Sylvain "Veqaj" Pattyn has reached a verbal agreement with Gentle Mates in the VCT EMEA, according to Sheep Esports sources. The young French player steps into Tier 1 VALORANT with Gentle Mates, hoping to turn things around for the struggling French squad.

In good form

At just 21 years old, Veqaj already boasts several years of competitive experience. He first joined Zerance in 2022 for the final phase of the VALORANT Open Tour France, where the team finished 3rd. The following year, he competed in both Splits of the 2023 VALORANT Challengers France: Revolution, showing promise but falling short in the semifinals each time. In 2024, he spent a brief period in Italy with VX300 Gaming, placing 3rd in the VALORANT Challengers Italy: Rinascimento Split 1. He later returned to Zerance, competing in both the Split 1 - Up and Down and Split 2, where he once again reached the podium.

Later that year, Veqaj joined Valiant for the Spotlight Series EMEA 2024, finishing 4th after a close Lower Bracket Semifinal loss to GIANTX. In 2025, his team faced a disappointing early exit in Split 1 after a 3-1 loss to Karmine Corp blue Star (KCBS) in the quarterfinals. However, they came back strong in Split 2 with an impressive playoff run, defeating VIT.Revolution, Mandatory twice, and KCBS in the grand final. Veqaj capped off the tournament with a great performance in the final, earning MVP honors.

A struggling team

Things have been much more complicated on the Gentle Mates side since their promotion to VCT EMEA. The Kickoff didn’t go well, and Stage 1 followed a similar pattern, with the team finishing sixth in their group after opening with a win but suffering four consecutive losses. In an effort to get back on track, the organization has made several changes to its roster.

As reported by Sheep Esports, Berkcan "ComeBack" Şentürk recently joined the team. Earlier this year, Maks "Kamyk" Rychlewski was brought in from Team Liquid to replace Robbie "RobbieBk" Boerkamp, who had been benched. RobbieBk has since signed with LOUD in VCT Americas, as also reported by Sheep Esports.