Fnatic have benched Martin “Magnum” Peňkov and Andrey “BraveAF” Gorchakov ahead of Stage 2 of the Valorant Champions Tour, the team announced on Friday, April 22.
Magnum last competed with the team in his short-lived run at the VCT Masters Reykjavík, which BraveAF did not participate in due to visa issues and the travel restrictions in place for Russian citizens.
Before the event, BraveAF was also suspended by Fnatic for making comments about the Russian invasion of Ukraine that were posted online.
Fnatic make more changes after returning from Iceland
Enzo ‘Fearoth’ Mestari filled in for BraveAF in Iceland, with Joona ‘H1ber’ Parviainen brought in as an emergency replacement thanks to a positive test from Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev.
Fnatic is switching from Magnum and BraveAF
In a statement on the movesFnatic said that Jake “Boaster” Howlett will transition to a supporting role, while James “Mistic” Orfila will assume BraveAF’s flex role.
Updates to our Valorant team: Magnum and BraveAF will be moved to the inactive roster.
Both @just_magnum and @brave are incredible players and we want to thank them for everything they brought to the team.
More details here: pic.twitter.com/itEubXO6iS
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) April 22, 2022
The organization said the team is looking to add more consistent firepower to Magnum and that BraveAF cannot remain on the roster due to uncertainty over its availability to participate in boot camps and in-person tournaments.
“As we continued to assess how we could keep BraveAF’s place in the roster, it became increasingly clear that his position was unfortunately untenable,” said Colin Johnson, Fnatic’s Valorant Team Director.
“This is due to a lack of clarity as to whether we can get to future boot camps, live events and even our ability to continue paying him due to political restrictions.”
Magnum joined Fnatic in April 2021 as one of the first steps the organization took outside of signing the SUMN FC roster. BraveAF was Fnatic’s latest acquisition, signing in January 2022 to replace Domagoj “doma” Fancev.
Fnatic needs to find two new players ahead of VCT Stage 2 EMEA Challengers, which is set to begin on May 13, 2022.
Fnatic Valorant List:
- Jake “Boaster” Howlett
- James “Mistic” Orfila
- Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev
- Tom ‘otom’ Hart (substitute)
- Martin ‘Magnum’ Peňkov (on the bench)
- Andrey ‘BraveAF’ Gorchakov (on the bench)
https://www.dexerto.com/valorant/fnatic-bench-valorant-duo-ahead-of-vct-stage-2-1809888/ Fnatic benches Valorant duo ahead of VCT Stage 2