TenZ officially joins Sentinels for $1.25 million; Cloud 9 CEO confirms deal was done before Valorant Champions Tour Masters Reykjavik

TenZ officially joins Sentinels (Image by Sentinels)

Following the win at Valorant Champions Tour Masters Reykjavik, news of Tyson "TenZ" Ngo officially joining Sentinels surfaced online.

TenZ is a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player who used to play for Cloud 9. Back in March 2021, Jay "Sinatraa" Won was suspended from Sentinels. Soon after, the news broke of TenZ joining Sentinels as a loan from Cloud 9.

The recent news shed light on a seven-figure buyout of TenZ’s contract, following which he officially joined Sentinels.

Tenz is now a part of the Sentinels Valorant roster

Back in March, when TenZ was loaned to Sentinels, he wasn’t part of the active Cloud 9 Valorant roster. And back in April, TenZ, along with the Sentinels, faced off against his former squad Cloud 9 in the Valorant Champions Tour 2021: North America Stage 2 Challengers 2 Grand Final. Sentinels won the best of 5 without dropping a single map.

With the addition of TenZ, under the leadership of Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan, Sentinels became a formidable team. They beat Valorant Champions Tour Masters Reykjavik without dropping a single map.

After the win, TenZ said that he would like to continue with the Sentinels roster, while Cloud 9's CEO Tweeted out a GIF of Money in the Bank. Speculation of TenZ officially joining Sentinels soon started to gather traction.

The news of TenZ officially joining Sentinels broke soon after, which was confirmed by the Twitter account of Sentinels tweeting, “He’s here to stay.”

He's here to stay.
— Sentinels (@Sentinels) June 1, 2021

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TenZ joined Sentinels for a buyout of $1.25 million.

As I first reported a month or two ago, the initial shopping price for TenZ was around $2 million. Due to the positive relationship between Sentinels, TenZ, and C9, that price obviously dropped by the time the transaction was completed.
— The Esports Writer (@FionnOnFire) June 1, 2021

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Following the news breakout, Cloud 9's CEO took to Reddit to provide more context on the deal. He confirmed that the deal was done back in April, before the Valorant Champions Tour 2021: North America Stage 2 Challengers 2.

With the win at the Masters Reykjavik, Sentinels have gained enough circuit points to qualify for Valorant Champions. Fans on the roster are beyond excited to see them perform their best in the upcoming Valorant matches.

ShahZaM, the man leading Sentinels to victory

Since its formation, Sentinels has never had a coach. ShahZaM, a former Counter-Striker: Global Offensive player and the IGL of Sentinels, took it upon himself to coach the roster.