European organization G2 Esports has signed five new VALORANT players to compete in the North American Challengers league next year, multiple sources told Dot Esports.
Former Sentinels stars Michael “dapr” Gulino and Shahzeb “ShahZam” Khan headline the roster. They will be joined by other big names from NA’s last year of VALORANT Champions Tour play, including former Version1 players Erik Penny and Maxim “wippie” Shepelev. Former Dark Ratio player “Oxy” is set to complete the team, according to sources.
Former Cloud9 player Rahul “curry” Nemani was trialed for the new roster as well.
The previous head coach for Version1, Ian “Immi” Harding, is leading the roster, as previously reported by Dot Esports on Oct. 27.
The team is set to compete in Challengers following the organization’s failure to secure a partnership with Riot Games, which would’ve ensured G2 a spot in the Americas international league.
G2 Esports has the opportunity to qualify for the international league, however. Next year, the Challengers circuit will allow the best teams outside of the league to compete against each other to eventually qualify for Ascension, a new circuit.
Ascension in the Americas region will bring together the best Challengers teams from North America, Latin America, and South America to compete against each other. The best team from the circuit will qualify for the international league in 2024.
Both ShahZam and dapr will likely look to seek revenge against their old organization under G2 Esports, while penny and wippie could face off against former teammates on Cloud9 if G2 qualify for the Americas international league.
