut
With johnqt potentially out of action against 100T, Sentinels will have to rely more on the secondary calling provided by Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro, which coach Kaplan credited as a major facet of the team’s success at Masters Madrid. This would also be the first official pro match for curry since December 2023.
Pressure on 100 Thieves to Break Losing Streak
With Sentinels playing at a potential disadvantage, the pressure is on 100T to capitalize on the situation and grab their first series win of the year after narrow losses to both Leviatán and Sentinels during Kickoff. Since the start of the partnership era in 2023, 100T has lost all three matches played against Sentinels.
Sentinels’ upcoming match against 100T is set to start at 7pm CT on Sunday, April 7. Their next scheduled match is against Leviatán on Saturday, April 13.