The Sentinels have fired their Head Coach Donald “SyykoNT” Muir just hours after losing to Leviatán in the VCT Americas League after the team’s problems continued to pile up. Sentinels Head Coach SyykoNT was fired after halftime of the VCT 2023: Americas League sacked. Adam “kaplan” Kaplan will replace him. Sentinels CEO Rob Moore announced on Twitter April 16 that the organization has come to the “difficult decision to part ways“ and that Kaplan will step in, effective immediately.
Bumpy start for Sentinels at VCT.
Just hours after the Sentinels’ last regular season loss to LATAM team Leviatán, they announced that they would part ways with SyykoNT. The news was received with mixed feelings by fans, who wonder why the coach is suddenly dropped. The Sentinels have not been in a good position since they entered the VALORANT franchising system.
We have come to the difficult decision to part ways with Don @SyykoNT Muir. Adam @itskaplan Kaplan will be stepping in as head coach effective immediately.
— Rob Moore (@robmooreEsports) April 17, 2023
The team, which is commonly referred to as an American super team, has had only disappointing results so far: It lost its first match against Fnatic at VCT LOCK//IN, and it has also suffered heavy defeats in the Americas League so far (1-2 in the regular season). The team also has a lot of internal problems to deal with, as their sixth man, Hunter ‘SicK’ Mims, was replaced by Jimmy ‘Marved’ Nguyen after SicK was arrested. The latter, by the way, was released. Moreover, their star duelist Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo is currently suffering from a wrist injury.
@itskaplan has an amazing brain for the game, ya'll are in great hands
— Rawkus (@Rawkus) April 17, 2023
Can Kaplan help the team get on track?
However, former Sentinels coach Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty has assured that Kaplan is a great coach who will help the team move forward. “Kaplan has an amazing feel for the game, you guys are in good hands,” he wrote. Former Sentinels analyst and current G2 assistant coach Dani “Dani” Hashweh had similar comments about Kaplan’s promotion. SykkoNT helped build superteam SykkoNT has had an eventful career in VALORANT. In 2022, he was head coach of XSET, where he was able to slowly lead the underdog team to impressive performances at Masters Copenhagen and Champions 2022. The team finished 5th-6th in VALORANT Champions 2022, which led to XSET’s highest finish.
“We’re building a team that’s going to win”
Meet the brains behind the rebuild @SyykoNT @itskaplan pic.twitter.com/XOoiapja0Y
— Sentinels (@Sentinels) October 4, 2022
SykkoNT joined the organization in October 2022 with the goal of building a “VALORANT superteam,” but during his short tenure, the team won only two of seven games. In an interview with commentator Wyatt River, SyykoNT said that it was he who approached Sentinels to build the superteam as we know it today, and it seems that he will no longer be part of the dream team that he helped build. We’re excited to see if the change will be good for the team! Things will continue for them on April 21 and then we will see the new coach in action.