Valorant star Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo explained in a livestream why he hasn’t watched a critical analysis video of his gameplay and why he avoids content about himself.
TenZ is one of the most popular Valorant streamers and pro players, and has been associated with the Riot Games FPS ever since its release. With that popularity comes heavy scrutiny from the media and fans alike.
The player’s most recent criticism comes from an over hour-long breakdown of his gameplay, strengths, and flaws from Valorant caster and analyst Josh ‘Sideshow’ Wilkinson. The video goes through what TenZ is good at, where he can improve, and how Sentinels could coach him into becoming the player that he was promised to be at the start of the Valorant esports circuit.
The video has been praised, and derided, by Valorant fans and was on the front page of the competitive Valorant Reddit for some time.
In a recent livestream, a fan asked TenZ if he had seen the video and what he thought about it. The Sentinels player revealed that he had seen the video come across his YouTube feed, but had not watched it.
TenZ explains his ethos on content made about himself
TenZ explained to his viewers that he doesn’t watch content about himself. The player said back in his CS:GO days, reading articles about himself impacted his mood and form.
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“I don’t like watching stuff about myself too often, like in my free time. I try to not click on anything. When I used to play Counter-Strike, I used to read anything and everything about myself and I realized that it would kind of tank my mental… To be honest, I’m not a cocky person nor am I the most confident person, so I can’t take any hits because I get kind of low on myself,” he said.
TenZ has had countless articles and videos made about him over the years. He entered CS:GO as a heralded prodigy then turned to streaming before transitioning to Valorant. In Valorant he has also endured massive highs and lows as a competitor.
He won the first VCT Masters LAN tournament with Sentinels in 2021 and failed to qualify for any international tournaments across the 2022 and 2023 VCT seasons.
TenZ will get the chance to change the narrative around his career when the 2024 season starts as Sentinels look poised to improve on their last VCT Americas campaign with a new IGL.