Ewok set to lead Morocco as VALORANT Head Coach for ENC 2026

After appointing Jonas "Memento" Elmarghichi as head coach for League of Legends, Morocco now appears set to bring in Martin "Ewok" van der Walt for the same role in VALORANT as part of the Esports Nations Cup, the tournament organizers announced on Thursday. Originally from South Africa, he is expected to represent the North African country, which is allowed under the competition’s rules, as is also the case for Mexico with their Guatemalan coach Jorge "Atom" Noriega.

Ewok first made his mark as a coach in the Pacific region, starting his career with ONIC Esports before joining Rex Regum Qeon at the end of 2022. He spent nearly three years as head coach of the Indonesian organization in VCT Pacific, with 2025 marking his most successful season, highlighted by a Stage 1 title, as well as qualifications for Masters Toronto and Champions Paris. The South African coach then moved regions in 2026, heading to North America to join Sentinels after being released by RRQ at the end of the year. Following a difficult Kickoff, the North American organization opted to revamp its coaching staff and brought in Ewok for the remainder of the season.

On the player side, Morocco already seems to have a clear plan in place. The choice of Ewok is likely tied to Amine "johnqt" Ouarid, the current in-game leader of Sentinels in VCT Americas, who is expected to have called on his current coach to take the role for his national team. In a recent interview with Sheep Esports, the Moroccan player confirmed his intention to represent the country: “I will be the team captain, leading the Moroccan team for VALORANT.” He also expressed his desire to bring in Yassin "reduxx" Aboulalazm, who is American but also eligible to represent Morocco through one of his parents.

Scheduled from November 2 to 29 for its inaugural edition in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the nation-based competition, set to be the largest in esports history, is expected to bring together thousands of players from around a hundred countries, competing across nearly 16 titles. Alongside the VALORANT tournament, which will take place from November 8 to 15, national team competitions will also be held in Counter-Strike, Rocket League, and Rainbow Six Siege. For Riot Games’ FPS, around 32 teams, each representing a nation, will compete on site.

Before that, participants must first be determined. The Esports Foundation, which oversees both the ENC and the Esports World Cup, has decided that 16 of the 32 teams will qualify directly for the main event based on their representatives’ results within Riot Games’ official circuits. The remaining teams will have to go through one of seven regional qualifiers, each granting two spots. The final two slots are expected to be distributed as wildcards by the ENC, likely at the discretion of the event organizer.