Sentinels‘ shroud says he’s at only 50% of his peak ability in Valorant

Declan Mclaughlin
Sentinels shroud before his official debut

Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek has said that he is still a long way away from his peak level in Valorant and apologized to Sentinels’ fans for his performance against 100 Thieves.

Sentinels’ run in the North American VCT last-chance qualifier came to an end on August 11 after the team lost to 100 Thieves in a close lower-bracket series that went the distance.

shroud, who joined Sentinels ahead of the tournament, played a more supportive role in the qualifier but helped bring stability to a team that had been in disarray since the start of the year.

After Sentinels’ elimination from the qualifier, shroud conceded that he is not anywhere close to the peak level that he showed while competing in Counter-Strike.

“I would say it’s like 50 [percent],” shroud told Dexerto when asked how close to his peak performance he was in the tournament.

shroud attributed his performance level to the lack of preparation time (about three weeks bootcamping and competing in the tournament), and said that he could have done better in the tournament.

shroud specifically pointed to the last series against 100 Thieves as a match in which he could have played better and apologized to fans for his poor performance in the elimination matchup.

“I feel like it’s not as well as I could have played,” he said. “Obviously, I had a strong showing in the second best-of-three, a pretty poor one in this last one, so I just want to apologize for that.”

shroud’s fans will hope that, once he has had more time to acclimatize to the high level of professional play, he will return to the heights that he hit during his time with Cloud9’s CS:GO team.

As Riot Games continues to interview organizations for its 2023 partnership program, shroud has indicated that he is open to continuing to play Valorant professionally if the American league is based in Los Angeles, where he lives. He has also indicated that he could remain with Sentinels if they are accepted into the program.

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About The Author

Based in Indiana, Declan McLaughlin is an esports reporter for Dexerto Esports covering Valorant, LoL and anything else that pops up. Previously an editor and reporter at Upcomer, Declan is often found reading investigative stories or trying to do investigations himself. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University. You can contact him at declan.mclaughlin@dexerto.com.