The Spanish esports franchise, co-founded by streamer Ibai Llanos and retired footballer Gerard Piqué, took to its official Twitter page to announce the completion of its roster with the signing of former Acend player and 2021 world champion.

“Welcome to the team, @starxo5! We can’t wait to see what you bring to the table as the final member of our VALORANT squad. Pending Riot’s approval,” KOI announced.

After a lengthy VALORANT offseason, all 30 partnered teams in the Americas, EMEA, and Pacific leagues have finally filled their starting rosters ahead of the beginning of the VCT partnership era. The roster will make its debut at the VCT 2023: LOCK//IN Sao Paulo tournament, which is scheduled on February 13 and run through to March 4.

It was not surprising when starxo signed with KOI as it had been previously reported that he was expected to join the team. However, he was unable to do so at the same time as the rest of the starting roster due to the status of his Acend contract. Now that his contract has expired and he has exited Acend, his journey with KOI can officially begin.

In mid-December, KOI officially signed all players of its roster aside from starxo, including the former Guild in-game leader Jose “koldamenta” Herrero, 18-years old flex player Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko, former Gambit Esports player Bogdan “Sheydos”, and Bulgarian Berkant “Wolfen” Joshkun. The team will be coached by André “BARBARR” M?ller, the former Guild coach.

This move marks the final piece of the puzzle for KOI as they look to establish themselves as a top Valorant team. With a complete roster of talented players and a strong support staff, the team is poised to make a strong showing in the coming months. Valorant fans can expect to see KOI competing in various tournaments and leagues, as they look to prove themselves on the global stage.

During the offseason, several teams including Fnatic, and Team Liquid also strengthened their rosters by recruiting players from the Guild and M3C teams, as KOI is not the only team with players from both top teams. Team Liquid, NAVI, Karmine Corp, and Heretics are also some of the franchises that boast a formidable roster.

When the KOI and EMEA teams start playing in the VCT this year, they will not only be competing against each other. To start the 2023 VCT season, all 30 teams will go to the LOCK//IN event in S?o Paulo and participate in a three-week tournament instead of the usual first split of a VCT season.

Overall, the acquisition of starxo is a major win for KOI, and fans can expect to see great things from the team in the future. His addition to the KOI roster is expected to bring a new level of strategy and flexibility to the team’s playstyle. With a solid roster and a clear vision for success, KOI is well-positioned to make a splash in the Valorant esports scene.

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The franchise announced his departure on its official Twitter page

“Today we bid farewell to @starxo5 after an incredible 2 years adventure on our Valorant roster,” Acend announced.

“We will never forget Patryk’s energy, goofiness and sense of humor on and off the server! Thank you for everything and best of luck in your career starxo!”

Starxo was the last remaining member of Acend’s lineup that won the VALORANT Champions 2021 tournament, which was the first world championship for Riot Games’ first-person shooter game.

On March 2021, Acend welcomed the Polish player to its team, along with Santeri “BONECOLD” Sassi, Mehmet “cNed” Ya??z ?pek, Vladyslav “Kiles” Shvets, Jose “koldamenta” Luis Aranguren Herrero, and head coach Laurynas “Nbs” Kisielius. In June 2021, the franchise made a change to its roster by replacing koldamenta with Aleksander “zeek” Zygmunt. This finalized the lineup that would later go on to win the VALORANT Champions tournament in December 2021, defeating Gambit in the process.

The team, including starxo, did not perform as well in 2022. The decision to end the project came after Acend was unable to secure a spot in the EMEA partnership league for 2023. On September 21, starxo left the roster and has been seeking new opportunities since then.

Reacting to his exit from Acend, starxo took to his Twitter page to thank the team for the two years spent.

“First 2 years in my life as a pro player, couldn’t ask for more from Acend and all of the boys, all of the support and memories will stay with me untill the end of my life for sure,” starxo said.

“I’m really grateful for this opportunity, we built a hell of a history. Time to move on.”

Prior to joining Acend, starxo was a member of THOSE GUYS, where he started his career. He thereafter represented Entropiq and played under the banner of the United Kingdom-based franchise Raise Your Edge Gaming. Raise Your Edge was later disbanded and the core of its roster was acquired by Acend.

The current status of starxo’s future in the world of VALORANT is unknown. However, given his success in winning one of the most prestigious tournaments in the game, it is likely that he has received offers from teams participating in the franchising program. One organization in the EMEA league that has yet to fill its roster for 2023 is KOI.

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CNed joined Acend in March 2021 and, during his time on the squad, has been a big contributor to the team’s success. Acend have won several trophies over the past 18 months, including being crowned the Spanish champion a number of times.? ?

The European esports team also won the VCT Masters Berlin, which took place at the end of 2021. CNed and his teammates went on to renew their contract with Acend shortly after winning the tournament.?

?Despite their previous successes, Acend were not selected as part of the 30 teams for Riot Games’ Valorant franchised leagues, which are set to kick off next year. As a result of this, the team will most likely have to be dissolved.?

?While players in organizations like G2 Esports have spoken up about their restricted free agency, Acend players are yet to reveal if the squad will split up. OpTic Gaming, who were also not picked by Valorant, have not said anything concerning the future of their squad either. TSM, on the other hand, previously announced that they intended to continue participating in the esport and would retain their players.? ?

CNed, like a number of players, is reportedly in the market for positions in teams that would participate in the franchised circuit in 2023, and Vitality might be the player’s ticket. Vitality previously participated in and won the French championship tournament in July, and a month later, the squad emerged runner-up in the VRL Finals.?

?Although Vitality have one more tournament left to participate in, a number of players from the team’s lineup have revealed that they’ve been allowed to entertain other offers from other teams. Players like Nathan “nataNk” Bocqueho and Joona “H1ber” Parviainen, who are currently inactive, have confirmed that they are on the market.

The team is set to participate in the French Cup tournament in October.? ?At the moment, Vitality have only three players still in their lineup, one of whom is Jokūbas “ceNder” Labutis. The Valorant off-season is currently still on, and fans will be informed concerning the possible changes in the next few weeks.

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Shikenso will give the organization AI tracking tools so it can keep an eye on how well its partnerships are working across its broadcasting and social channels.

Benjamine Rolle, Founder and Director of Acend Club, shared his ordeal of the alliance: “Acend Club was built on being open in communication and transparent towards the community and partners.

“Partnering with Shikenso will allow us to better understand and deliver content tailored to our audience and fans. With the data and analytics opportunities this partnership will provide, we are eager to utilize the accurate reporting tools to better serve Acend fans as well as future partners.”

Recent developments at the organization include the addition of five VALORANT content creators, which will allow it to broaden its scope beyond its esports rosters.

The AI solutions provided by Shikenso Analytics measure the amount of exposure that organizations are able to deliver to brands. Acend will gather data on the progress of partnerships, which will result in a better understanding of how brands are integrated across streaming and social media channels.

Shikenso’s elaborate partnership list, which has grown remarkably in 2022, now includes Acend. Other notable additions to the list include BIG, GAIMIN Gladiators, and KOI.

Acend is an organization that has emerged rapidly as a notable participant on the European scene since its founding in 2021. The organization is primarily recognized for their triumph at VALORANT Champions 2021; however, they also have rosters competing in Halo, Rainbow Six Siege, PUBG, and Apex Legends.

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The European esports organization took to Twitter to reveal that their bid has been rejected. Acend are distraught with the decision, and perhaps more upset at the fact that no reasonable explanation was given for the denial.

“We are sad to announce that our HCS partnership application was rejected. Despite request, we’ve not received any elaboration on the decision, other than we were deep into consideration.

“This is disappointing for the organization, our players, and our fans.”

Regardless of the situation, the organization is committed to supporting their players. In the statement, Acend said:

“We have put all our effort in to supporting our players and the scene to compete internationally and progress Halo beyond a one region esport. Our players have shown they are world class competitors and Europe has shown we can constantly compete internationally. Sadly it seems the region will continue to receive minimal support.”

“We believe in our players and their abilities and will continue to support them. Our goal remains the same: to take on the best teams in the World and put European Halo on the map.”

So far, there are suspicions of Halo favoring the North American teams, and Acend pointed it out. They believe the region needs to receive a lot more support from the organizers.

It is difficult to fault their argument, seeing eight of the nine partnered organizations, eight compete in the NA division. Only Ukrainian Natus Vincere is part of the HCS partnership program.

Some other teams whose applications have been rejected are XSET and Kansas City Pioneers. XSET has since left Halo owing to their application being denied.

Acend player Renan “Sica” Grall has also commented on the news. The French expressed disappointment with not being given the opportunity to advance Halo in the region despite their exploits.

“Being partnered would have been a dream for me. I’ve been thinking about being able to represent Acend with our colors in game and the possibility of seeing all of my friends wearing the skins to show their support would have been something extremely heartwarming. We’re really sad because we felt like we’ve done some big achievements throughout the year and have pushed Europe as much as we could, we thought that we would get partnered in order to promote HCS in Europe and make it grow together but it didn’t go the way we planned it. We’re confused because we, us and Acend, don’t know what we could do better to help the competitive scene, we’ve been making content, bootcamps, best placements in our Region and consistently winning every single European tournament. It’s a big disappointment for us especially because of the lack of communication we’re getting from those who took the decision.”

It is unclear what the criteria are, especially since Acend have had a successful 2022. In 16 tournaments they have featured in this year, they have won all but two. They finished third in the HCS Europe Pro Series 1 Split 2 and recorded an eighth-placed finish in the HCS Kansas City Major.

Acend has clearly dominated the Europe scene this year, with most of their victories coming against NAVI. They are one of four European teams that sealed a spot in the pool play of the HCS Orlando Major.

A top 12 finish in the event, which is scheduled to commence on September 23, will see Acend qualify for the 2022 Halo World Championship. 2017 was the last time the event was held, which will mean that this is their first chance of featuring in the final event of a competitive season.

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The organization is still yet to make a formal release on the roster change. However, the HCS has revealed the lineup alongside the 15 other teams competing in the EU HCS Pro Series this week. The scrim details made?available by Halo Data Hive also revealed that such a shift had occurred.

The highlight of last week’s opening tournament for split two of the Pro Series was Respectful’s journey. He and his new team, Online Warriors, made news after being discharged from NAVI after the Kansas City Major by seeking retribution on NAVI and defeating Acend’s original roster, a previously undefeated regional powerhouse. While Online Warrior’s run was over in the grand finals against Quadrant, Respectful had shown that he was still a valuable asset in Europe.

Acend’s Halo team now includes Respectful, Sica, Lqgend, and Snipedrone, due to this roster update.

Scrims have indeed proven to be a promising upgrade to Acend’s revamped lineup, defeating Quadrant and NAVI with ease. Last week’s scrim performances have blossomed into an opportunity to compete at a much higher level than previously, if Respectful’s time at the top of Halo can be transformed into domination equal to Acend’s original tournament streak in Europe. Despite the player move, they will be hoping to put in a strong performance against last week’s champions Quadrant and reassert themselves as Europe’s best.

In the HCS Europe Pro Series, Respectful’s new team jolted EU powerhouse Acend and exacted revenge on NAVI’s Halo roster.

Respectful has had an adventurous week. He and his new team, Online Warriors, squared off against NAVI in the winners’ bracket in round two of the?HCS Pro Series competition after being removed?from Natus Vincere’s Halo Infinite lineup following the team’s dismal performance in Kansas City.

They not only won the series against NAVI 2-1 with strong target mode wins, but they also defeated Acend in a 2-1 match to inflict on them their first-ever setback in a European event.

For the first time, the Acend roster will not be included in the winners’ bracket finals. Respectful and his team members, Phlux, and SoSnakey—will be faced against Quadrant instead.

Respectful had a point to prove, as seen by the stats from the NAVI vs. Online Warriors series. Respectful finished the set with a tremendous 1.6 K/D and yet the most kills in the lobby with 72. His teammates hovered around an average 1.0 K/D ratio. Regardless of the fact that blows were traded in the slaying department, numbers alone do not adequately reflect how thoroughly the Online Warriors won.

NAVI managed a 50-49 Slayer win on Aquarius to preserve their best-of-three series intact, but Online Warriors appeared in charge in the King of the Hill and Oddball games, when objective efficiency and team cooperation were key.

The loss of NAVI would have been an incredible?plot on its own, but the Online Warriors’ following clash against Acend was even more significant, given that Acend had never lost on home ground before. Acend had a perfect record in European events going into the match, with only a few blemishes due to less-than-stellar performances versus North American teams.

Whether it was the enthusiasm gained from their retaliation on NAVI or Acend’s faults, the Online Warriors put a stop to the run. Acend swept Online Warriors 250-45 in game one of Live Fire Strongholds. Many thought the series was already over, but a nail-biting Slayer on Catalyst game two came down to the wire before the Online Warriors snuck away with a 50-48 victory. Respectful was his team’s best performer once again, scoring 16 points to help his squad cross the finish line and retain their winner’s bracket chances afloat.

Even the Slayer had no idea how close the game three margins would be. In Oddball on Recharge, both sides took a round off each other, and the final round would be decided by time, with just a few points differentiating them.

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The franchise had maintained a spotless record since its creation on Dec. 14, 2021. It had won all regional tournaments, earning a total of approximately $56,075. That run was cut short on May 1, 2022, by the hands of a North American esports company, Pioneers.

The best of 5 ended in the favor of Pioneers (2-3) and Acend was eliminated from the HCS 2021-22: Kansas City Major. Sentinels won the title and the $140,000 first-place prize, while Cloud9, OpTic Gaming, and eUnited made up the top four.

The team that proved to be unbeatable, having not lost a single series in Europe, returned to online competition. In week one of the HCS Pro Series’ second split, Acend suffered a loss to Online Warriors.

It anticipated making it to the grand finals through the losers bracket. Acend, however, went head-to-head with Online Warriors in the losers bracket finals. The Warriors claimed the win again and relegated Acend to the third position.

While placing top three is not entirely terrible, the team is motivated differently. The franchise’s urge to make a stamp on the international esports scene drives them as they look to make a significant impact.

Many have assumed that Shaady was released because of their poor outing in the recent tournament. The players have jointly debunked the thought process as they released a statement to that effect.

The players stated that Shaady was not dropped because of the team’s outing in the latest tournament. The players also revealed that the team has not had the greatest chemistry since Raleigh. They went on to share that some things transpired during the LAN tournament, and while they thought they could move past it, it continued to fester.

“First, the most important thing to say is that we didn’t drop Shaady because of the latest tournament, we’ve been winning for 19 months and he is and always will be a part of it as much as we are,” Sica, Lqgend, Snipedrone, and Kronos said. “To be honest, the chemistry on the team hasn’t been working since Raleigh. There are some things that happened in this LAN and onwards and many of us thought about leaving the team or making changes at that point.”

They went on to further share that they had concealed it from the public and hoped that things will get better. While the team kept on winning, the relationship continued to go sour and Acend’s Halo fairytale came to an end.

“We kept all of this private, nothing from us that could lead anyone to think that our team was having issues and everyone kept thinking that Acend’s Halo fairytale won’t be over anytime soon,” the players said.

Reaching their breaking point, the players began to find it difficult to communicate amongst themselves properly. Some were said to be frustrated and others were mentally broken to the extent that winning meant nothing to the group. This, the players revealed was the cause of Shaady’s removal from the team.

“It became impossible to see eye to eye with this team… some felt frustrated, some felt mentally broken and victory couldn’t even heal us anymore,” the player said. “This is why we’ve decided to make a change, to learn what it is to strive for victory once again, to get our passion back, and to give a meaning to everything. We hope that this will make sense.”

There have been no talks of his replacement as many anticipate an addition to be made in the coming days. With HCS Pro Series resuming next week, Acend will be looking to sign a replacement as soon as possible.

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However, his plan to lure the Ascend player did not materialize as the offer was rejected. Although the tweet has since been deleted, cNed’s brother and manager, Alihan “deNc” ?pek, openly rejected the offer, stating that they are committed to seeing through Ascend’s restructuring process.

A screenshot that surfaced earlier today showed their exact response to Bleed eSports.

“Thanks for the offer, it’s a really nice offer. The Acend team is currently undergoing a restructuring in the squad. We are not interested at the moment, but maybe we will talk again in the future.”

After winning the VCT 2021 Championship in Berlin last year, cNed was slow to agree to re-sign with the team, which opened a window for the Singapore-based Bleed to present an offer.

Reports were making the rounds about the Turkish champ wanting a move to North America. 100 Thieves was one of the NA teams that had already indicated an interest in cNed.

It was revelation Monday for Bleed, as Goh also revealed the contract information of other European players. He revealed that he came close to signing Latvian player Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks for $650,000.

“Some insight on running it back with the same roster. We were very close to signing Ardiis with all parties being interested. Breaking point was the buyout that FPX offered was 5x the original buyout and was going to be EU’s highest as confirmed by several agencies.”

“Here’s to a more open Valorant transfer market. Ardiis move would have cost us a total of 650K USD a for (sic) 1 year contract.”

In their quest for European talents, the team has two players of European descent on their roster. The two players are both from Swedish origins, Jacob “pyth” Mouruj?rvi and Max “maxie” L?nnstr?m. Both players initially had issues entering the country but eventually made it through to help the team in the 2022 VCT Champions Tour.

Bleed eSports came close to qualifying for the Valorant Champions Tour Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík 2022 but collapsed towards the end of the Stage 1 Challengers. They had a great start, winning their two group stage matches and two upper-bracket knockout matches. Unfortunately, they were swept by Paper Rex in the upper-bracket finals.

The decisive blow came at the hands of XERXIA, who came from behind to win the lower-bracket finals. Bleed went home with $12,500 from the $150,000 prize pool and 55 points for VCT Circuit but failed to qualify for the Masters.

Perhaps their fate would have been different if they had cNed on their roster. It is worth pointing out that Acend had a worse run in their Stage 1 Challengers, failing to make it out of the group stage.

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ACEND vs TEAM LIQUID VALORANT BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

?Acend and Team Liquid will cross paths in the semi-finals of VALORANT Champions 2021, marking their first meeting since Team Liquid celebrated a 3-1 victory in the finals of Red Bull Home Ground #2 in November. With that, Liquid are 1-0 up in the head-to-head, but the fixture was not nearly as one-sided as the final score would suggest.

Team Liquid won that match with 15-13, 13-11, and 13-11, so while they were the better team, the game could have easily ended the other way had a couple of rounds ended differently. Regardless, we have no issues seeing Liquid priced as the favourites for this bout.

Team Liquid have been great this tournament, losing only one map across three outings and even that came against Sentinels (2-1) in the group stage. Most notably, Liquid swept Cloud9 with 13-10 and 13-11 on Wednesday, largely thanks to Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom, who posted 1.54 and 1.24 ratings across the series.

Like Liquid, Acend topped their group with a flawless record, while their most notable result was a 2-0 sweep of Team Envy. To that, Acend added a quarter-finals sweep of Team Secret (13-9, 13-6) on Wednesday with the help of Mehmet Ya??z “cNed” ?pek and Aleksander “zeek” Zygmunt, who ended the series with 1.50 and 1.45 ratings respectively.

Talent-wise, you could say Liquid are stronger, but Acend are on a hot streak, having suffered only one loss (1-3 against Liquid) since reaching the quarter-finals in Berlin. Expect a closely contested series with all three maps played.

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