After spending three years with Sentinels as one of the biggest names in VALORANT, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo is hanging up the keyboard and mouse.
The 23-year-old announced his retirement on social media on Saturday, Sept. 14, stating that he actually made the decision to step back from the competitive scene at the beginning of 2024. He said that he didn’t want to leave his career on “a low point” like in 2023, so he put all of efforts into winning for the “closure year” of his career.
“With just how much success my content creation has, it definitely was a no brainer decision in regards to how much effort, how much work, [and] how much of your life gets taken up by being a competitive pro player,” TenZ explained in his announcement video. “I definitely poured my heart and soul into this year, and tried to be the best that I could.”
TenZ is one of the most popular VALORANT pros in the world, boasting one of the biggest followings of any pro player. He has also been one of the best players in the world, with multiple tournament wins under his belt, such as VALORANT Masters Reykjavík 2021, the 2023 AfreecaTV VALORANT League, and the 2024 VALORANT Masters Madrid.
He started off his career as a duelist for Sentinels, sporting some of the best aim in the league. He did, however, struggle to find success with the team in this role for a couple of years, but eventually shifted to the controller role to increase his impact with the team. Ultimately, this role switch was the catalyst for Sentinels’ success in 2024, alongside elevated performances from the rest of the star-studded roster.
“Switching roles to a role that I’ve never really played in my life, I just wanted to be the best teammate that I could be, and also bring the best player that I could be,” TenZ continued. “I’m just really glad that I was able to leave my mark within VALORANT history, and be remembered for that.”
As for the future of Sentinels’ roster, this leaves two potential holes in their roster for 2025. Along with TenZ’s retirement, the team is also reportedly not re-signing Sacy to the team, which means that they’ll need to retool the roster around Zachary “zekken” Patrone, Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro, and Amine “johnqt” Ouarid.
