Tyson Van Ngo (born May 5, 2001), better known as TenZ (/ˈtɛnz/), is a Canadian professional Valorant player for Sentinels. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Valorant players of all time.[3][4][5]
TenZ | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 TenZ in November 2023 | ||||||||||
| Born | Tyson Van Ngo May 5, 2001 British Columbia, Canada | |||||||||
| Occupation |
| |||||||||
| Years active | 2019–present | |||||||||
| Partner | kyedae (e. 2019) | |||||||||
| Current team | ||||||||||
| Team | Sentinels | |||||||||
| Role |
| |||||||||
| Game | Valorant | |||||||||
| Team history | ||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Cloud9 (CS:GO) | |||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Cloud9 (Valorant) | |||||||||
| 2021–present | Sentinels (Valorant) | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Twitch information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Followers | 3.8 million[1] | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Subscribers | 2 million[2] | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
Last updated: October 28, 2023 | ||||||||||
He began his esports career in October 2019 as a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player for Cloud9. In April 2020, he transitioned to Valorant, playing for Cloud9. He took a break from professional Valorant in January 2021 to focus on a career in content creation, and in April 2021, he was loaned to Sentinels. He went on to win the VCT Stage Two Masters in Reykjavík later that year. In June 2021, his Cloud9 contract was bought out by Sentinels.
Career
TenZ's professional career began in October 2019 when, at the age of 18, he joined the Cloud9 team in the first-person shooter title, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). His entry into Cloud9 marked him as one of the youngest players in the professional esports scene at that time.[6] However, in April 2020, following the public beta release of Riot Games' first-person shooter Valorant, TenZ announced his decision to retire from CS:GO and opted to transition into Valorant, thereby becoming Cloud9's first professional player in the title.[7][8]
In January 2021, TenZ announced his departure from professional Valorant focus on a career in content creation.[9] However, his hiatus was short-lived, as Cloud9 agreed to loan TenZ to Sentinels in April 2021, following the suspension of Sentinels player Sinatraa.[10] During the first two stages of the 2021 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT), TenZ competed remotely from Canada. Sentinels went on to win the first international Valorant tournament, the VCT Stage Two Masters Reykjavík after sweeping Fnatic in the grand finals by a score of 3–0. TenZ was named the grand finals most valuable player.[11] On June 2, 2021, Sentinels bought out TenZ's contract, reported to be valued between US$1.25 to $1.5 million.[12][13]
On April 18, 2023, Sentinels head coach Adam Kaplan announced that TenZ would be temporarily benched due to illness and a hand injury.[14]
On March 24, 2024, TenZ helped Sentinels to their second international trophy, winning the 2024 VCT Masters Madrid, becoming the second-ever Valorant player to win two Masters trophies after Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov did so with Gambit and Fnatic.[15]
Personal life
Ngo, born on May 5, 2001,[16] is from Vancouver Island and is of Vietnamese and French descent.[1] He lived in Canada before moving to Los Angeles in January 2022.[11]
Ngo is currently engaged to Kyedae Shymko, a content creator. The couple announced their engagement in August 2022.[17][16]
Ngo stated in an interview that he had ADHD, but he did not fully address the disorder until he took a break from competitive Valorant.[18]
Ngo also revealed in a video published on the official Sentinels YouTube channel that he is protanomaly colorblind, and as a result uses yellow instead of red as his enemy highlight color in Valorant.[19]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The Game Awards | Best Esports Athlete | Nominated | [20] |
| Esports Awards | Esports PC Player of the Year | Nominated | [21] | |
| Esports PC Rookie of the Year | Nominated | |||
| 2022 | The Streamer Awards | Best FPS Streamer | Nominated | [22] |
| 2023 | Gamer of the Year | Won | [23] | |
| 2024 | Best FPS Streamer | Nominated | [24] |