SEN Ewok on team's struggles: “There’s a lot of pressure wearing the Sentinels jersey”

Sentinels head coach Martin "Ewok" Ewok spoke with THESPIKE following the team’s victory over 2GAME Esports at the VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Americas Stage 2. He discussed the pressure of coaching Sentinels, in-game leading and duelist roles, and how far the team still is from reaching its standard.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Americas Stage 2

Sentinels

2

X

0

2GAME Esports

Lower Bracket Round 2 of 6, Best of 3 - August 20, 2026 - 9:00PM

13

Haven

8

13

Split

10

Sentinels

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Johnqt

1.36

277

41/29/15

+12

1.41

72.9%

184.3

32%

60%

3

2

cortezia

1.07

227

34/23/9

+11

1.48

79.4%

146.5

43%

60%

6

4

Jerrwin

0.90

199

32/31/6

+1

1.03

75.1%

139.7

30%

33%

6

12

Reduxx

0.89

173

24/27/19

-3

0.89

74.8%

112.3

17%

75%

3

1

JonahP

0.79

161

24/27/7

-3

0.89

70.7%

105.0

27%

43%

3

4

2GAME Esports

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

xenom

1.25

259

41/26/7

+15

1.58

77.9%

179.1

41%

100%

7

0

Brinks

0.82

178

30/33/3

-3

0.91

70.5%

112.4

31%

60%

3

2

frz

0.76

148

24/28/7

-4

0.86

63.8%

94.0

29%

60%

3

2

gobera

0.64

152

22/36/9

-14

0.61

58.8%

90.7

28%

43%

6

8

qck

0.58

151

20/32/8

-12

0.63

65.5%

108.2

25%

31%

4

9

johnqt shines on Phoenix

We’re not used to seeing Mohamed Amine "Johnqt" Ouarid play Phoenix as Sentinels’ in-game leader, but he delivered one of his best performances of the stage against 2GAME. Ewok believes that playing duelist while serving as IGL is not as unusual as it may seem, and the strategy benefited Sentinels greatly.

THESPIKE: Seeing johnqt play Phoenix is definitely a different approach to the game. What was behind that decision, and why did you choose to put your IGL in the duelist role?

Ewok: "We had been thinking about it for a while. Sometimes, we weren’t reacting as quickly as we wanted and were a little too passive on the map. We would often wait for John’s call before reacting, but by then, it could already be too late.

There was a delay between him making the call and us acting on it, instead of taking the initiative ourselves. It was never about thinking that Phoenix was the problem. Instead, we were looking at how we could optimize the role even further, especially with the agent being so strong in the current meta."

According to the head coach, the team had been working on this composition for a while but never had the opportunity to bring it to the stage in previous matches.

One of johnqt's clutch rounds came in a 1v1 on Split’s B site that completely shifted the momentum of the match. However, despite winning the round, the coach was not happy with the small mistakes that left him in that position alone.

There have been a lot of situations in the last couple of matches where we lost some of those pivotal rounds. They were super close, and we ended up losing the 1v1s or simply didn’t have enough of those crucial rounds. Right now, the snowball is very real, so it was a big round for him to win. At the end, you saw the game get a little bit closer, which shows just how important that round was.

Falling short of the standard

The victory over 2GAME still didn’t show what Sentinels are truly capable of. For coach Ewok, the team is still inconsistent, with some rounds looking sloppy while others are dominant and well executed.

THESPIKE: How would you descibre today's series? Do you think Sentinels is finally showing what they've been working on for the last couple of months?

I still think today wasn’t near the standard we need to be at. I do think we played some rounds really well and were very dominant, but we also slipped up and gave away too many rounds. What I’m really happy with is that both times, even when they were chaining rounds together, we had a good reaction afterward. We stayed competitive, kept pushing them, and were able to close it out. That’s very important for a team that has had a lot of downers recently.

After four consecutive losses in Stage 2 sent them to the Lower Bracket, coach Ewok knew the road ahead would not be easy. The team needed to find their footing again and regain their confidence to move forward.

We’ve had a lot of disappointment. It’s very easy to get in your own head when you start losing a couple of rounds and think, "Here we go again." But we’ve been working a lot on the "what ifs" and stopping ourselves from thinking about the future. What if we lose? Instead, we’re making sure we stay much more present in the moment. Credit to the boys as well for really taking it upon themselves to understand that they need to grasp it. If the opportunity is there, don’t just roll over and give it away.

For their next challenge, the team needs to improve its communication, particularly by being more precise and quicker when sharing information with the rest of the team.

The weight of wearing the Sentinels jersey

There is no doubt that the Sentinels jersey carries a different weight given the organization’s history in VALORANT. However, coach Ewok believes there are bigger challenges to deal with beyond social media criticism and fan expectations. One of them is the meta itself.

THESPIKE: What’s been the biggest adjustment you’ve had to make as a coach since taking over this team?

Ewok: "When you move to a new team, you need to learn everything again. Right now, I don't think this is the easiest meta for the guys. A lot is happening, and there’s a good balance between faster rounds and more default-oriented play with Phoenix being strong in the current meta. For me, a big adjustment has been going over things I’ve worked on with other players before, understanding what helped them learn the fastest, and trying to implement those lessons here."

The pressure can be overwhelming, but the coach believes that is also necessary to help them grow as professional players.

There's a lot of pressure if you put on the Sentinels jersey for the players. It's natural, but it's also kind of like getting thrown into the deep end for some of them. Sometimes, that's the best way to learn how to swim. Get in there and there's no entry level, level 1, level 2, straight in there. We need to sink or swim. At this moment, I'm trying to be that lifeguard to them and I feel we're learning a lot of things.

Who is coach Ewok?

Since his time with Rex Regum Qeon, Ewok has changed a lot. Beyond switching teams and regions and getting to know new players, the coach has learned how to adapt to a new team and understand what works for them as quickly as possible.

THESPIKE: What have you learned about yourself as a coach from this season?

Ewok: "We have to understand that all players have different personalities and their own way to deal with life. It is my job to learn how to communicate with them. It’s something from the past to use the exact same handbook for everyone. Players are unique, so that’s something I’ve always tried to improve on. Maybe also dealing with a little more disappointment or frustration.

I don’t think I’ve ever lost four games in a row in my career. So that’s something new for me. I also need to make sure we pinpoint the exact things we need to address. I can’t fix a hundred things in a week. I need to make sure I’m as effective as possible as part of the coaching staff and that we address the ten most important things that can help us move forward and win the following week."

You can be frustrated right after the game, but after that, in practice, you need to be completely locked in on the next task. It’s always about chasing the next win.

Can Sentinels make a deeper run in the competition?

"It is a tough road for us to make it all the way, but right now, it's just the next game," coach Ewok answered. "Round by round, match by match. Just for us. If we can keep going, we'll build more confidence. I'm just going to tell you we're going to try our hardest."

Sentinels dropped to the Lower Bracket after losing to ENVY. Following their victory over 2GAME, they will now face KRÜ Esports as they look to continue their run. The goal is to qualify for the Playoffs and keep their VALORANT Champions 2026 hopes alive.

For all things VCT-related, make sure to stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG as we continue to update you with the freshest game and esports news.

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