Sentinels have signed Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek to their VALORANT roster, as the organization announced on Friday.
Shroud will play in the VALORANT Champions Tour Last Chance Qualifier and, should they make it, at Champions as well, according to sources to Dot Esports’ George Geddes. Shroud retired from competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2018, and has been one of the largest streamers in the genre ever since. The community is flabbergasted at the news, but it does seem to be real despite some initial doubts.
The legend returns, and he's here to win@shroud joins the Sentinels Valorant roster pic.twitter.com/VaIYTeR2nq
— Sentinels (@Sentinels) July 8, 2022
Shroud enters professional VALORANT with Sentinels
On July 1, Sentinels player Michael “dapr” Gulino tweeted to “expect the unexpected”. Following that, on July 6, in-game leader Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan tweeted the same thing, but no one managed to figure out who or what the cryptic messages were alluding to.
expect the unexpected
— dapr (@dapr) July 1, 2022
Then, on July 8, a simple tweet by the Sentinels account announced Shroud as a Sentinels player; no other information was provided. According to George Geddes, Shroud will be filling the controller role on the team. Shroud has no previous professional VALORANT experience, but is a known enthusiast of the game and has hosted various official watch parties for previous VCT streams.
Sentinels is looking to reclaim their former glory after a series of disappointing results following a strong start at VCT 2021 Masters 2; most recently, Sentinels failed to qualify for VCT Stage 1 and Stage 2 masters. Their season seemed to be over after their failure in Stage 2, but NRG’s victory over Ghost Gaming gave them the edge for the spot in the Last Chance Qualifier.
The North American LCQ is set to be held in August. Only the winner of that tournament will make it to Champions, however, so the road is steep. But, if we are to expect the unexpected, then Sentinels making it to Champions certainly fits that bill.
Published: Jul 8, 2022 05:11 pm