Currently, Zellsis is officially the team's substitute. After recent events over the past few weeks, this could soon change to the detriment of pANcada. Is this a wise decision by the Sentinels' coach?
During the off-season, Sentinels appear to be exploring different options with both Bryan "pANcada" Luna and Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro. There are rumors that pANcada might soon take Zellsis' substitute position, while Zellsis might join the official roster for VCT 2024. Some also think pANcada could go back to a South American team.
Valorant: Who Ends Up Taking The Controller Role For Sentinels?
At first, there was pANcada's poor performance in the 5k-Bounty-Showmatch where they lost to a tier 2 team.
Then, there were rumors that Sentinels were scrimming with Zellsis instead of him.
During the Sentinels-Invitational-Showmatches, Zellsis often subbed in for pANcada, who was sick and it's worth noting that the matches went really well. Zellsis, usually versatile, focused on playing pANcada's main role as a smoker. This, of course, makes us wonder: Is the coach, Adam Kaplan getting Zellsis ready to take over pANcada's spot permanently?
In any case, in the Tarik Showmatch, pANcada played not on his own team but with the streamer team against Sentinels. Recently, Sentinels also practiced for the Afreeca TV League without the main-smoker.
New: Sentinels begin practice for Afreeca TV League without pANcada Zellsis continues to play alongside the rest of the squad as their roster stays in question. pic.twitter.com/YUlIXSFc4m
— james (@jamesff_vlr) November 17, 2023
PANcada seems unhappy about the situation. Well, who wants to be suddenly demoted to the sidelines, right? One of his most-recent Twitter posts reads: "What is all the aim for, if I don't even play?"
pra que essa mira toda se nem jogo pic.twitter.com/d5Y2Cg3rkp
— SEN pANcada (@pANcada) November 18, 2023
The opinions are divided, but most view these constant changes critically since, ideally, a team should play together for a long time to develop chemistry and perform well. Additionally, Pancada already has experience playing with Sentinels player Sacy, as both were previously playing with LOUD.
Not to forget, pANcada was recruited for his reputation as one of the best controller players and clutch masters. If Zellsis replaces Pancada in the official Sentinels roster for VCT and the team struggles, Kaplan will likely face a lot of criticism.