Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev has announced that he is now a restricted free agent. While his contract with FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #6 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder has not yet expired and it is possible for him to stay with the team, he is actively seeking other offers for the 2025 season.

"We decided that it's best to allow Derke to explore his opportunities while we explore what the future of [FNATIC] Valorant can look like," commented Team Director CoJo .

Few players have a longer or more storied history with an organization than Derke. The Finnish duelist has been with FNATIC since April 2021 and is the only other current player besides Boaster that was on the team during their first international grand finals appearance at Masters Rekyjavik. Since then, he has qualified for almost every VCT international event and has been a top player at nearly every event he has played in.

Derke of FNATIC with the Masters Tokyo trophy One of the most decorated players the game has to offer.

FNATIC kept their star-studded roster coming into 2024 following a dominant 2023 season, where they became the first and only back-to-back VCT champions of LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo before placing fourth at Champions 2023.

While still a strong team in 2024, they were unable to replicate their previous heights, failing to qualify for Masters Madrid after being eliminated in Kickoff by Karmine Corp Karmine Corp Europe Rank #160 saadhak Matias Delipetro Avez Hazem Khaled Elite Efe Teber SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin marteen Martin Pátek . They briefly appeared to find recovery after winning EMEA Stage 1, but disappointed with an 7th-8th finish at Masters Shanghai.

Stage 2 saw Leo temporarily stepping down due to health issues and hiro taking his place. Once again, FNATIC triumphed regionally as the champions of EMEA Stage 2 but were unable to do the same internationally, falling to Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #3 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid and placing 5th-6th at Champions 2024.

Despite the loss, Derke shone individually with the highest ACS and KPR at Champions at 257.4 and 0.92 respectively and continues to demonstrate himself one of the strongest and most consistent duelists in the world.

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