Sentinels just dropped Donald “Syyko” Muir, their head Valorant coach, mere hours after a loss against Leviatán in the VCT Americas League as problems for the team continue to pile up.
Sentinels has not been in the greatest of positions since it entered Valorant’s franchising system. The squad, widely billed as an American superteam, has seen disappointing results so far, losing in their first match against Fnatic at VCT LOCK//IN and tough losses in the Americas League so far, currently 1-2 in the regular season.
And the squad has gone through a plethora of internal issues, as their sixth man, Hunter ‘SicK’ Mims was replaced with Jimmy ‘Marved’ Nguyen amid SicK’s arrest. In addition, their star duelist, Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo is currently dealing with a wrist injury.
Sentinels drops head coach Syyko hours after loss
Now, just hours after Sentinels’ most recent regular season loss against LATAM team Leviatán, they have announced they are parting ways with Syyko, their head coach.
We have come to the difficult decision to part ways with Don @SyykoNT Muir. Adam @itskaplan Kaplan will be stepping in as head coach effective immediately.
— Rob Moore (@robmooreEsports) April 17, 2023
In an announcement tweet from Sentinels CEO Rob Moore, he wrote, “we have come to the difficult decision to part ways with Don ‘Syyko’ Muir. Adam ‘Kaplan’ Kaplan will be stepping in as head coach effective immediately.”
The news was met with a plethora of mixed emotions from fans, questioning why Syyko had been suddenly dropped.
However, former coach for Sentinels, Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty assured that Kaplan is a great coach to continue forward with the squad. “Kaplan has an amazing brain for the game, ya’ll are in great hands,” he wrote.
With former analyst for Sentinels, now assistant coach for G2, Dani “Dani” Hashweh also giving the same sentiment regarding Kaplan’s promotion.
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Syyko has had a storied career in Valorant so far. In 2022, he was head coach for XSET which saw him slowly elevate the underdog squad to impressive performances in Masters Copenhagen and Champions 2022 both.
In an interview with commentator Wyatt River, Syyko said it was him who approached Sentinels to build the super-squad as we know it today, and it seems he will no longer be a part of the dream team he helped to create.
Syyko confirms parting from Sentinels, announces free agency
A day after Rob Moore announced Sentinels dropping their head coach, Syyko has confirmed he has parted ways with the team and announced his free agency as a coach in a Twitter thread.
Huge thank you to all my teammates; – My Ex-XSET brothers @dephhgg @DrewSparkR6 @zekkenVAL who have been grinding with me for so long– My brazilian fellas @sen_sacy @pANcada who have taught me so much, and – #1 Crab Champion @TenZOfficial whose positive attitude and (2/5)
— M80 Syyko (@SyykoNT) April 18, 2023
He thanked his former teammates for the time they spent together at Sentinels, and with XSET. Even assuring Sentinels fans that the team is in good hands with Kaplan as head coach, and Drew “DrewSpark” Spark-Whitworth as the team’s assistant coach.
“I am saddened that I was not able to see this project to fruition, but I believe I’ve laid a solid foundation for the team to continue developing and improving upon,” he wrote.
Even 24 hours removed from the announcement, however, the official Sentinels account is yet to formally address Syyko’s departure.