Zellsis says Sentinels struggling to find balance with hard work and having fun

After a lackluster run at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Bangkok 2025, Sentinels is headed home to prepare for VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 1, searching for answers to problems that surfaced at the first big international event of the year. They failed to pick up a single series win through the first two stages of the tournament, barely staying afloat vs. DRX and Team Liquid with an abysmal -21 round differential. They went out with a whimper, during their match vs. Liquid on Bind with a score of 13-1, making crucial mistakes throughout the day, and dropping must-win rounds.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Bangkok 2025

Team Liquid

2

X

1

Sentinels

Swiss Stage, Best of 3 - February 23, 2025 - 12:00PM

7

Lotus

13

16

Abyss

14

13

Bind

1

Team Liquid

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

nAts

1.60

305

66/40/13

+26

1.65

83.3%

174.2

26%

50%

6

6

Keiko

1.22

212

54/40/27

+14

1.35

80.6%

142.8

36%

54%

7

6

kamyk

0.86

177

39/44/13

-5

0.89

75.6%

108.0

28%

67%

4

2

kamo

0.86

190

41/46/12

-5

0.89

70.6%

123.6

27%

44%

11

14

paTiTek

0.83

152

32/43/36

-11

0.74

82.6%

108.6

26%

43%

3

4

Sentinels

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

N4RRATE

1.13

230

55/49/21

+6

1.12

74.0%

164.7

28%

75%

9

3

bang

0.96

186

38/45/20

-7

0.84

70.3%

104.3

30%

58%

7

5

zekken

0.95

210

49/44/8

+5

1.11

66.1%

143.1

31%

39%

11

17

Zellsis

0.85

175

34/52/29

-18

0.65

75.6%

117.8

21%

44%

4

5

Johnqt

0.81

160

37/45/18

-8

0.82

69.6%

104.5

21%

50%

1

1

A healthy grind-fun balance

At the post game press conference, Sentinels’ veteran leader Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro was pretty vocal about the team’s issues, including the problems that are still currently plaguing them. The 26-year-old said that a “big thing they’re struggling with” is finding a balance between working hard and having fun with competition.

He maintains that this Sentinels roster is one of the most hardworking teams he’s been on, but there will always be a point where “you're just running into a wall at a point, and if you forget how to have fun, then you're really just running into a wall.” If you’re too focused on wanting to win so badly and failing to enjoy the process, you won’t be able to get the best performances out of yourself and your teammates.

So I think a big thing for us is we need to find the balance between working hard and then also enjoying what we're doing, because if you're not having fun, then I mean, it's very hard to play when you're not having fun. It's a video game at the end of the day, it's a competition. And if you're not having fun competing, [and] if you're not having fun as a team, then it's very hard to pull through.

"It's a video game at the end of the day"

Zellsis spoke about this before the tournament, stating he has been trying to teach this concept to the younger players on his roster that having patience and enjoying the journey is a surefire way to survive in this industry. It was something that Zellsis believes many younger players now struggle with, especially with how volatile this career path can be for professionals and quickly players must find success before they lose their value to a team or to a fanbase.

Patience is hard to establish as a professional but for Zellsis, who is the oldest player on Sentinels’ roster and has countless years of experience across two major esports—Counter Strike and VALORANT—patience is a true virtue that is necessary to be successful. With teammates such as Zachary "zekken" Patrone, Sean "bang" Bezerra, and Marshall "N4RRATE" Massey who are all under the age of 23, Sentinels fans should hope that Zellsis can share his wisdom on to these young phenoms so they can have long, successful career.