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Spanish esports outfit Giant Gaming have revealed their complete Valorant team ahead of the 2023 Valorant Championship Tour.
On Thursday, November 10 the organization released a video via its official Twitter page revealing the list of players to represent them in the international scene.
This included Adolfo “Fit1nho” Gallego who has been on the team since last year, Retired Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Žygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas, former Gen.G Esports player Emir “rhyme” Muminovic,
Russian player Kirill “Cloud” Nehozhin and former G2 Esports player Aaro “hoody” Peltokangas. Also joining the team as their head coach is former G2 Esports Russian coach Daniil “pipsoN” Meshcheryakov.
G2 Esports did not make the Riot partnership for the forthcoming year, which has led to their Valorant team members taking a run at other partnered organizations such as Giant Gaming.
The EMEA team made its debut in the Valorant scene in 2020, but has managed to amass great success despite its short stint in the game. The team has played incredibly well both on the domestic and international stages. At the 2021 EMEA VCT Giant Gaming came out earning a 5th-6th at the Challengers playoffs.
The team’s new coach, PipsoN, is a former CS:GO coach and has recently represented several esports teams from various regions, such as Orgless, G2 Esports. He can also be said to be a returning coach, having coached the Giants’ Gaming Valorant team in 2021. As a coach, the 27-year-old has had his fair share of ups and downs in tournaments; while he has led his teams to victories, he has also overseen disappointing play. The 2022 VCT EMEA Last Chance Qualifier saw him guide G2 Esports to a 3rd place finish.
Nukkye, on the other hand, is a Lithuanian former CS:GO player who started his esports professional career as early as 2016 but only transitioned to Valorant in 2020. And ever since, he has represented top teams such as Team Heretics and, most recently, G2 Esports. The 25-year-old versatile player also competed in the 2022 VCT: VCT Stage 1 Master Reykjavik, in which they came in 5th or 6th place in the match. Nukkye has now been assigned to play the flex role for Giant Gaming.
Rhyme, who will take on the controller role in his new team, is also a former CS:GO player and a Norwegian national who has been a member of some top teams such as Ninjas in Pyjamas, Gen.G Esports, and he played in Funplus Phoenix about two months ago as a substitute in the 2022 Valorant Champions. Rhyme is also the in-game leader of the newly formed roster.
Cloud, who will be the primary initiator for the team, began his professional career early in the last year while playing with Crowcrowd. He has competed on numerous occasions on international stages. In addition, he has won the Most Valuable Player title at the 2021 VCT: CIS Stage 3 Challenger 1.
Hoody is a Finland national who also transitioned from CS:GO to Valorant, like his current teammates rhyme and nuykkye.started He has competed for teams like Orgless, G2 Esports, and in 2021 he had a 10-month stint with Giant Gaming.
Fit1nho, who has been on the team the longest, has been tasked with the role of primary duelist. He has participated in the team through tons of tournaments such as the 2021 VCT, the LVP Genesis Cup Visión and lots more.
The newly put-together team will play for the first time at the Kickoff tournament of the 2023 VCT, which is scheduled to be held in February in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
