Reigning Americas MVP aspas officially joins VALORANT rivals

The biggest fish of the 2023-24 offseason has been caught.

LOUD aspas at the VALORANT Champions Tour Masters Tokyo tournament in 2023.
Photo by Colin Young-Wolff via Riot Games

The biggest question of VALORANT’s 2023-24 off-season was which team aspas, the VCT Americas 2023 MVP, would go to⁠—and now we have the answer. 

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There was a good chance he would remain with LOUD, but that quickly disappeared after the VALORANT superstar announced his free agency on DATE. Despite plenty of spots around the world where he could end up, he has today chosen a team in South America that he competed against in 2023.

The star duelist and champion has officially signed with Leviatán, marking his first move since joining LOUD in early 2022. This was originally reported back in late Sept. by blix.gg, but now the verbal agreement has evolved into an official signing. This is a huge move for Leviatán, as both the biggest name signing since its formation as an org, and the first Brazilian player for the Argentinian and Chilean-run organization. 

If there is one thing that aspas always had since he joined LOUD, it was hype and high expectations. The 20-year-old came into the league as one of the best prospects out of Brazil, and it immediately paid dividends for LOUD. 

Aspas dominated regionally, and went through some of the toughest and most entertaining matches VALORANT fans have ever seen to earn his championship at VALORANT Champions 2022. He was the Grand Finals MVP for his Jett play, and even with her nerfs, he remains one of the most talented Jett players ever.

Last season proved to be a tougher year, but LOUD continued their regional dominance as they moved from competing in Brazil to the unified Americas competition. The team finished first in the regular season, but aside from an outstanding debut tournament at LOCK//IN, weren’t able to reach any finals.

Fans knew changes were coming in the off-season, with aspas’ contract ending. He chose free agency and went with Leviatán, despite whispers he would move to other major teams like NRG or BLEED.

As for Leviatán, they’re looking to recover from a rollercoaster season. Aspas will not only provide stability, but a high standard of play. Their VALORANT roster has some players from 2023, notably IGL kiNgg. Alongside other rumored signings like Ian “tex” Botsch, the team is stocking up on firepower, and you can’t get more firepower than aspas.

The biggest hurdle, as for many teams making big moves this off-season, is to make sure those new additions work well together⁠—though how that goes remains to be seen.

Due to aspas staying in his original VALORANT region, even remaining on his original continent, the on-the-move superstar won’t have a big language barrier to overcome. Instead, he’ll just have to manage the Jett nerfs and some new teammates to prove he’s still the MVP heading into the 2024 season and beyond.

Author
Image of Michael Czar
Michael Czar
Contributing writer for Dot Esports. Covering esports news for just over five years. Focusing on Overwatch, VALORANT, Call of Duty, Teamfight Tactics, and some general gaming content. Washington Post-published game reviewer. Follow me on Twitter at @xtraweivy.