Prior to the Sentinels’ NA VCT Last Chance Qualifiers, Shroud joined the VALORANT team.

He wasn’t playing a joke; it’s true. Michael “shroud” Grzesiek is making a comeback to competitive play after taking some time off. The former support and rifler for Cloud9’s CS:GO team will now be making his living playing the game VALORANT, which he has been actively streaming since its release in 2020. He will start for Sentinels, the VCT Stage 2 Masters champions, which caught the VALORANT community by complete surprise.

While many in the community were initially skeptical, the official Twitter page for Sentinels has since pinned it to the top of their feed, which is enough confirmation to say that it did happen. The announcement first came via Twitter with a straightforward video that introduced Shroud with the line, “I’m back baby.”

The official Sentinels twitter page had this to say:

Sentinels

@Sentinels

“The legend returns, and he’s here to win

@shroud joins the Sentinels Valorant roster”

For a chance to advance to VALORANT Champions in September, Shroud will be on the roster competing in the North America VCT Last Chance Qualifiers. The controller position will be assumed by Shroud, however it is unclear who he will succeed. Sentinels have generally struggled to match their performance from the previous season, and as a result, they have fallen in the standings this year.

After a five-year absence during which he rose to prominence as one of Twitch.top TV’s streamers, Shroud will be making his professional debut at this event. His most recent significant engagement was with Cloud9, where he played competitive CS:GO from 2014 until 2017. Although he has never participated in a professional VALORANT circuit, he still has a ton of experience playing the game.

The official Sentinels twitter page had this to say:

Sentinels

@Sentinels

“oh it’s real alright”

The Sentinels roster, which now lacks a seasoned veteran who can lead the squad to greatness, will also be happy to have him on it. Even though Shroud didn’t win it all while playing CS:GO, he has a ton of experience. This should improve the team’s prospects before the NA LCQ, for which they will also be boot-camping.

Ten teams from the area will compete in the NA LCQ beginning in August for the final chance to go to the VCT Champions in Istanbul, Turkey.

Sentinels lineup:

• (USA) Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan
• (USA) Hunter “SicK-” Mims
• (USA) Michael “dapr” Gulino
• (Canada) Tyson “TenZ” Ngo
• (USA) Eric “Kanpeki” Xu
• (Canada) Mike “shroud” Grzesiek