Sentinels signs zekken as its newest member, getting the former XSET prodigy to their roster while the rest of Sentinels remain shaky.
The beginning of a new era@zekkenVAL has arrived pic.twitter.com/O10QeJJyCt
— Sentinels (@Sentinels) October 5, 2022
VALORANT franchised pro team Sentinels announced today that they are signing Zachary “zekken” Patrone to become part of their 2023 active roster. Most recently, zekken helped his former team XSET finish joint 5th-6th in VALORANT Champions. His former team was involved in the controversial last round reset ruled by Riot that resulted from a Killjoy bug.
To some, this comes as no surprise. XSET has released its entire roster following its failure to secure franchise status from Riot Games for the VALORANT Champions Tour 2023 season. Sentinels quickly picked up XSET's former coach Don “SyykoNT” Muir, and it was revealed that Sentinels' coaching staff has the primary influence on who will be part of the team's 2023 roster. Picking up XSET's prodigy was therefore an easy-to-predict move.
However, to many, this move was indeed a surprise. This was the case for no less than Sentinels' own in-game leader Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan, who appeared to have only found out about his departure from the team while streaming live on Twitch, after Dot Esports writer George Geddes leaked the roster changes through an article ahead of official announcements made by the organization.
Sentinels CEO Rob Moore clarified on Twitter that he has made it clear to ShahZam that he has no contract with the team for the next season, and that the coaches would be the ones deciding the new roster. He further stated that when ShahZam talked with the coaches, no contracts were offered, insinuating that it should have clued the player in on his status with the team. Still, ShahZam expressed his disappointment with the alleged lack of communication, stating that he has been in the dark about the recent movements of Sentinels.
As for Sentinels' final roster, it is still missing a few pieces. Riot Games expressly required franchised teams to field exactly six players for their 2023 roster. As of press time, zekken is the only confirmed member of the roster for the 2023 roster. Players dapr and TenZ, and it should be reasonable to assume that the two will still play for Sentinels next year. Based on comments made by him during the Champions Golden Carpet, it's unlikely that we'll see shroud again with this team next year.
Meanwhile, Geddes' report also says that XSET's former in-game leader Rory “dephh” Jackson is set to join Sentinels, replacing ShahZam. With these four players, alongside Head Coach SykkoNT and Strategic Coach kaplan, Sentinels is still missing two more players to complete its 2023 roster.
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