Jared “zombs” Gitlin is “stepping down” from the active Sentinels VALORANT roster, the organization announced today.
Zombs will move to the inactive roster ahead of a potential transfer or move to content creation. The 23-year-old was a part of the original core of players who joined Sentinels when the organization entered VALORANT in late April 2020, with only Hunter “SicK” Mims and Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan now remaining (Michael “dapr” Gulino joined just over a month later).
The primary controller player and former Apex and Overwatch pro had been a consistent feature of Sentinels’ wildly successful 2021 campaign that included wins at NA Masters One and Masters Two Reykjavík, a playoffs appearance at Masters Three Berlin, and a berth to VCT Champions 2021. The start to the team’s 2022 campaign, however, has been somewhat lackluster, with a 3-2 record in the group stage of NA VCT Challengers One and an early exit in the playoffs that resulted in them missing an international event for the first time.
The team has been practicing without zombs during recent weeks, with former player Jay “sinatraa” Won being discussed as a potential replacement. But Sentinels is instead reportedly in discussions to sign Eric “Kanpeki” Xu away from the Akrew roster.
Kanpeki’s name has been listed under the Sentinels’ team registration page for the upcoming open qualifiers for NA VCT Challengers Stage Two. He would join ShahZaM, SicK, dapr, and Tyson “TenZ” Ngo for the first qualifier set to begin on April 28. The team currently has manager Kevin “Kez” Jeon listed as a coach, but the team has also said publicly that they’re looking for a proper coach to fill that spot full-time.
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