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Sentinels VALORANT Part Ways with Head Coach Kaplan; Ewok to Replace
After a disappointing start to the competitive VALORANT 2026 season, Sentinels have decided to part ways with Head Coach Adam “Kaplan” Kaplan.
As a replacement, they have brought in former RRQ Head Coach Marthinus “Ewok” Jacobus van der Walt.
Assistant Coach to Masters Winner
Kaplan joined Sentinels as the Asst. coach to SykkoNT back in 2023. However the team struggled to keep up with the competition leading to mid-season roster change which resulted in Kaplan taking the reins of the team. While he failed to salvage the 2023 season, his leadership and decision-making eventually led Sentinels to their second Masters trophy at Madrid in 2024.
They did miss the second Masters event, but stayed competitive throughout the year, concluding it with a 4th place finish at VALORANT Champions.
“The Team Wasn’t Developing the Chemistry”
At the start of the 2025 season, TenZ and Sacy, two crucial pieces of the Masters’ winning Sentinels squad, announced retirement. These vacancies were filled with Bang and N4RRATE.
Throughout the year, the team remained competitive, placed second at every VCT Americas event, but failed to make a dent internationally. Their worst placing came at VALORANT Champions 2025, where they lost to Xi Lai Gaming and GiantX placing dead last in their group. While the results were not the worst, they failed to match the expectations of the organization and the fans.
For 2026, Sentinels let go of bang, Zellsis and Zekken and brought in Reduxx, Kyu and cortezia. This young roster did show promise during the off//season, but they exited 2026 VCT Kickoff with just a single win.
This along with the Champs 2025 result was especially disappointing for Sentinels. Rob Moore, the CEO, shared his dissatisfaction with Kaplan’s method in a statement.
"Our performance at Champs 2025 was disappointing, and the roster decisions Kaplan has made to address these issues have sent us in the wrong direction… We don't make decisions like this lightly, but we also don't believe in waiting when it is clear we are on the wrong path…What we saw at Kickoff wasn't just a results issue; the team wasn't developing the chemistry we needed. Rather than let that continue, we're making changes now to give ourselves the best chance to qualify for Champs 2026"
Additionally, Rob Moore also mentioned on Tarik's stream that Kaplan was essentially the reason behind Zekken's departure and JohnQT switching roles ahead of the 2026 season.
Ewok Joins as Head Coach
As a replacement to departing Kaplan, Sentinels have brought in Ewok, RRQ’s former coach.
Talking about the new signing, Rob Moore said:
“Ewok has shown the ability to develop a winning VCT roster as he led RRQ to an APAC Stage 1 Championship in 2025, as well as qualifying to Champions Paris. He impressed us with his ability to develop a structure to build long-term improvement in a team. “
While Ewok has the experience to take young rosters to VALORANT Champions, Americas are a much stronger region than the Pacific. And whether he can help Sentinels to reach VALORANT Champions 2026 will depend on if he can adjust to the G2s, MIBRs and the NRGs (now FURIA as well).
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Featured Image Credit: Sentinels
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