After a turbulent and murky offseason in which Brazilian VALORANT world champion Bryan “pANcada” Luna spent most of the time on the Sentinels bench, the organization has permitted him on March 7 to freely start exploring options.
While pANcada will remain under Sentinels contract for the time being, he has been told by the organization that he can explore options with any VALORANT team, and Sentinels says it “will not ask for a buyout from any prospective organization to ensure he joins a new team as soon as possible.”
With pANcada seemingly exiting the organization in the near future, this effectively makes Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro the starter, as the previous sixth man has made several starting roster appearances throughout the offseason and VCT Americas. With Zellsis in the starting mix, Sentinels qualified for Masters Madrid while also smashing viewership records for regional VALORANT.
The absence of pANcada from the Sentinels roster has been a major talking point since the start of the offseason, as reported visa issues kept him from competing in several offseason events and the Kickoff tournament. PANcada has also voiced his displeasure with the Sentinels’ sixth-man situation, expressing frustration on the matter back in November and this past month.
The former champion’s time with Sentinels has not been easy since the beginning. Soon after Sacy and pANcada joined the team ahead of the first partnership season, they switched roles, which led to some less-than-ideal results and the eventual departure of the team’s head coach and IGL at the time.
Sentinels will head into Madrid and seemingly the rest of the season with Zellsis in the starting roster alongside TenZ, johnqt, zekken, and Sacy. The status of the team’s sixth man role is currently undetermined at this time.
