G2 Esports has signed Žygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas, Auni “AvovA” Chahade, and Jose Luis “koldamenta” Herrero to complete its VALORANT lineup, the organization announced today.
The news comes just a few hours after G2 announced the departure of Patryk “patitek” Fabrowski, Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks, and Aleksander “zeek” Zygmunt following a streak of mixed results that culminated in the squad missing the VCT Masters Two Reykjavík event.
“I’m very excited to have nukkye, AvovA, and koldamenta on the team,” G2’s VALORANT manager Maik “Maikturtle” Löffler said in the official statement. “They bring a lot of experience, spirit and firepower, and I know that they’ll excel in this new project.”
All of G2’s new VALORANT players were tied to other esports organizations prior to their signing. Nukkye and AvovA were playing for Team Heretics and helped the Spanish org win several tournaments in the early stages of the competitive scene, most notably the First Strike Europe in December 2020. This leaves Heretics with just Christian “lowel” Garcia on the active lineup, but the org also has Ruben “RUBINO” Villarroel and Dustyn “niesoW Durnas” sitting on the bench.
Koldamenta, on the other hand, was playing for Acend, who beat Heretics at the VCT Europe Stage One Masters in March. The European organization has brought in zeek to replace the Spanish player and complete its roster.
G2 hopes that these three new signings will help the VALORANT team perform better in the second half of the season. They were off to a great start in 2020 and won several tournaments but didn’t play well when it mattered most at the VCT Europe Stage Two Challengers Two, which saw Fnatic and Team Liquid qualify for the Challengers Finals and secure two spots in the VCT Masters Two Reykjavík.
“We’re not looking to be on the sidelines, we’re looking to be the best,” the official announcement reads. “With these changes, we’re ready to take on the next challenge and win VALORANT Masters 2 in our home city of Berlin.”
Nukkye, AvovA, and koldamenta will debut for G2 on Saturday, June 5 when the team play in the LVP Rising Series Two open qualifiers.
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