Seven months after a hardware ban cost him his ENVY contract, the 18-year-old Ascension winner gets his first shot at VCT Americas with Sentinels.
Sentinels have signed Alex “canezerra” Banyasz for the 2027 VCT season, the organisation announced on X on . The American is the third signing of the Sentinels rebuild after Francis “OXY” Hoang and Brock “brawk” Somerhalder.
The move had been reported earlier the same evening. Sheep Esports wrote at that canezerra had reached a verbal agreement with the club, a little over two hours before Sentinels made it official. Sentinels CEO Rob Moore followed the announcement with a question of his own on X: “S tier rookie. Who should fill the 5th.”
From RANKERS to a Riot ban
canezerra built his name as a streamer before he built it as a pro. In 2024 he joined RANKERS, a team of popular streamers with ion, P0PPIN, Eggsterr and the former FaZe Clan player Inspire, and ENVY picked up the roster in March 2025 as they returned to VALORANT.
That team won Ascension Americas in São Paulo in October 2025, beating TSM 3-1 in the grand final to earn a place in VCT Americas. canezerra finished the event with a 297-285 K-D, 234 ACS, 147.3 ADR and 72% KAST. He never got to play in the league for ENVY. VCT Americas has a minimum age of 18, and he was not due to turn 18 until June 2026.
In April, Riot handed him a 12-month hardware ban for multiple violations of its Terms of Service, which stopped him from playing, competing or streaming in any Riot game. ENVY said the ban was not for cheating and terminated his contract with immediate effect. canezerra apologised the same night:
I made a serious mistake and said things I deeply regret. There’s no excuse for it.
The ban was due to run until April 2027, but Riot lifted it six months early at the end of October, according to Sheep Esports. canezerra posted “LFT, looking forward to 2027 season!!” at the end of October and wrote a new apology a week later, the day before the deal was reported:
I can only apologise for past actions and being ignorant on certain topics, this year I’ve become an adult and had to deal with realities in life that made me realise I needed to mature. My actions going forward will show you that. Thanks to those that have helped me and been willing to give me a second chance. I won’t take it for granted.
One place left in the Sentinels rebuild
Sentinels went through 2026 without a single international event, finishing ninth to tenth at Kickoff and in Stage 1 and going out in the Stage 2 Play-Ins. They let JonahP and Jerrwin go at the end of October, signed OXY from Cloud9 on 2 November and added brawk, the Champions 2025 MVP, from NRG a day later.
With canezerra in, four players are set for 2027:
Mohamed Amine “johnqt” Ouarid (in-game leader)
Francis “OXY” Hoang (signed 2 November)- Brock “brawk” Somerhalder (signed 3 November)
- Alex “canezerra” Banyasz (signed 6 November)
The fifth place is open, as Moore’s post suggests. Yassin “Reduxx” Aboulalazm and Gabriel “cortezia” Cortez both played the 2026 season with johnqt, but neither has been announced for 2027, and cortezia has reached a verbal agreement with LOUD, Sheep Esports reports. Neither LOUD nor Sentinels has confirmed that move.
canezerra kept his own reaction short: “Let’s Win :D”
