Sentinels Looking To Sign Kanpeki

According to recent reports, Sentinels is looking to sign Eric “Kanpeki” Xu to its Valorant esports division. If the reports are confirmed, Kanpeki would be the first new signing Sentinels will make since June 2021.

Recent rumors revealed that Sentinels are nearing the signing of Kanpeki, who will supposedly take over for Jared “zombs” Gitlin. Even though Sentinels have yet to announce or hint at Kanpeki signing, the move seems like it’s bout to happen soon.

According to recent reports, Kanpeki has been practicing with Sentinels for days now as a replacement for zombs. Moreover, Sentinels are reportedly in discussion with Kanpeki’s current team, and while the two parties are still in the early stages, the deal is expected to come through in just a few days.

If, however, the move does not come through, Sentinels are expected to continue with zombs. Beyond that, the future of While Jay “Sinatraa” Won remains uncertain, as he is likely not re-joining Sentinels now.

Interestingly, according to reputable sources, Sinatraa was practicing with Sentinels last week. Besides that, we don’t have much information about Sinatraa and how he did during trials now whether Sentinels are prepared to re-sign him.

Sinatra has been out of professional Valorant since September 2021, when he received a ban due to allegations of sexual assault. Just recently, Sinatraa has announced his intentions to return to pro play while expressing his desire to return to Sentinels.

But given the community’s backlash after the fans have learned that Sinatraa could return to pro play, it’s likely that Sentinels decided not to re-sign him.

Kanpeki is a 24-year-old Valorant pro player who started his professional career in April 2020 with Spot Up. He has been since competing in some lesser tournaments with several stacks before permanently joining Spot Up in August.

With Spot Up, Kanpeki has enjoyed reasonable success in C-Tier events and various qualifiers. But unfortunately, Spot Up never achieved any notable success in the bigger events. Kanpeki left Spot Up in March 2020, following a failed run through GLG – VAL-AM Able Esports Qualifier and a disappointing showing at VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Challengers 3 – Qualifier.

The 24-year-old has since appeared in a few smaller tournaments. In June, he joined EZ5, the core of which got picked up by Akrew in August 2021.

Since August, Kanpeki has been competing with Akrew, a team he helped win NSG: Winter Championship – Open 6, 8, and 9, as well as Knights Arena Monthly Gauntlet – December.

Akrew also won the NSG: Winter Championship – Philadelphia at the start of the year but couldn’t show up in VCT Stage 1 Challengers. They placed fifth-eighth in the first and seventh-eighth in the second open qualifier.

After failing to qualify for the NA VCT, Akrew placed topo-four at NSG: Winter Championship but could only manage a top-eight place at Proving Grounds $20k – Spring 2022 and the NSG: Summer Championship – Open 1.

But despite Akrew’s lack of any notable achievements, Kanpeki has been a standout player for the team. And it seems like his individual performances have caught the attention of Sentinels, who are in dire need of a roster change.

By adding Kanpeki, Sentinels will make some much-needed changes to their Valorant roster, hoping the change will help the team bounce back from a poor start6 to the season. Once the most dominant team in the Valorant esports scene, Sentinels have been only a shadow of their former selves of late.

Most notably, Sentinels crashed out of VCT 2021: Stage 3 Masters – Berlin in fifth-eighth and could only manage a ninth-12th at the VALORANT Champions 2021. This year, Sentinels produced a humiliating showing at VCT 2022: North America Stage 1 Challengers, where they placed seventh-eighth.

Still, Sentinels will have a chance to redeem themselves in the VCT Stage 2 Challengers, set to kick off on April 28.