Who is TenZ?
TenZ is a Canadian Valorant pro-player and streamer who is active on Twitch, YouTube, Instagram and other social platforms. His real name is Tyson Ngo, and he was born on 5 May 2001 in Vancouver Island. He is known for streaming games and posting gaming content on his social media.
Early life of TenZ
While other people usually discovered online games during middle or high school, Tyson was ahead of most people. He was introduced to CS: GO by his uncle when he was just 3 years old, and soon it became his favourite hobby. When he reached his teenage years, Tyson was already one of the best amateur players in North America, spending his time killing every other player in sight. When he was just 15 years old, he was invited to his first pro tournament.
Since he was still quite young and the tournament took place in Philadelphia, Tyson needed permission from his mom. Tyson was nervous to ask her, so he sent one of his teammates to put in a good word for him. His teammate went to his mom and told her that Tyson had a future in gaming because he was one of the best players he knew. That’s how Tyson became one of the youngest pro players.
TenZ at Cloud9
Pro CS: GO teams started reaching out to Tyson before he even graduated high school. He was already known as a promising future pro player, and esports teams were ahead of each other, trying to recruit Tyson to their team. Tyson himself couldn’t wait to leave school and see what was waiting for him, but he knew that he needed to graduate first. Just three days after his successful graduation, Tyson hopped on the first plane to Los Angeles, excited to join his first pro-CS: GO team: Cloud9.
At the time, Cloud9 was one of the most prestigious teams in the main CS: GO league, and they decided to take a chance with Tyson. Even though he was already known for his inhuman aim and incredible reaction time, hiring someone so young was always a risk. After all, Tyson was just 18 years old at the time. For him, Cloud9 was a dream team because of its legacy, its fans and overall background.
Early career of TenZ
While he was thrilled to be part of one of the best teams in SC: GO, Tyson had to do some adjusting at first. While he was already comfortable in front of a camera, he wasn’t used to playing next to his teammates. Tyson was comfortable playing alone in his room, talking with his teammates through the screen. Once he started training with his new team, he was anxious from all the sudden noise that he wasn’t used to. His other issue was that Tyson was used to the sniped position, but Cloud9 already had a proven sniped when they hired him. Since he had to play in other positions, Tyson often underperformed during his first few matches, which was bad for him as well as his team.
Why did TenZ leave CS: GO?
Before he could even prove himself, Tyson got stuck in a position he didn’t like. This led him to unintentionally sabotage his team and himself in the process. Cloud9 fans didn’t let it slip and began dragging him through the internet, convinced that he was a bad player. Unfortunately, the team didn’t stand by him either and decided to bench him instead. But even then, people were still bad-mouthing him, which made Tyson distance himself from the game altogether. Because of all those reasons, Tyson decided to leave pro gaming and focus solely on streaming.
TenZ on social media
Instead of trying to prove himself to Cloud9 fans, Tyson got back to online streaming, which was his long-time passion. Tyson joined YouTube and Twitch in 2015 when he was just 13 years old and immediately reached the targeted audience. Whether he was streaming or just posting his streams’ highlights, people loved to watch him play. Even though he was one of the best players, people didn’t watch his streams for professional advice. They watched him for his relatable comments and easy-going personality, which shined through every setback.
Over the years, Tyson found millions of loyal fans who supported him and laughed alongside him. Besides his great personality, Tyson won his fans over by posting videos regularly and focusing on funny edits. His most popular video on YouTube is What 1000 Hours of aim-botz looks like, with over 6,1 million views. Because of his platforms and fans, Tyson always had a place to come back to when some opportunity blew up in his face. He was nominated for several steamer awards but succeeded only in 2023 as a Gamer of the year.
TenZ and Valorant
While Tyson was happily streaming CS: GO and doing what he knew, an opportunity presented itself as a new game. Being so similar yet so different from CS: GO, Valorant dazzled Tyson as it had many other players. Tyson got into the beta testing and immediately knew that he loved the game. Once the game was officially released, Tyson started trying to hit the best rank as soon as possible. After a short time, he actually made it and officially became one of the best Valorant players in the United States. Since he became a superstar in the game, Cloud9 appreciated him once more and offered him a place in their new Valorant team, which Tyson gladly accepted.
Even though he performed better than ever and hit every possible target, Tyson didn’t have the power to bring Cloud9 a win. They were always falling short and regretting their results. At the start of 2021, Tyson made a shocking decision to step down from pro Valorant gaming and focus on content creation again. It was the best time of his career when thousands and soon millions of fans came to Tyson’s streams, cheering on him. Tyson kept proving that he had a league of his own, but he never bragged.
TenZ and Sentinels
Even though he visibly enjoyed casually streaming, his fans waited for his return to pro gaming. But there was an issue with his team: Cloud9 wasn’t performing nearly as well as Tyson himself. In April 2021, a player from the Sentinels team was suspended because of sexual assault allegations, which created an opening. After some negotiations, Cloud9 agreed to loan Tyson to Sentinels, which talked Tyson into joining pro gaming again. Even though they were happy to see him joining pro gaming, people were worried if he could stand up against the best players in North America. But after the first few matches, it turned out that Tyson was the best possible choice.
Sentinels, with Tyson on their team, kept winning every match during the first three months, and it all looked promising. Eventually, they beat the Fnatic team in Reykjavík and won the first-ever international LAN tournament in Valorant’s history. In the middle of 2021, Sentinels made a deal with Cloud9 and bought Tyson’s contract away from them.
Interesting facts about TenZ
- As of 2023, he is 21 years old.
- His zodiac sign is Taurus.
- His height is 5’8’’ or 175 cm.
- He is half Vietnamese and half French.
- He attended his first LAN tournament at 15 years old.
- He was recruited by Cloud9 for their CS: GO team.
- In 2021, his contract was bought by Sentinels, who recruited him for their Valorant team.
- He has been engaged to Kyedae since 2022.
- He started streaming when he was just 13 years old.
- He has over 3,3 million followers on Twitch, with an additional 1,6 million subscribers on YouTube.
- His most popular video on YouTube is What 1000 Hours of aim-botz looks like, with over 6,1 million views.
- In 2023, he won the Streamy Awards as a Gamer of the Year.
- As of 2023, his net worth is estimated to be over 1,5 million US dollars.
