VALORANT general manager and former esports caster Daniel “ddk” Kapadia left 100 Thieves on July 31, sparking rumors that a major roster overhaul is in place for VCT 2024.
The news comes two weeks after 100 Thieves lost to Sentinels in the VCT Americas Last Chance Qualifier on July 16, a result that effectively ended their 2023 VCT season as they could no longer qualify for Champions.
Ddk had been a part of 100 Thieves since March 2022 and played an important role, having overhauled the team in 2022 with the help of then-head coach Sean Gares and assistant coach Michael “Mikes” Hockom, who became the head coach in October 2022 following Sean’s departure. 100 Thieves’ best results under ddk’s supervision were the playoffs run at VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo in February and the title of Red Bull Home Ground three in December 2022.
“Whilst I’m sad I won’t have the opportunity to carry forward all the valuable lessons of this year to continue to build the program, I’m extremely grateful for all of the people I’ve connected with and the value those relationships will provide long into the future,” ddk said in a personal statement following the announcement. “As far as what’s next for me—more to come on this in the coming days!”
Related: Live VALORANT 2023 offseason tracker: Free agents, roster moves, and rumors for 2024 season
Parting ways with ddk makes a lot of sense if 100 Thieves is planning to let a couple of players leave after the underwhelming results in the first year of the franchised era. The former GM signed five out of the six players on the organization’s roster—Sean “bang” Bezerra, Brenden “stellar” McGrath, Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban, Zander “thwifo” Kim, and Derrek Ha.
Although it’s just speculation at this point, the community thinks 100 Thieves will attempt to make roster changes during the season and potentially replace coach Mikes for VCT 2024. We’ll start seeing more moves once VALORANT Champions 2023 concludes on Aug. 26.
