When the expiring player contracts came to light for all franchised VALORANT teams in 2023, eyes focused on VCT Americas MVP aspas. Aspas’ status remained a big question mark towards the end of Champions, but the Brazilian duelist cleared the air today, stating that he’s seeking all offers.
Aspas has officially become a free agent starting on Sept. 11, choosing to not immediately renew his contract with LOUD and seek what looks to be plenty of offers from teams across the world. He tweeted his decision with a video, adding to it that he can speak both English and Portuguese, opening the door to a lot of potential landing spots.
Looking back at his career, aspas came out of the Challengers scene in Brazil, moved from his original team SLICK to LOUD, and never looked back. It helped that LOUD quickly became the regional powerhouse, but aspas was a clear catalyst to that rise thanks to his outstanding play on the duelist role, especially his Jett.
LOUD rolled over the Brazilian competition, then went to their first international tournament in 2022, in Reykjavík, and finished second place to OpTic Gaming. The team disappointed in Copenhagen but then proceeded to win Champions 2022 afterward, with aspas as the finals MVP in their revenge win over OpTic Gaming. The next year wasn’t as successful internationally for both aspas and LOUD, but they remained a top regional team. After a second-place finish at LOCK//IN, the team started to wane due to some questionable decisions in international play, like running aspas more on Neon and leaning away from their staple Viper Harbor composition.
Even with those issues, the season ended off on a high for LOUD, getting third place at Champions 2023 and securing their second podium finish for the year. It left many fans wondering if aspas’ “expiring contract” was just a formality for another year with the crew. As it turns out, aspas is using the opportunity to see what other team he can join. His ability to speak English opens the doors to other regions, like EMEA or even Pacific teams.
As for his talent, this is where some worry comes in. Much like Jacob “yay” Whiteaker in his free agency time in late 2022, the skills are clearly there, but their best agent isn’t as good as they were before. Yay became the best Chamber in the world, but the year’s end marked the end of Chamber being a constant pick in competitive play. Now, for aspas, Jett looks to be on her way out of the meta. Thankfully, aspas still has experience with a couple more agents, with Raze and Neon as his two other key picks.
They might not provide as much impact in a game as his Jett could, but the unique movement he popularized on the Jett can carry over with Raze’s Blast Packs, or Neon’s High Gear. Aim won’t matter too much, aside from the training on Raze ultimates to avoid misses, as it can carry over easily. He just won’t be able to smoke and dash into areas like he did before, at least, without some extra teamwork.
Either way, we’ll have to wait and see what the off-season provides and what teams would be willing to dish out the money to pick up the reigning league MVP. Some that could work in theory include 100 Thieves, NRG, or even teams like Bleed from Pacific. Even with the Jett nerfs, it’s safe to say they’re picking up a top-tier talent.
