Cover-Credits:
On 22nd August, Valorant pro player Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin announced on Twitter that he is open to offers as he has parted ways with Master 3 Champions (M3C) after almost a year with the team. He is now an unrestricted free agent. The pro player rose to prominence after the then Gambit Esports won the 2021 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Stage 1 Masters and also lifted the Stage 3 Masters Berlin champion trophy. Notably that year, the team also placed second in the international Valorant Champions tournament. nAts has always stood out in the European Valorant scene as an impactful controller player.
nAts announces departure from M3C roster
On Twitter, nAts wrote, “Sometimes we’ve to make tough decisions. So, it’d be honest to announce that I’m not an M3C player anymore. I’m deeply grateful to all [of] my team for these years. But now it’s time for changes.” The decision came at a time when the team failed to make it out of the VCT Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ).
At the start of the VCT EMEA 2022 tournament, Gambit announced that its Valorant roster would continue to compete under the name of Masters 3 Champions or M3C. In March, the organization released a statement, “This continues to be a very difficult time for everyone, not least for all of us with family and friends living in Ukraine. We’ve therefore taken the decision to empower our players, Redgar, Chronicle, d3ffo, Sheydos, and nAts, to take part in the upcoming VCT competition as an independent team.”
Notably, on 6th August, nAts stated that the entire team of M3C were free agents and that they would still compete as M3C in the upcoming tournaments. He added. “A special big thanks to Gambit Esports for contributing so much effort to each of us. It was a great honor to be a part of such an amazing organization. No doubt, it was nice to be part of a solid team sharing together victories and defeats. Huge thank you.”
The players who are currently in the M3C Valorant roster are:
Igor “Redgar” Vlasov
Bogdan “Sheydos” Naumov
Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov
Yaroslav “Jady” Nikolaev
Semyon “purp0” Borchev
M3C was in form in the first few series in the VCT EMEA LCQ as it defeated Acend, OG LDN UTD, and Team Liquid in the upper bracket. However, the team lost to Team Liquid in the rematch in the grand final with a 1-3 score and did not qualify for Valorant Champions 2022.
Fans can only wait and see if nAts decides to join a franchised organization in the Valorant scene as Riot Games is introducing its new partnership program for Valorant esports.
