A few days ago, the Valorant community and fans of the American organization Sentinels received shocking news. One of the most popular esports players and an idol to millions of viewers, Tyson "TenZ" Ngo, officially announced his retirement from his professional career to become a content creator for Sentinels. With this news, our editorial team has prepared a piece where we will tell you about TenZ's Valorant story, his achievements in Riot's shooter, and his plans for the future.
Who is TenZ?
There are likely very few people left in the professional Valorant scene who don’t know who TenZ is, but if you are one of them, we are here to fix that misunderstanding. Tyson "TenZ" Ngo is a 23-year-old former professional player in CS and Valorant, and now a content creator and streamer for Sentinels. Throughout his career and after, TenZ remains one of the most popular media figures in Valorant. His following on various platforms looks as follows:
- Instagram - 1.3 million followers
- X (formerly Twitter) - 1.4 million followers
- TikTok - 2.2 million followers
- YouTube - 2.3 million followers
- Twitch - 4.1 million followers
Such popularity, even for professional Valorant players, is impressive, especially considering that TenZ never won a world championship, which is usually the source of much fame for esports players. In TenZ's case, it all comes down to his individual skills. Tyson is a unique player who, thanks to his charisma and abilities, can both communicate with his fans and be a professional player. Typically, media personalities are only capable of one or the other.
Player Career Before Valorant
Before starting his career in Valorant, TenZ competed professionally in CSfrom 2017 to 2020. During this time, he switched between many teams, with Cloud9 being the most notable. We won’t delve deep into his career in Valve’s shooter but will present his main achievements during his three and a half years on the competitive CSscene.
Styled Table
Tournament
Place
Prize
ESL Pro League Season 10 - Americas
13-16
5,000$
Arctic Invitational 2019
3-4
11,000$
BLAST Pro Series: Los Angeles 2019
4
15,000$
ESEA Season 30: Premier Division - NA
2
10,500$
WESG 2018 Canada
3-4
2,000$
ESEA Season 25: Premier Division - NA
4
2,500$
Four Years in Valorant
In 2020, following the official release of Riot’s shooter, TenZ immediately ended his CS career and switched to Valorant. He began his journey with Cloud9 Blue, playing under the same organization he had represented in Valve’s shooter. Interestingly, TenZ was the first player in this new roster, and the team was built around him. Below, you can see Cloud9’s announcement about forming their Valorant roster and their first player.
At that time, the competitive Valorant scene had not yet fully formed, and there was no official competitive season from Riot. However, this didn’t stop the professional from securing prize placements at various tournaments and earning his first rewards in Valorant.
Transition to Sentinels
In March 2021, TenZ moved to Cloud9’s inactive roster, and a few months later, he transferred to the American team Sentinels as a substitute. This marked a turning point in his career. TenZ helped the team win one of the first Masters tournaments VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Masters - earning the club $60,000, followed by several more qualifications and another victory at VCT 2021: Stage 2 Masters - Reykjavík, which brought in $200,000. At the time, the Valorant esports scene was still developing, making this a significant sum for the discipline. Thanks to these results, TenZ’s future was sealed, and just a month after the last tournament, he became a permanent player for Sentinels.
Performance and Records
During his short time with Cloud9 and his long tenure with Sentinels, TenZ won numerous trophies and placed in the top positions at major international tournaments. According to esportsearnings, he earned approximately $191,854 over his career. Most of this sum can be seen in our table, which shows the tournaments, placements, and prize money won by teams with TenZ.
Styled Table
Tournament
Place
Prize
VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Masters
1
60,000$
VCT 2021: NA Stage 2 Challengers Finals
1
40,000$
VCT 2021: Stage 2 Masters - Reykjavík
1
200,000$
VCT 2021: NA Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs
1
40,000$
VCT 2021: Stage 3 Masters - Berlin
5-8
24,000$
VALORANT Champions 2021
9-12
20,000$
VCT 2024: Masters Madrid
1
250,000$
VALORANT Champions 2024
4
130,000$
In addition, TenZ achieved several records and personal milestones during his career:
- TenZ was the first player to reach the Radiant rank during the closed beta testing of Valorant.
- He became the first player from North America to win two Masters events (VCT 2021 Stage 2 Masters Reykjavík and VCT 2024 Masters Madrid).
- He set a record for the highest number of kills in a match - 40 during the group stage of VCT 2022: North America Stage 2 Challengers.
Retirement from Professional Play
But all good things must come to an end, and a few days ago, TenZ announced his partial retirement from competitive Valorant. In an official video on the Sentinels’ social media, TenZ shared the sad news. Starting September 14, 2024, he will no longer be part of the main Sentinels roster but will transition to a content creator and streamer role for the American organization. You can read more about this in our article.
While another player, Sacy, also left the Sentinels roster after TenZ's departure, signaling the end of an era for the club, TenZ doesn’t plan to disappear from the media scene. He mentioned that he plans to travel more, shoot vlogs, and attend various content creator events, but he will not forget his fans and will continue playing Valorant. So, fans of TenZ need not worry; their idol will keep creating content, though not as frequently as before.
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