Sentinels removes Kaplan amid roster conflicts, Ewok steps in as head coach

Sentinels has announced the departure of its head coach Adam ‘kaplan’ Kaplan following the organisation’s winless run at 2026 VCT Kickoff Americas.

The move was made due to conflicts over his roster decisions for this season. As a result, he will be replaced with Martin ‘Ewok’ van der Walt ahead of Stage 1. 

Moreover, Amine ‘johnqt’ Ouarid will be taking over the IGL role once again. Sentinels’ CEO Rob Moore has also revealed that there will most likely be two additional roster changes, with trials starting on Tuesday.

“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,” said Rob Moore in the press release.

“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.”

With kaplan becoming a free agent, here is the updated Sentinels VALORANT roster:

Prior to joining Sentinels, Ewok spent three years as RRQ’s Head Coach in VCT Pacific and helped the team lift the Stage 1 trophy and finish second in Stage 2 in 2025. 

“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,” Moore added.

Speaking on Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik’s stream, Rob Moore explained that there were two main reasons behind Kaplan’s removal. According to him, the American head coach wanted to remove johnqt from the IGL role, something the player never wanted, and shift Zachary ‘zekken‘ Patrone away from the duelist position.

Sentinels didn’t agree with these changes; however, due to the contractual terms in place, Kaplan ultimately had the final say over roster decisions. Moore shared that the organisation will not grant that level of authority to any head coach moving forward. 

“Kaplan went to six of seven internationals with Zekken as his duelist and johnqt as his IGL. So, when Kaplan came back from [Champions] Paris, his solution to how the season ended, was to replace Zekken as the duelist and johnqt as the IGL. That was not something we agreed with,” he said.

He further revealed that the players themselves agreed that the team needed changes and that they were not on the path to winning international VCT events. 

Finally, moving forward, Marshall ‘N4RRATE’ Massey will no longer be the team’s primary duelist. The role will either be taken over by Yassin ‘reduxx’ Aboulalazm or the organisation may sign a new duelist. 

Rob Moore explained that due to the roster’s performance at Kickoff, Sentinels will most likely miss out on Champions Shanghai. The organisation failed to secure any Championship Points at the event, leaving it far behind other teams.

“To get to a place where you can qualify on points from where we are right now is so hard that we’re probably going to have to come in top two to make Champions. There is a real chance we miss out on Champions this year,” Moore stated.

Hence, the focus has shifted toward building a high-class roster for the 2027 VCT season. Moore shared that if the team doesn’t qualify for the first Masters event of next year, the new changes will be considered a failure. 

Sentinels’ new roster will step on stage during VCT Americas Stage 1, beginning on April 10th. Fans will be able to catch the action live on VCT’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.