SEN kaplan on team struggles: "We need to hold a really high standard for ourselves in practice"

Sentinels entered their series against NRG in the Lower Bracket Final as the favorites to meet G2 Esports in the VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 2 Grand Final. Instead, they found themselves barraged by a series of Odin spams and outplays that saw them make a shocking exit, now as the third seed going to VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions.

Coming off of a perfect 5-0 Group Stage, third place wasn’t the result Sentinels had ever expected at this stage of the year.

However, when Sentinels' Head Coach Adam "kaplan" Kaplan walked into the VCT Americas press room shortly after the series, there was one keyword that stuck out to him.

Frustration.

Inconsistencies riddle Sentinels once again

The 2025 season was one that saw Sentinels stand as one of the top dogs of the VCT Americas League. Some had viewed Americas as a two-team region purely based on the dominance Sentinels and G2 Esports had showcased throughout the season. During the VCT Americas Stage 2 regular season, Sentinels were perfect with a 5-0 record in Group Alpha. So when the playoffs came around, there was an expectation from the side of Sentinels to maintain that level of consistency.

While they enjoyed a win against Cloud9 to begin their Stage 2 playoff campaign, this momentum was unable to continue into the Upper Bracket Final against G2 Esports and against NRG in the lower bracket Grand Final.

One of the primary issues that Kaplan saw throughout their VCT Americas playoff run was a lack of consistency.

“I think we increase our ceiling very regularly, but maintaining our baseline, or close to it, and not falling into the worst version of ourselves, that's something that obviously we're still struggling with. We don’t even need to be the best version of ourselves in these games. We just need to be a good version consistently. We got to work on that.”

Apart from G2 Esports, there were many teams that were able to challenge Sentinels in 2025. Throughout VCT Americas 2025, Sentinels only other series losses were against KRÜ Esports in VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 1 and most recently, NRG Esports. Additionally, Kaplan highlighted the team’s successes over the course of 2025 by highlighting their ability to compete with G2 Esports throughout the year and make a deep run at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025, finishing 5th-6th place.

These high-achieving moments are the primary reasons that “frustrate” Kaplan because he knows what the team is capable of.

“I am frustrated because I know how good we can be and I hate watching us not be able to achieve that,” said Kaplan.

Kaplan's plan for Sentinels heading to Champs

Sentinels boasted a +62 round differential throughout their Group Alpha run in Stage 2 while only dropping two maps to G2 Esports and 2G Esports. These momentous periods of dominance are a testament to Sentinels capabilities to be a top team in the world. This was something Kaplan held in a very high regard despite the team’s end to the season.

The Sentinels head coach highlighted the work ethic of each and every one of his Sentinels members, citing “60-hour” work weeks trying to hammer down on the fine details to achieve their ultimate goal of being the best team in the world.

“The amount of personal growth I have seen from my players and the team is commendable,” Kaplan said. “I know people have high expectations, and I think getting hung up on the things we struggle with is valid. But it's a disservice to how much we have improved.”

Despite a tough finish in VCT Americas, the VCT season is not over for Sentinels. They will have an opportunity to rectify their shortcoming in VCT Americas Stage 2 and contend for their first global title since VCT 2024 - Masters Madrid.

A bounceback from their VCT Americas Stage 2 shortcomings all starts from reshaping the way they view practice healing into Champions.

“We need to hold a really high standard for ourselves in practice.” he stated bluntly. “We need to be better about understanding that even if we win in practice, that might not be good enough to beat one of the top dogs or one of the better teams at Champs.”

One of the recurring themes all throughout the interview stems around “the fans" of Sentinels and the “high expectations” fans have for the team. While Kaplan believes those “expectations are valid”, his sights are set on winning the trophy in Paris, France.

“Yeah, it would’ve been nice to win an Americas trophy, but at the end of the day there's one game that matters, and it's hopefully the Grand Final at champs,” Kaplan said. “We are in the driver's seat to make sure growth pays off when it matters most.”

VALORANT Champions Paris 2025 will begin on September 12, 2025, where Sentinels will compete in Group A alongside Paper Rex, GIANTX, and XLG Esports for a spot in the playoffs.

Featured image credit: Colin Young-Wolff