Shroud Returns to Competitive Esports With Sentinels' Valorant Lineup

Four years after Michael “shroud” Grzesiek retired from competitive esports, CS:GO legend Shroud is making his return to competitive FPS with Valorant. The player will be joining North American Valorant team Sentinels ahead of its upcoming run at the North American Valorant Champions Tour 2022 (VCT 2022) Last Chance Qualifier. Sentinels announced shroud’s addition to the roster with a short video posted on its social media handles.

Shroud to reportedly take up the controller role in Sentinels’ Valorant lineup

On his livestream on Twitch, shroud confirmed that he is “filling for the LCQ” as the controller and that Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan will continue to play as the IGL of Sentinels. He also confirmed that a bootcamp with the team is in the works.

While no official announcement has been made on whom he would be standing in for at the LCQ, it is likely that shroud will be replacing Hunter “SicK” Mims who has been struggling with mental health issues and was the de facto player in the controller role for Sentinels’ Valorant lineup.

“At first everybody thought I was trolling,” said Shroud, speaking about his return to competitive esports with Sentinels. “When we threw my name into the bucket of the players that they can use as a fifth, everybody thought I was trolling. Everybody… the players, the owner, everybody. They still might, who knows? You guys probably think it is a troll too.”

He detailed that the move was conceptualized over dinner. He said, “Yoni [Ginsberg - Talent Strategist] from Loaded said hey can I throw your name in the bucket of Sentinels for the LCQ as their fifth. And I said yeah.”

Shroud stated that he was prepared to bootcamp with the team and work hard ahead of the LCQs. “I am not going to half-ass, that’s gonna be dumb. That would just be a shitty move for me and for the team,” he said.

The player also confirmed that this move was just for the LCQ and that even if they win it and go all the way, both parties would have a conversation before making a decision on whether he continues to play on the team for the VCT Masters event.

Shroud retired from competitive CS:GO in 2017, after an illustrious career which includes a win at the ESL Pro League Season 4 - Finals and a runner-up finish at ESL One: Cologne 2017. His popularity truly exploded with his Twitch stream as he soared over 114 thousand subscribers at his peak.

This resulted in him securing a massive exclusive streaming contract from Microsoft backed Mixer in October 2019. However, he made his way back to Twitch after Mixer folded.

Although the player has not competed in professional Valorant, he regularly streams his pub games and often casts VCT matches which surpass the streaming numbers put up by Riot's official streams.