From sixth man to bundle salesman to being the vocal leader of a Masters-winning VALORANT roster; there are few players that have had as prolific a start to the 2024 season as Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro. But his true value to Sentinels comes from more than just his in-game prowess.
In Sentinels’ most recent comms video, part of the unSENsored series, there are over 40 minutes of in-game comms between the players and coaches. And throughout this video, there are several instances where Zellsis is either making an important call or keeping the team’s mental strong.
Sometimes these calls are just small but important reminders, like telling his two living teammates not to line up in a 2v1 scenario, calming the team down when the callouts get just a bit too frantic, or calling on players to get hype to bring the energy up. In certain instances in particular, he calls on specific players like Sacy or TenZ to get hype, rather than just making a general request for hype that could more easily be ignored.
In bigger moments, he’s bringing team spirits up in critical junctions, like after the team’s close loss on Icebox during the series versus LOUD, or after their loss to Gen.G in playoffs. Back on Icebox in the grand finals, in the decisive fifth map against Gen.G, he delivered more energy his hype up moments, had his best individual VALORANT game of the tournament, and prioritized keeping the team calm in the final round.
Sentinels coach kaplan spent ample time during Masters Madrid praising Zellsis for his ability to raise the team’s morale when it’s needed. “It makes my life easy because I don’t have to try hard to pick us up between maps,” kaplan said during a press conference. “I’ve never seen anything like it. [He’s] the vibes merchant, an insane marketer, and a really good player. But his intangibles still don’t get appreciated enough.”
“Everyone does a great job, but [Zellsis] really leads at holding everyone accountable,” kaplan continued. “He’s not afraid to call anyone out or call the team out on things we need to do better, and simultaneously he’s able to say ‘let’s keeping moving forward’ when we’re getting frustrated. He puts so much effort into the team atmosphere and how people are feeling, and [he] really brings anyone back when they start to slip. We would not be here without him.”
Zellsis and Sentinels are back in action at VCT Americas on April 7, versus 100 Thieves.
