Sentinels have their new duelist. On November 2 Sentinels announced the signing of Francis “OXY” Hoang from Cloud9, posting on X that “a new star for a new era” had arrived and that “@Lft_Oxy is officially a Sentinel.” The official VALORANT Champions Tour account confirmed the move within the hour, writing that “the start of a new journey” had begun and welcoming OXY to their 2027 VCT roster.
Two days earlier, on October 31, Sentinels CEO Rob Moore wrote that the team had released Jerrwin and JonahP and had already identified replacements he called “S tier.” He also wrote that new additions could not be announced “until on or after November 2.” OXY’s announcement landed on that date, the first day Moore’s timeline allowed it.
OXY’s background and role
OXY’s X profile lists G2 Valorant, Dark Ratio, and Moon Raccoons ahead of a multi-season run with Cloud9, where he was the team’s primary duelist. The duelist enters a bombsite first and takes the opening fight of each round, so the rest of the team plays off that first contact. Sentinels’ farewell to Jerrwin thanked him for carrying “the torch of a Sentinels Duelist,” and OXY fills that role. His departure also leaves Cloud9 with a duelist vacancy of its own to solve in the same window.
OXY’s signature agent is Neon, a mobility-focused duelist whose kit rewards aggressive first engagements.
From outside the partnership to inside it
Sentinels kept their place among the eight VCT Americas partner teams when Riot revealed the 32 partner organizations for VCT 2027. Cloud9 competed in VCT Americas through 2026 but does not appear on the new partner list. The 32 partner slots are split evenly across four regions, and the Americas field for the new cycle is 100 Thieves, G2 Esports, KRÜ Visa, Leviatán Esports, LOUD, MIBR, NRG, and Sentinels.
Partner teams get a locked schedule and a share of league revenue. Organizations outside the partnership reach the circuit through open qualifiers. The 2027 partner selection runs for two seasons, so the organizations on the list hold their spots through 2028. OXY moves from the open-qualifier path to a guaranteed top-tier slot in the same offseason, without leaving the Americas region where he built his career.
LOUD enters 2027 as the reigning world champion after beating Team Vitality in the VALORANT Champions 2026 final. Cloud9 lost its partner spot in the same announcement and now has to rebuild around the players who remain.
The roster that is taking shape
OXY joins the three players who remained after the October releases: in-game leader johnqt, Reduxx, and cortezia. Sentinels announced the Jerrwin release on October 30 and the JonahP release a day later. Sentinels now have four of five starting spots filled and need one more player before the VCT Americas Kickoff. Moore described the departures and the additions as one continuous rebuild.
OXY takes over the entry duties, leaving Reduxx and cortezia to keep their existing roles.
What comes next
The VCT Americas Kickoff opens the 2027 season, and it will be the first time OXY and the new roster play an official match together.
