Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev has officially signed with Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #9 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner ceNder Jokūbas Labutis Sayf Saif Jibraeel Less Felipe de Loyola Basso for the 2025 season, pending Riot approval.

Derke had previously been with FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #2 Boaster Jake Howlett Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder throughout all of his tier-one career, dating all the way back to April 2021.

One of the most decorated and consistent players in the game, the Finnish duelist's accomplishments include placing second at Masters Reykjavik 2021, winning LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo back-to-back in 2023, qualifying for almost every VCT international event, and being a top performer at nearly every event he has attended.

While still an international mainstay in 2024, FNATIC is considered by many to have underperformed the sky-high expectations set for them following their 2023 dominance; their worst international result of 2023 was a fourth place finish at Champions 2023, while their best international result of 2024 was a top-six placement at Champions 2024. Despite this decline, Derke still produced the highest ACS and KPR in Seoul at 257.4 and 0.92 respectively.

Vitality, on the other hand, achieved their first international qualification this past year, earning a spot at Champions 2024 via an impressive run through the EMEA Stage 2 playoffs. They were defeated only by FNATIC in the upper final and the grand final to place second in the region. Vitality later exited Seoul in the group stage after being eliminated by LEVIATÁN in the group C decider.

The French organization has since parted ways with Emil "runneR" Trajkovski and much of their coaching staff, and added Felipe "Less" de Loyola Basso as a non-resident player. The introduction of Derke represents the second world champion to join Vitality and the creation of a new EMEA superteam with talent rivaling top teams from around the world.

Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #9 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner ceNder Jokūbas Labutis Sayf Saif Jibraeel Less Felipe de Loyola Basso is now: