ShahZaM says he picked G2 over several other Valorant teams
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesValorant star Shahzeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan has revealed that he chose to sign with G2 Esports over a number of other teams.
The former Sentinels player officially joined G2 Esports on December 12 as the in-game leader of the organization’s new, NA-based Valorant team.
He reunites with his former Sentinels teammate Michael ‘dapr’ Gulino on this newly-assembled roster, which also includes the former Version1 duo of Erik ‘penny’ Penny and Maxim ‘wippie’ Shepelev.
Rounding out the team is young star ‘OXY’, who was hailed by team coach Ian ‘Immi’ Harding as a player with “good comms” and “a good agent pool”.
G2 Esports are looking like one of the strongest teams heading into the NA Valorant Challengers League. And in a recent live stream, ShahZaM revealed that he picked G2 over a handful of other teams, though he did not specify whether any of those teams are VCT partners.
“If I had other offers besides G2? Let me count,” he told viewers.
After a brief pause, he added: “I had six teams offers.”
ShahZaM’s Valorant resume
A former CS:GO professional, ShahZaM played for Sentinels between 2020 and 2022, helping the team to win several domestic tournaments and VCT 2021 Stage 2 Masters Reykjavík.
He ended up leaving Sentinels at the end of the 2022 season as the team underwent a rebuild after a disappointing year. Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo is the only player remaining in Sentinels’ starting lineup from the 2022 roster as the organization signed Gustavo ‘Sacy’ Rossi and Bryan ‘pANcada’ Luna from LOUD and Rory ‘dephh’ Jackson and Zachary ‘zekken’ Patrone from XSET.
Riot GamesG2 Esports will have to go through the Challengers league after being snubbed for a spot in the VCT partner league in the wake of the Andrew Tate controversy. The top teams from the Challengers leagues held across the Americas will square off in that region’s Ascension tournament, with the winner securing a two-year promotion into the international league.