Sentinels just announced their foray into League of Legends. What many may not know is that this is not their first time in the LCS.
Sentinels announced their entry into VALORANT with a cheeky video. What many may not know, however, is that this is not their first foray onto the title. For SEN, this is not a debut, but a return to the LCS.
Sentinels in League of Legends and LCS 2026
The announcement of SEN's League of Legends foray was made by LCS legend Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng. Will Doublelift be a part of Sentinels' League of Legends team in any capacity? No, not at all.
Their entry comes as 100 Thieves exits the league, and the League of Legends Championship of the Americas (LTA) model is abandoned for the LCS branding.
"We hope to bring our same sense of fun, competitive excellence, and commitment to beating @G2esports to the LCS," Sentinels CEO Rob Moore wrote on X. He also plugged the official SEN LoL X account.
Of course, the Western taunting was not one-way at all. G2 Esports promptly replied.
The banter online may be heating up, but fellow LCS teams were quick to welcome the org.
Shopify Rebellion, particularly their top laner Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami, had access to the infamous SEN chair and welcomed them with a new video. Most of the other LCS teams, and some personalities like Clayton "CaptainFlowers" Raines, were in the original video's replies.
A post by the LCS dictated that Sentinels will "invest in multi-year infrastructure, coaching, and player development to build a roster that blends veteran experience with emerging talent." We do not have any details on the SEN LoL team just yet (apart from Doublelift not being in it), but these details are expected to roll out in the coming months.
A Phoenix reborn
Many may not know this, but Sentinels have been a part of the LCS and the professional League of Legends ecosystem before. Granted, they were not known as Sentinels just yet — rather, they were Phoenix1.
Phoenix1 entered the NA LCS in the 2016 Summer season after acquiring Team Impulse's slot. They were not a competitive team in the region at all, and they also encountered some visa issues. To remedy this, in what may have been foreshadowing, they signed on a substitute jungler: Kevin "Zentinel" Pires.
After an abysmal 2016 season, they rebuilt and brought in two Korean star players. These were mid-laner Ryu "Ryu" Sang-wook and AD carry Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon.
You may know Ryu as the other Zed in the "Faker, what was that?!" play, but he was a stellar player in his own right. Meanwhile, Phoenix1 picked up Arrow straight from KT Rolster.
Phoenix1 also had some other notable names wearing their colors, such as William "Meteos" Hartman and Choi "Pirean" Jun-sik. Unfortunately, the rebuild and prominent names did little to aid Phoenix1's performance, and they were soon relegated. They successfully went through promotions, but their chance at Worlds was already gone. Thus ended the short, less-than-two-year stint for Phoenix1.
Now, as Sentinels, they aim for the LCS trophy and international success once again.
