Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #21 Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner UNFAKE Bartosz Bernacki KovaQ Blendi Kovaci Less Felipe de Loyola Basso has changed up their roster, adding Bartosz "UNFAKE" Bernacki and Blendi "KovaQ" Kovaci while Saif "Sayf" Jibraeel and CyvOph move to the inactive roster.

The moves come after a disappointing EMEA Stage 1, which saw Vitality finish fourth in their group, facing a swift elimination after starting their playoff run in the lower bracket. It was a far cry from their EMEA Kickoff-winning campaign, which saw the side qualify to Masters Bangkok where they finished fourth.

"Following the end of Split 1, Sayf approached us with a request to step down from the active roster to focus on his well-being and to manage the stress of competition," a Vitality statement said. "We fully respected his decision and began the process of evaluating different lineup options heading into Stage 2, keeping our long-term goals in mind."

UNFAKE was identified as the player to replace Sayf as the team's in-game leader. He joins from Joblife Joblife Europe Rank #89 chiwa Egor Stepanyuk loan sh1n Ryad Ensaad purp0 Semyon Borchev CyvOph Clement Millard loan starxo Patryk Kopczynski for his first stint in VCT. Since making his debut in 2020, he has had stops all over Europe, playing for Invicta Gaming Invicta Gaming Inactive xuss Tselmeg Tsolmon UNFAKE Bartosz Bernacki adm1k Adam Siemieniec krytyq Kamil Dudek maniek Jakub Mańkowski in Poland, Team Queso Team Queso Inactive mezoky Boom Daniel Jiménez in Spain, and Zerance Zerance Europe Rank #73 Ooriime Paul Gouin Goaster Tony Richard Yotaa Yota Kaouachi and Joblife in France. The move to tier one Valorant has been on the cards for a while for UNFAKE. For a brief stint towards the end of 2023, he was a stand-in for KOI KOI Europe Rank #282 nataNk Nathan Bocqueho baddyG Kamil Graniczka MONSTEERR Ondřej Petrů Filu Dawid Czarnecki flyuh Xavier Carlson , but never saw the stage for them. Much like Sayf, UNFAKE plays the Initiator role as an IGL, something that can be expected to continue with Vitality.

Vitality also adds KovaQ, who adds a layer of flexibility to Vitality's roster. While his predecessor, CyvOph, was mainly a Controller player, KovaQ joins as a true flex player, comfortable playing all four roles.

"Initially, our intention was to only replace Sayf, however, during tryouts we were consistently impressed by the performance and adaptability of KovaQ," a Vitality release said. "After carefully testing multiple players and compositions, it became clear that the lineup reached its highest potential with both UNFAKE and KovaQ in the starting five."

KovaQ's arrival means that CyvOph will be replaced in the Vitality starting roster, an unforeseen outcome to what was initially set to be a quick roster adjustment. With his move to the bench, CyvOph, who impressed as a rookie in Stage 1, moves to Joblife on a loan move.

"This isn't goodbye," CyvOph said. "I'm determined to get back to the VCT as soon as possible. This is just a setback. I know where I want to go, and I know I have the level to be there."

As Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #21 Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner UNFAKE Bartosz Bernacki KovaQ Blendi Kovaci Less Felipe de Loyola Basso continues on its quest to qualify for a hometown event in Champions Paris, its full roster is now:

  • Bartosz "UNFAKE" Bernacki
  • Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev
  • Kimmie "Kicks" Laasner
  • Blendi "KovaQ" Kovaci
  • Felipe "Less" de Loyola Basso
  • Ștefan "Sayonara" Mîtcu
  • Andy "Bangovic" Zajimovic (Manager)
  • Robert "Mulgan95" Mulgan (Manager)
  • Daniel "Faded" Hwang (Head coach)
  • Aleksey "slk" Lynksov (Assistant coach)
  • Edgar "psych_chek" Chekera (Performance coach)