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The 2024 VCT Americas season is now underway, and the top VALORANT teams are looking to maximize the potential of their roster. Cloud9 is one of the teams looking to get more from its roster and it has already released a player.
This team has played just three regular season matches, but they have seen enough to make the decision to release Maxim “wippie” Shepelev. It was a short stint on this roster for Shepelev as he was signed just six months ago by the team.
Things never seemed to work out in this new relationship, and the decision seemed to a bit mutual. Shepelev released a statement expressing his frustrations about his tenure, and also that he plans to return to action soon.
It has been a very slow start to the season for C9 as they have gone just 2-5 over the last seven matches with him on the roster. His signing was celebrated when the team brought him in, bu there just wasn’t enough success to continue with him on the roster.
This team is starting to get a reputation as one that is quick to remove players from the roster, and that’s not something that they want to be known for. Cloud9 is not going to be playing at the Masters in Madrid, and that will give them more time to fill this open roster spot.
It’s unclear which direction the team is going to go moving forward, but there will be some chances to give other players a chance to make an impact. Practice sessions will be held before the team returns to the big stage in April.
Sentinels Letting “pANcada” Walk
Cloud9 isn’t the only team that will be playing with some new players when they return to action as Team Sentinels will be in a similar position. This time the team didn’t cut a player, but they are letting Bryan “pANcada” Luna meet with other teams to potentially find a new home.
Luna joined Team Sentinels after winning a world championship in Brazil, and he was expected to be a huge part of this team moving forward. This was another situation in which there wasn’t much individual or team success and a change simply had to be made.
In order to make this process smoother for Luna, The Sentinels are not going to seek a buyout if he is able to find a new home. That is extremely important as it will allow for more teams to be interested in the former world champion.
There were more issues at stake here beyond the poor play as Visa issues kept him from competing in many of the early events. “PANcada” was not happy that he was coming off of the bench in many of the matches, but that will no longer be of his concern moving forward.
Sentinels Make a Signing
Team Sentinels didn’t have the option of waiting around for months in order to make a new signing as this team will be heading to Madrid. Not only will this team be competing in Madrid, but they are going to be one of the favorites to have some success.
This team actually made a move to sign a former player from Cloud 9 as Rahul “Curry” Nemani has agreed to join the team. Team Sentinels have already announced their new starting lineup moving forward, and so Nemani will be used as the sixth man.
“Curry” has plenty of experience in the world of esports as he was once a member of T1. He also spent some time playing Counter-Strike, and he has played on some highly competitive teams throughout his esports career.