Overview
I had the opportunity to attend the Sentinels vs Wolves post match press conference and the Sentinels Lower Bracket Finals Watchparty, leading me to meet the entire roster of Sentinels. This blogpost will be about my experience with everything ^_^
Press Conference: Sentinels vs Wolves
The press conference happened in a designated section across from the entrance of the venue. I lined up with my friend and oomf Ely @elysianami on Twitter when we believed the match would end, watching the rest of the game from in line. We were first in line and thus able to stand directly at the barricade behind the press.
At the press conference, I met bang, N4RRATE, and johnqt. I was unable to meet the rest of the roster until June 21st at the watchparty as Sen had to leave. bang and N4RRATE signed my Masters Toronto cheering poster, and johnqt took a photo with me but was unable to give his signature.
My first impressions of the team:
- johnqt is much more handsome in person sorryyyyy had to get that out of the way sue me
- Zellsis is very kind and connects with the fans on a level that no other member of Sentinels does
- bang and n4rrate are like the polite cats of the team; they are soooo sweet but just slightly aloof/awkward. also n4rrate stole my sharpie but i was able to get it back 😀
- zekken is so much smaller in person. his aura makes him look bigger on camera but he’s tiny. he’s also incredibly busy — buzzing everywhere like a bee if a bee was a world class duelist
I thought I would be able to ask a question to one of the players, so I had prepared a list of questions for each member of Sentinels with the idea that I would ask the player with the least amount of individual questions. Unfortunately, I was unable to do so, but I’ll share the questions I prepared below.
zekken: Throughout the history of Valorant, the duelist meta has shifted and you have proven to excel at many dueling agents. Which duelist do you feel you perform the best on and which duelist do you think you’re least comfortable on?
zellsis: You had many wholesome interactions with SiuFatBB on the stage today and you mentioned that it was a shock. Do you see yourself continuing this trend with other players or is this a kind of relationship reserved exclusively for SiuFat? And will we see a friendship like Sen and Lev with Sen and Wolves?
bang: In your time with Sentinels, you’ve had incredible hero plays just like the 1v4 that finally put Sen on the board today versus Wolves. What was the most memorable clutch that you’ve done for Sentinels?
johnqt: In 2024, Split was considered one of Sentinels’ best maps. With meta shifts, roster changes, and different roles, do you still feel that Split is one of Sen’s strongest maps? Why or why not?
n4rrate: Since you’ve joined Sentinels, you’ve been an incredible asset and incredibly flexible in your role. Which agent or agents do you feel you have the most impact on when it comes to aiding the team, and has it changed since you first joined?
Unfortunately I did not get a chance to ask any questions ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅. I definitely could have asked at the watchparty but I was too shy and they seemed very busy and overwhelmed considering they had so many fans to greet.
Still, it was a very interesting experience to hear the questions being asked and the players answering in person. I noticed that a lot of questions were directed to zekken and zellsis, with only one directed to N4RRATE and none to bang, which was a bit disappointing to me, the self-proclaimed #1 bang truther.
After the press conference, the players came over to the barricade to greet the fans at the front, taking photos and offering autographs. zellsis was gone within a couple minutes so I didn’t meet him since I was in the middle, but johnqt, N4RRATE, and bang went all the way down the line meeting with as many fans as possible. zekken did his best to meet fans, but he also seemed incredibly busy, running back and forth and sheepishly apologizing. In the end, I didn’t get to meet him there, but I didn’t mind too much because he looked very overwhelmed. Luckily, he was one of the players to attend the watchparty!
Sentinels Watchparty + Meet and Greet
Speaking of the watchparty, despite some issues, it was genuinely one of the best fan experiences one could ever ask for. The tickets were available for purchase on the Sentinels website for the Lower Bracket Finals on June 21st and the Grand Finals on June 22nd, and there were two options; the general admission ticket included one ticket and a Sentinels lightstick, and the premium ticket included one ticket and I believe a Sentinels hockey jersey. It was unclear on which players would actually be there, and later we learned that only zekken, Zellsis, and johnqt were there.
I purchased two general admission tickets for the Lower Bracket Finals watchparty for approximately $56 CAD, which to me was a very reasonable price. There was no venue information or details available at the time of purchase, and that did make me anxious, but Sentinels were quick to share details via email when they became available. There was also an issue regarding reservations, but was addressed in a FAQ email later on. Definitely an anxiety inducing experience, but I’m aware that a lot was planned last minute in order to give the best experience to Sentinels fans.
The venue ended up being Real Sports Restaurant, a sports bar with a capacity of up to 900 guests and 200 TVs and located close to the venue. There were booths and tables for larger parties, and the bar for individuals or duos on two floors. The second floor had a separate room for Tarik to stream where he was able to be joined by guests and the players. There was also a small pop-up shop for Sentinels merchandise where ticketholders could pick up their lightsticks.
The match, being Wolves Esports vs FNATIC, was set to begin at 12:00 PM. I arrived at the venue at 11:00 AM to an extremely long line where I ended up waiting an hour and a half just to enter the restaurant. It was a tiring wait, but the three Sen players who were there came down the line and greeted every single fan, offering photos to anyone who wanted them. Zellsis was especially kind, offering autographs even though he wasn’t supposed to, and recording videos for anyone who wanted them. He signed my Masters Toronto cheering poster and thanked me for coming. zekken and johnqt abided by the rules, so they didn’t sign anything, but they took pictures with everyone.
Once I finally got inside, I was seated at the bar, and while it was very nice and cool and I had my drinks and food almost right away, I did lament not having any support for my back throughout the entirety of the match T^T. Though my experience could hardly be tainted, as every Sen fan was so warm and welcoming, and watching with a crowd is much more fun than watching at home alone.
It seemed that the majority of the fans were cheering for Wolves Esports, but I think everyone was just happy regardless of who won, as it was an exciting match all around and FNATIC played incredibly well. It almost felt as if the walls were shaking with screams when Alfajer aced with the marshal on Lotus C site and ended with a knife kill.
After the watchparty ended, tarik, Zellsis, zekken, and johnqt went around to take more pictures and offer signatures. tarik ended up having to leave midway, so we were offered a special gift as compensation for missing him. I have yet to receive the gift, which I believe to be a tarik photocard, as of July 16th (EDIT: it is September 19th and I still have not received the tarik photocard), but I did receive an email from Sentinels telling me it was on the way.
We were told to wait at our tables and the players would come around, but after waiting nearly two hours because people were lining up and surrounding them anyway, we ended up having to go to them. In this manner, we met johnqt who signed my Masters Toronto cheering poster and zellsis, but were unable to find zekken, who was once again occupied with something else ;-;
But luckily as we were waiting for a friend outside of the venue, we happened to run into Zellsis and zekken and I was finally able to get his signature on my cheering poster! The picture is pinned on my Twitter profile (@tsuzerra).
I’m forever grateful for Sentinels for the amazing experience, and I highly recommend anyone to attend a watchparty if they like VCTs, especially one hosted by an org. I truly think Sentinels is an organization that genuinely cares so much about their fans, and I’ve never felt more lucky to be a fan of such an amazing team.
the defuse 
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