100 Thieves’ Hiko reflects on Sentinels loss, calls TenZ ‘amazing player’ and ‘valuable asset’

In what many considered to be a marquee matchup, Sentinels sent 100 Thieves to the lower bracket after a 2-0 victory last weekend at VALORANT Masters.

Back in First Strike, the two teams clashed and 100 Thieves turned up as the victor, but things have changed drastically for both the First Strike champions and Sentinels since then.

For any team playing Sentinels prior to Masters, any prep that included Jay “sinatraa” Won was thrown out the window the moment he got suspended pending Riot Games’ investigation of claims made by his ex-girlfriend, Cleo Hernandez. When Tyson “TenZ” Ngo was announced as the replacement, many teams had to figure out how to counter the wildly unpredictable player.

Read more: Here’s what happened at VALORANT Masters in Europe, Korea and Japan

“I’ve always thought very highly of TenZ,” Spencer “Hiko” Martin said. “I’ve always thought that he is an amazing player and a valuable asset to any team.”

TenZ did turn out to be quite the unpredictable force that the Sentinels needed to make a win against 100 Thieves look easy.

Because sinatraa was suspended the day before Masters started, it forced teams to scramble to change their strategy after prepping for a Sentinels team that included sinatraa.

“I think that if we were playing a normal team that didn’t have a stand-in on last-minute notice, we definitely would do some anti-stratting, and do our homework to see exactly how they play maps, exactly how we lost to them the last time we played them,” Hiko said.

Read more: TenZ says ‘it would definitely be a consideration’ if given the chance to join Sentinels permanently

It is likely that the last minute sub-in of TenZ threw 100 Thieves off their game. 100 Thieves had only one match to watch to prepare for a team who plays differently around TenZ than they do with sinatraa. One match on short notice wasn’t enough for 100 Thieves to figure out a strategy that worked against a sudden roster change that included one of the most unpredictable and respected VALORANT players in NA.

Although many expected that if anyone could stop Sentinels, it was 100 Thieves, the match wasn’t that close. On Ascent, Sentinels made quick work of 100 Thieves in a 13-2 map victory. On Haven, a struggle ensued, but Sentinels squeaked out a 16-14 victory to send 100 Thieves to the lower bracket.

On Friday, the first grand finalist will be determined when Sentinels face FaZe Clan, who are dominating the top bracket so far after coming off a successful run in Challengers 3. Before their match, 100 Thieves will begin their run through the lower bracket.

100 Thieves will have to fight their way through the lower bracket to have a shot at facing Sentinels again. They’ll face Gen.G on Friday and will have to win three straight matches just to reach the grand final.

Lead image credit: Dreamhack