It equipped itself with thick nostalgia for the VALORANT community. Leo lhfaria Faria, who is among the top names in esports management, tweeted, and I think almost everyone will agree it set the world aflame. He posted an image with sparkling names of Gustavo “Sacy” Rossi and Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and wrote: “Trying to convince these two to come back and compete.” He even tagged VALORANT Champions official account. Like, seriously?? This is huge.
Now, for those who have been out of touch with the pro VALORANT scene, Sacy and Tenz are like elite players who recently have somewhat drifted away from the public limelight of the main competitive stage. Sacy for a moment was the very soul of the LOUD roster that really set the world on fire; and TenZ, well, everybody knows the Mechanical God. His retirement from full-time competing for Sentinels left a joyless abyss. Seeing this tweet is like a flame of hope for dozens of players who miss seeing them wreaking havoc.
The responses were a flood of emotions. People are pleading. One response read in all caps: PLEASEEEEEEEE, which is basically a whole mood. Another-one of us-said: please do.” accompanied by an emoji of praying hands in desperation mixed with excitement. Like, could this really happen?
Some replies were in Portuguese, obviously-the language of Sacy. Somebody said, “Fdp fala em português akakakakka,” which means basically, “Dude, speak in Portuguese!” This just highlights how truly global the VALORANT community really is and how desperately the Brazilians want their star back. Another says, “champs no brasil.” Maybe suggesting Champions in Brazil, that would be madness on another level.
There’s also this interesting thread wherein someone by the name of Gustavo Melão responds to lhfaria: “já te falei como o Sacy volta…” (“I already told you how Sacy comes back…”). So cryptic. What does he mean? Is there some secret condition? And players try to decode it in the replies as if it were a puzzle.
Much of the talk sways around what it takes to get them back. One user states that for TenZ, it might be something better: “He has the age and he has already said what RIOT needs to do to make playing valorant worth it for him again. Good PCs on stage, better fixture so there is no crazy long down period.” So, in truth, it’s not only the want to play, but rather the logistics and the quality of the competitive circuit. Real talk.
They are even speculating about which team they might be joining soon. One reply says, “SEN need u,” speaking to Sacy directly for Sentinels. Another one says, “Bring back Prime LOUD🫠,” with reference to the old LOUD roster that used to be all over the place. Everyone, in fact, seems to have an ideal scenario. Then a user brings it down a bit with: “sacy só faltava ter um infarto assistindo os mlk no champs, ele não vai voltar a competir nunca mais rapaziada, esquece isso ai, mental do nosso careca foi pro saco já.” Translation is: “Sacy just needed the stroke watching the guys on champs; he is not going back to competition ever again, guys, forget about it, the mental of our bald one is already gone.” Oof.
The attachment to these players is real. Somebody tweeted to Sacy, “Your boy ZEKKEN needs you bald man 🥹🥹. He misses you come back pls ❤️.” Zekken is on Sentinels, so that’s a former teammate connection. It’s personal for these guys, not just business.
Then there’s chaos spilling out in all directions. One asks, “1v1 show match??” That would be hilarious and amazing. The next one acknowledges the previous comment with: “Holy fuck,” will probably be the most accurate response ever. The whole energy is moving from hopeful, to skeptical, to utterly gorgeous fun.
What does it really mean for VALORANT esports? If lhfaria is actually attempting to bring Sacy and TenZ back into competition, then all these extreme discussions can be pushed to the side. They are players with large fanbases and insane skills. Their return means viewers back, media buzz, and possible player improvements. Yet just getting back to the brief reminder remains: What these pros have to endure. The mental toll, the scheduling demands, and having organizers back them up better. This is a very hard decision.
Also, the fact that this is going down amidst the VALORANT Champions event says it all. Maybe as a soft push, maybe to reignite the calling flame. Or maybe it’s just a bunch of friends linking up while the rest of the community is reading far too much into it. Either way, the sheer number of reactions simply shows just how much these players are missed. They aren’t just names that go on a roster; they are personalities that define eras of the game.
So where does this leave us? Leaving us in suspense, honestly. With lhfaria’s tweet teasing us and the replies being a mix of dreams and reality checks, it is still far from decided if Sacy and TenZ return to competitive play or not. One thing, though, we are sure about: the VALORANT community hasn’t forgotten them, and the desire to see them back on stage is stronger than ever. We’ll just have to wait and see if the convincing works; the ball is in their court now, and honestly, HAHA!
