After a turbulent and tragic year, Team Vitality has reloaded its VALORANT roster for the 2024 VCT season, completing its overhaul with the signing of a major superstar duelist.
Following just a single season with Team Liquid, Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel has departed the blue brand and signed with Team Vitality, the org announced today. He is signed to a two-year deal with the organization, according to the Global Contract Database.
With Sayf joining the team, the roster for 2024 is now set following Vitality’s offseason acquisitions of both Kimmie “Kicks” Laasner and Emil “runneR” Trajkovski. Safy, Kicks, and runneR will join the two remaining members from last year’s roster: Jokūbas “ceNder” Labutis and Tomas “Destrian” Linikas. The Vitality VALORANT roster will continue to be coached by Salah Barakat. While Sayf and Kicks are signed through 2025, the rest of the roster is only signed through 2024.
Sayf joins a Vitality side trying to recover from one of the toughest seasons a team has faced in recent history. Not only did the team fall short of reaching Champions or Masters by way of the EMEA playoffs, but Vitality and all of VALORANT were rocked by the sudden and tragic death of Karel “Twisten” Ašenbrener, who was only 19, in June. A heartbroken Vitality team chose to end their season early, withdrawing from the LCQ.
But if the team is hoping to turn things around in 2024, the acquisition of Sayf must be considered a win. During the EMEA VCT 2023 season, Sayf was considered one of the highest-rated players in the league, finishing second in overall player rating, ACS, and K/D, according to VLR. He was also top five in first kills per round.
