Team Heretics and G2 Esports have dominated the
post-Reykjavik European VALORANT roster swap, two teams eager to climb back to
the top of the mountain after tripping slightly in the VCT.
The two organisations have now effectively exchanged players. Heretics has acquired former G2 players Patryk "paTiTek" Fabrowski and Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks, two days after G2 signed Auni "AvovA" Chahade and ygimantas "nukkye" Chmieliauskas.
The acquisitions were announced yesterday, only one day
after Heretics acquired Ondej "MONSTEERR" Petr from LDN UTD. The
exits of nukke and AvovA had left Heretics with only one active starter player,
Christian "lowel" Garcia Antoran, prior to that purchase. According
to the organization's Tweet, the team's roster is now 80 percent full, with one
active starting slot remaining. Dustyn "niesoW" Durnas and Ruben
"RUBINO" Villarroel Brdreskift are still listed as inactive in
Heretics.
With a victory at First Strike, the Heretics jumped into
contention and maintained that momentum throughout the first half of 2021 and
into VCT play. They won Challengers Two and advanced to the Masters One grand
finals in Stage One, but were defeated by ACEND in five maps. However, Heretics
underperformed in Stage Two, losing in a reverse sweep to Opportunists in
Challengers One and then to G2 Esports in the Challengers Two qualifiers.
Despite the victory, G2 Esports has had a difficult time. In
the early phases of competitive VALORANT in 2020, G2 was regarded one of the
greatest teams in the world, coasting through the tournament prior to First
Strike. However, their dominance didn't resurface for VCT. They failed to
qualify for the EMEA Challengers Finals after losing all three play-in matches
at Stage One Challenger events. Apart from the Heretics, G2 Esports added Jose
Luis "koldamenta" Aranguren Herrero from ACEND after the Reykjavik
tournament, with ACEND adding former G2 Esports player Aleksander
"zeek" Zygmunt in a similar player exchange to G2 Esports-Heretics.
Heretics, ACEND, and G2 Esports will all be hoping for
improved success in the third and final stage of the 2021 VCT campaign, with
all three teams exchanging players. There's more on the line for each of the
teams in Masters Three Berlin, with four EMEA slots on the line, and they'll
have to make it if they want to compete at Champions at the end of the year.