SEN cortezia: "Even though I love Sentinels, it's very difficult to say for sure that I'll stay"

After a season well below expectations with Sentinels, Gabriel "cortezia" Cortez hasn't confirmed whether he'll remain with the North American organization for the next season of competitive VALORANT. In an exclusive interview with THESPIKE Brazil, the Brazilian player made it clear that the decision rests with the team, which is expected to revamp its lineup given the poor results in 2026. Despite this, cortezia revealed that he's been considering returning to play for a Brazilian team in order to be closer to family this coming year.

"It's difficult, very difficult. I think that, even though Rob [CEO of Sentinels] loves me, even though the Sentinels fans love me, even though I love Sentinels, I think it's very difficult to say for sure [that I'll stay] because of the year we had."

The Pressure of being a Sentinels Player

Ever since the start of VALORANT esports, Sentinels have remained one of the most notorious organizations in the Americas. But to play for such a big team also means that results almost certainly need to follow. As for what the future holds for him, cortezia feels it's impossible to say for sure at the moment, given the high standards that come with being a Sentinels player.

"Sentinels had this lineup with Zellsis and zekken, which qualified for all the international events of the year, literally EWC, Masters, Champions, and was a finalist in almost all the VCT Americas. But, because they didn't win championships, they made roster changes. So, even more so now with a team that didn't even qualify, they're going to want to make changes."

Though cortezia made it clear that he would like to remain on Sentinels, he's also aware that the decision is not ultimately up to him, adding: "Who knows, in a week or two, I might be the guy posting on Twitter that I'm available to listen to offers."

But, if not him, then who does stay on Sentinels for the VCT 2027 season? To cortezia, it's clear that Sentinels homegrown talent Yassine "Reduxx" Aboulalazm should be the favorite to remain on the team for another year.

"If anyone stays, I think it's... So, the top spot should be reduxx because he graduated from Cubert Academy, right? Sentinels sees a lot of potential in him, everyone sees potential in him to be one of the best in the VCT Americas. So I believe he should stay there, and maybe johnqt above me as well, since he's already won Masters, is IGL... and maybe I'll be in third place."

Pushing Through: Tough Choices Ahead

While cortezia remains aware that leaving Sentinels before the end of the year is a real possibility, he states that he would see his departure from the team now as "a stain on my career."

"If I go back to MIBR next year, it would be: 'Wow, my career at Sentinels was a failure.' So it would be really cool to have another year, maybe, to really redeem myself, to give the fans that. They deserve it so much, and Sentinels too."

Despite wishing to prove himself on Sentinels, though, cortezia also revealed he has strong reasons to want to return to Brazil all the same. Heading back to his home country would mean he gets to be close to his fiancée and his family day in and day out.

Over the course of the VCT 2026 season, spending so much time away from the people he loves started to take a toll on cortezia. Or as he put it: "I think being away from family weighs heavily on me. This sacrifice, my parents get older every day, they have more health problems, and, man, sometimes you're there for six months without going back, without seeing them, and that weighs heavily."

Though the future is very much still up in the air, the ideal scenario remains perfectly clear for cortezia:

“Man, my dream would be to take my whole family [to the US] and stay with Sentinels."

You can check out the complete video interview with cortezia in the original Portuguese below:

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