Shroud’s long-awaited VALORANT pro debut ends in defeat as The Guard take down Sentinels

It’s been over four years since former CS:GO player turned streamer Shroud competed in a professional esports competition. Over 1,569 days, to be exact. On his VALORANT debut, the Canadian was defeated as his team Sentinels was taken down by The Guard 2-1 in the first round of the NA last chance qualifier.

Shroud is known as one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, even prior to his retirement from Counter-Strike in 2018, he was garnering plenty of viewers.

The streamer hit new heights with his newfound freedom and became one of Twitch’s most popular streamers. He’s raked in over 571 million total views and 10.2 million followers, according to Twitch Tracker. 

Prior to his VALORANT debut, his introduction was met by applause from the esports community as the 28-year-old joined Sentinels on July 8. Plenty of fans wanted to see Shroud back in action, and rightfully so.

The anticipation of Shroud’s debut was emphatic with hundreds of thousands of people tuning in to watch him return. It’s estimated over 400,000 people watched Sentinels face off against The Guard. 

Shroud managed to secure an impressive triple kill to end the first map on Breeze, a play that was memorable to many fans that watched Shroud back in his competitive CS:GO days. He was known for his impressive aim and spray downs. 

But Sentinels couldn’t maintain their momentum and was taken down by The Guard 2-1 to end up in the lower bracket. Sentinels and Shroud fans will have to wait a few more days to see them play again. 

Meanwhile, The Guard has secured a spot in the next round of the upper bracket. They will face off against the winners of Shopify Rebellion and Cloud9 tomorrow.