Shroud returns to Esports with Valorant

Youtube profile and gamer Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek returns to E-sports after a long break. Grzesiek will compete in the game Valorant, a game he has actively streamed since its launch in 2020. In this article, we take a closer look at who Shroud is and what significance his return will have in eSports.

Michael "Shroud" Gresiek

Canadian-born Grzesiek was born in 1994 in Toronto and started his career in Esports with the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive where he was part of several successful teams including Exertus eSports and Manajuma. After many successful years in Esports, Shroud retired as an active spearer in 2018 to focus on streaming for the Cloud9 Twitch channel. Already after only one year of being active on Twich, Shorud had 100,000 subscribers, which meant that his channel was one of the streaming service's fastest growing channels. By 2022, Shroud had over 10 million followers on Twitch as well as over 6 million followers on YouTube. These huge numbers are a testament to the gamer's popularity in the gaming world and the uproar surrounding his return to eSports is understandable.

Valorant

The game VALORANT was launched in 2020 and is a free game developed and distributed by the American game development company Riot Games, which is also behind the popular League of Legends. Valorant has a first-person perspective, which means that the player sees through the character's eyes. The game takes place in the near future where teams of 5 players must either attack or defend. Each agent has different characteristic powers that can be utilized during the course of the game. Valorant matches are played over 25 rounds with each round lasting 100 seconds. The first team to reach 13 wins wins the match. The game can only be played on PC, but according to the developers Riot Games, they are already investigating the possibility for other platforms.

Valorant has been compared to the game Counter Strike: Global Offensive, which holds a unique position in E-sports with large competitions and prize money. Both Valorant and Counter Strike are played with two teams of five players each.

The importance of the return

Michael "Shroud" Grzesniek was known during his time as a CS pro as one of the best shooters in the game and was called, among other things, "the king of shooters". The Canadian's return to eSports has caused quite a stir and although his choice to play Valorant came as no surprise as he has played countless hours of Valorant on his stream with great success. However, it was a surprise that Shroud will make a return as a professional player and bet on E-sports again. Shroud will be part of Team Sentinel and compete in the upcoming Valorant Champions Tour 2022: North America Last Chance Qualifier. According to Shorud, the choice fell on the Sentiels team because the team's style of play was reminiscent of the Canadian's days as a CS pro.

Shroud's return was posted on Twitter when Grzesniek was announced to be back. The tweet was met with hesitation from the public before it was realized that Shroud's return to Esports was a fact. The return is also proof that Valorant is investing heavily in becoming E-sports' biggest players and a competitor to CS. Valorant was created specifically for E-sports and there is already betting connected to the game. The more betting companies become interested in the game, the greater financial resources and sponsorship the teams and players will receive.

Summary

In conclusion, it can be stated that Michael "Shroud" Grzesniek's return to E-sports and Valorant has caused a great stir. The Canadian retired as a CS pro 5 years ago and has since devoted himself to Twich and his YouTube channel with great success. Shroud announced his return on Twitter and he will be included in Sentinal's roster for the upcoming Valorant Champions Tour 2022. Shroud had great success in CS and was considered one of the games absolute best shooters. Valorant and CS have their similarities as the game is split into two teams with five players on each team and it remains to be seen if Shroud can reap the same success in Valorant as he once did in Counter Strike.