Former Fnatic VALORANT players James “Mistic” Orfila, Enzo Mestari, and Martin “Magnum” Peňkov are joining forces on Apeks, according to a report by Blix.gg’s Alejandro Gomis.
The VALORANT Champions Tour Challengers circuit is filled with talented players who were unable to secure a spot on a partnered team for the 2023 season. Many of the players competing in Challengers have played for top teams, such as Fnatic and more, winning events both locally and internationally. Norwegian organization Apeks is looking to take over the Polaris League for EMEA VALORANT by signing some of the strongest free agents as its core.
Mistic and Magnum played together on Fnatic for over a year from April 2021 to April 2022 and were key pieces to the team’s second-place finish at Masters: Reykjavík and their top-eight placement at Champions last year. Magnum was replaced by Enzo in the middle of the 2022 season, passing the torch to the slightly older and more experienced talent.
Enzo teamed up with Misitc for the remainder of the 2022 season, where the team notably finished fourth at Masters: Copenhagen and fifth at VALORANT Champions to finish out the year. During the offseason, both Misitc and Enzo were let go from Fnatic and allowed to freely explore other opportunities. Now, the three former Fnatic stars will reportedly be teaming up to take over the Challengers league with the hopes of qualifying for the EMEA VCT Tour in 2024.
The two remaining players of the Apeks team have yet to be revealed but it is clear that the organization is ready to do whatever it takes to win tournaments.
