StrafeStrafe Esports
Sentinels Officially Announce Full Starting Roster for 2026 VCT Season

Sentinels Officially Announce Full Starting Roster for 2026 VCT Season

Valorant

Foo Zen-Wen

1 Nov, 2025, 23:29

|

Last updated: 1 Nov, 2025, 23:43

Amidst the scramble of information during this 2025-26 off-season rostermania, Sentinels have managed to emerge with a fairly promising, and young, roster. After 2 seasons together, the final pieces of the Madrid-winning roster are essentially all scattered, with only Mohamed “johnqt” Amine Ouarid remaining from the previous 2024-25 lineup.

Massive Overhaul for Sentinels VALORANT

Despite massive fan following and fairly stacked lineup talent-wise, it is difficult to categorize the Sentinels roster as a true success story. The roster that found themselves grouped at Champions Paris just a month ago is a far cry from the core that lifted the trophy back in Madrid.

While off-season changes post Champions Seoul saw the team lose two core pillars in Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and Gustavo “Sacy” Henrique Rossi da Silva, the additions of Marshall “N4RRATE” Massey and Sean “bang” Christian Bezerra were meant to reinject power back into the lineup. However, despite still qualifying for all three internationals, Sentinels in 2025 never really made a splash, both domestically and internationally.

Coming into this off-season, the core mantra appears to be simple: rebuild from the ground up. Only 2 members of the 2025 lineup remain going into 2026: johnqt and N4RRATE. Two new exciting Tier 2 players will be making their debut in Mirel “Kyu” Braco Hrustemovic and Yassin “reduxx” Aboulalazm, and former MIBR hype man and secondary gunner Gabriel “cortezia” Araujo Lobo Cortez will be stepping into the SEN spotlight.

Ambition and the Question of Leadership

Sentinels in 2025 was, to put it frankly, lukewarm. They had flashes of brilliance that excited fans young and old, but also plenty of moments where they just didn’t deliver on the days they needed to. With the unexpected re-signing of johnqt along with new signing of Kyu, Sentinels will be debuting in 2026 with two former M80 IGLs. However, Kyu has confirmed he will be taking over the reins of IGL from johnqt, freeing the latter from the shackles of calling.

With the signing of young guns Kyu and reduxx, the hope is that their addition will reinvigorate the more experienced players with the much-needed jolt that saw T1 propel themselves to a trophy lift in Bangkok, PRX in Toronto, and NRG in Paris. Only time will tell if the gambit pays off.

Sentinels 2026 Roster:

  • Mohamed “johnqt” Amine Ouarid
  • Marshall “N4RRATE” Massey
  • Mirel “Kyu” Braco Hrustemovic
  • Yassin “reduxx” Aboulalazm
  • Gabriel “cortezia” Araujo Lobo Cortez

Follow Strafe Esports for the latest VALORANT news and our X account for the latest content and coverage. Also, stay tuned to Strafe's YouTube channel for exclusive interviews, press conferences, and more.

Featured Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

Read More:

BBL Esports Reportedly Acquiring Entire BBL PCIFIC Roster for VCT 2026

G2 Release Their Own Fantasy Webcomic "Red Aura"

Zellsis Departs from Sentinels; Reportedly Joins Cloud9

Latest news

Dplus KIA to be Sold Amid Financial Turbulence

Dplus KIA to be Sold Amid Financial Turbulence

Dplus KIA have announced the organization is in the middle of a sale process as the club has "reached a point where it needs even greater capability and support to grow to the next level." Growing operational costs in esports and recent reports surfacing regarding unpaid wages at Dplus all seem to indicate that the move will be in the best interest of everyone involved, including players and fans of the organization.
16 Jul
Martin Arévalo-Östberg

Team Vitality CEO Neo: "For Us to be a Global Leader Means Being a Contender at EWC"

Team Vitality remains one of the most influential and well-known esports organizations to date. The Paris-based org fields over 20 esports teams in various esports, though their immensely impressive results in Counter-Strike take center stage.  Being one of the organizations present at Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, we managed to speak with Fabien "Neo" Devide, Co-Founder and CEO of the Hive, just after an interview with Mike McCabe, COO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, at the opening press conference at EWC. Neo provided a ton of insight into the organization's participation at this year's edition of EWC in Paris. He expressed his desire for the org to perform to the highest standards, but also highlighted that rivalry is key to grow the ecosystem. Additionally, Neo gave strong opinions on the growth of mobile esports following last year's Vitality's takeover and merger with Indonesian side Bigetron, stressing the need for innovation and following ideas in the east, as much as the west.
15 Jul
Naim "EnKay" Rosinski

VALORANT Declares War on Boosting and Smurfing

Riot Games is done playing nice with rank manipulators. Starting with Patch 13.01, the studio is rolling out sharper detection tools built to catch boosting, win-trading, and stream sniping, and this time the punishments are landing on everyone involved, not just the person paying for the service.
14 Jul
Thales Costa

Mike McCabe COO of EWC Foundation: "The Home Is Always Going to Be Riyadh"

The Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC) had its grand launch on July 8, commemorating the official start of the event with an opening press conference at the Hotel de Ville in the heart of Paris. With many speakers kicking off the event, like the CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, Ralf Reichert, Emmanuel Grégoire, the mayor of Paris, and others, taking center stage.  Following an opening ceremony with multiple speakers, media were given the opportunity to chat with representatives of the Esports World Cup Foundation, game publishers, or even reps of prolific esports organizations such as Team Vitality. We managed to speak with Mike McCabe, the COO of the Esports World Cup Foundation.
14 Jul
Naim "EnKay" Rosinski

VALORANT Patch 13.01: Iso and Yoru Buffs, Outlaw Nerf and More

Riot Games has rolled out VALORANT Patch 13.01, and while it's not the biggest update of the year, it brings meaningful quality-of-life buffs, a notable nerf, and a major crackdown on competitive integrity. Here's everything you need to know.
14 Jul
Kaustavmani Choudhury

Riot Games Brings Local Flair to VCT EMEA With Mushkaa Collab

Riot Games has confirmed a fresh collaboration that's about to give one of VALORANT's most iconic anthems a distinctly local twist. Ahead of the VCT EMEA Stage 2 Finals in Barcelona, the publisher has teamed up with rising Spanish artist Mushkaa to remix Villain (Take the Shot), one of the game's biggest musical hits.
13 Jul
Thales Costa

100 Thieves Claim First-Ever International VALORANT Title at Esports World Cup

100 Thieves have been crowned champions of the VALORANT Esports World Cup 2026, defeating regional rivals NRG in a tense five-map grand final. The win marks a defining moment for the organization, delivering their first-ever international trophy after years of near-misses and missed qualifications.
12 Jul
Kaustavmani Choudhury

Comments (0)

Log in to comment on this match