The new year is here and the new VCT season is approaching rapidly. Even with the fast pace, the Valorant world doesn't stop creating new headlines. Here's what you might have missed this past week in Valorant news.

This week's edition covers news from Jan. 01 - Jan. 07

• Last Week: News Almost Missed Dec. 31

Roster Changes

• / "keenc" and "PowerPixele" announced their benching from Complexity GX3 Complexity GX3 North America Unranked clawdia Claudia Che Karra Katherine Lee rayse L4CE Lacey Dilworth Jazzyk1ns Jasmine Manankil as they search for new opportunities.
• Ninjas in Pyjamas entered the European GC scene signing the core from Rix.GG Lightning Rix.GG Lightning Inactive .
• Acend Acend Europe Rank #33 ALIVE Gilad Hakim musashi Alessio Xhaferi Br0die Jack Emmott baddyG Kamil Graniczka B3ASTM0D3 Ivan Ledić MONSTEERR Ondřej Petrů released Vakaris "vakk" Bebravičius.
• / Milan "Milan" de Meij joined Giants Gaming Giants Gaming Europe Rank #24 Fit1nho Adolfo Gallego nukkye Žygimantas Chmieliauskas hoody Aaro Peltokangas rhyme Emir Muminovic Cloud Kirill Nehozhin as their analyst following his release from Acend the day prior.
• UCAM Tokiers UCAM Tokiers Europe Rank #98 YuNo Eloy García Burgueño iDex Sammy Van de Weghe Flickless Karel Maeckelbergh Famsii Ramses Koivukangas Quick Fabián Pereira released three inactive members in Adam "adm1k" Siemieniec, Maks "kamyk" Rychlewski, and Alexandre "Phatt" Silva. In their absence, the team signed Sammy "iDex" Van de Weghe, Eloy "YuNo" García Burgueño, Ramses "Famsii" Koivukangas, and Karel "Flickless" Maeckelbergh.
• who cars? who cars? Europe Rank #67 Masked Mikkel Fuglsang Davud David Alexander Vig mishu Julius Thorslund Kyhl AKIMB0 Benjamin Kronborg Radski Conrad Micheal Raduchowski parted ways with longstanding Assistant Coach/Analyst Adrian "NFist" Czerniło.
• VCL France: Révolution announced Valorians Valorians Inactive Yotaa Yota Kaouachi MateliaN Elian Romagnoli Kiiyo Yoan Marchesin ORI4K ' signing to 3DMAX 3DMAX Europe Rank #209 M4CHINA Ouali Manset MateliaN Elian Romagnoli blitzeN Anthony Boquillard Yotaa Yota Kaouachi Dawn Tristan Bornet .
• Longstanding Finish team, OnlyFins OnlyFins Inactive rEplan Ville Ijäs Feeqn Okko Pajari mwc Mark Salur Vuubit Roope Eilola has announced the departure of their roster.
• SAW SAW Europe Rank #7 Addicted Eduardo Torres DaviH David Cruz tomaszy Tomás Machado Fizzy David Figueiredo Bati Miguel Batista welcomed an all-new Portuguese roster after a year away from the scene. The roster consists of the core from Arroz Arroz Inactive Zino Paulo Figueiredo Bati Miguel Batista DaviH David Cruz tomaszy Tomás Machado VTaguT Rui Ribeiro , as well as Eduardo "Addicted" Torres and David "Fizzy" Figueiredo.
• GTZ Esports GTZ Esports Europe Rank #11 starkk Gabriel Marques OLIZERA Diogo Oliveira k1zpawn Ian Rebelo kamo Kamil Frąckowiak RobbieBk Robbie Boerkamp have signed the former DSYRE DSYRE Europe Rank #29 xazyy Alejandro Giudice caydeN Yari Olmi Tag Alessandro Voci wackie Rikardo Birjukov feqew Lukas Petrauskas Zanx and Ian "k1zpawn" Rebelo for 2023.
• Annika "mediKa" Lambertz announced her departure from Acend Rising Acend Rising Europe Unranked amy Amy Lai h6tedthemost Lada Kozhemyakina jademwah Jade Duffy .
• / Team Queso Team Queso Europe Rank #40 UNFAKE Bartosz Bernacki neptuNo Alberto González H1ber Joona Parviainen PoPiFresH Mario González lowel Christian García Antorán announced the arrival of Alberto "neptuNo" González, Joona "H1ber" Parviainen, Mario "PoPiFresH" González, and Christian "lowel" García Antorán for their 2023 roster.
• NOM Esports NOM Esports Europe Rank #226 n0xville UndeadXP Saar Israeli Rave splinter doNinja Shay Mandil promoted their junior team to the main roster ahead of VCL East.
• Fenerbahçe Esports Fenerbahçe Esports Europe Rank #32 4woodanet Burak Emirhan Asrak Mykoz Mert Demirci ip0TT Yiğit Karadeniz Padisah Onur Dönmez Best Bartu Keskin w0zzip Zafer Gungor welcomed an all-Turkish 2023 roster.
• B4 Angels B4 Angels Inactive announced the departure of Camila "sayuri" Obam.
• Oasis Gaming Oasis Gaming Asia-Pacific Rank #23 Draxii Jose Eduardo D. Jamir Nexi Nathaniel Cabero Georggyyy George Lachica xavi8k Xavier Juan Wild0reoo Bhreyanne Christ Reyes markyy Mark Anthony Tuling rebuilt their roster ahead of the 2023 VCL season.
• Team RA'AD Team RA'AD MENA Rank #1 Depyro Nour Sherif Shniider Yousef Osama SkaNoodles Yousef Mohamed Sand Mark Emad falltw Alexandr Chernukhin neveR phaze Karim Fouad parted with Omar "chrollo" Hussein.
• BOOM Esports BOOM Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #3 blaZek1ng Gary Dastin Cud Thomas Alfiantino Famouz Fikri Zaki Hamdani severiNe Michael Winata Shiro Hildegard Arnaldo BerserX Rizkie Adla Kusuma welcomed Thomas "Cud" Alfiantino to their 2023 roster.
• YaLLa Esports YaLLa Esports Inactive ShawateRR Mohammad Yousef Near Fahad Salem Kitkat Mohamed Alnuaimi B4HA Baha Mohamad Oqap ISSAA Issa Murad VIPP33R Omar Adwan parted with the remainder of their roster.
• DRX DRX Korea Rank #1 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Rb Goo Sang-Min (구상민) Zest Kim Ki-seok (김기석) BuZz Yu Byung-chul (유병철) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) announced the transfer of Kang "BeYN" Ha-bin (강하빈) to Maru Gaming Maru Gaming Korea Rank #7 Persia Yang Zi-on (양쯔온) Hermes Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱) Felix Park Hyeon-ho (박현호) HANN Kim Dong-ho (김동호) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) .
• In more DRX DRX Korea Rank #1 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Rb Goo Sang-Min (구상민) Zest Kim Ki-seok (김기석) BuZz Yu Byung-chul (유병철) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) news, the team has extended the contracts of their coaching staff aswell as Kim "Zest" Ki-seok (김기석), Goo "Rb" Sang-Min (구상민), and Kim "MaKo" Myeong-gwan (김명관) until 2026.
• DRX Changers DRX Changers Japan Unranked dori YuRiHaNa SeoeuN Jeong Seo-eun (정서은) Healing Won Yoo-jin (원유진) Yue Aika welcomed a sixth player to round out their roster in "YuRiHaNa" .

Results & Standings

• / CVH Winter Warmup Invitational winner: TAMU Maroon TAMU Maroon North America Rank #6 Thieney Ethan Dinh Bing Chilling Anthony Huang Dill Dylan Nguyen aGGroh Dylan Thomas dam Jeet Walia KHS Nabber Nicholas Barrionuevo NXBLE Joe Maldonado | runner-up: UWaterloo Gold UWaterloo Gold North America Unranked Toph Cai Devin Cai light Davis Bray Smoodies Havex Jason Huang
• BEACON Open Split 2: Finals - Division 1 remaining teams: VAMONOS VAMONOS Europe Rank #45 Zik Sigurd Jensen Klusia Jonas Colkær Thomsen sunshine Benjamin Hornshøj Nielsen Vorwenn Tomas Baldrich Nille Nichlas Busk , Les Petit Bouffons Les Petit Bouffons Europe Rank #26 vong Vong Nguyen Luzuh Joseph Loose KRAY Calum Knight Russ Russel Mendes L1NK Travis Mendoza
• BEACON Open Split 2: Finals - Division 2 remaining teams: valozone valozone Europe Rank #124 Cintyx Christopher Heiland zRai Even A.Brevik Spolen Alexander Spolén Breinholt xMartux , GOODFOR2 GOODFOR2 Europe Rank #46 Geni Jouko-Matti Raskinen Gunners chanformer Joshua Chan szoren Søren-Emil Kold Thomsen ARGENT Berk Deniz Özdamar
• BEACON Open Split 2: Finals - Division 3 winner: YUNGSTARZ YUNGSTARZ Europe Rank #62 Apyr benzki Ben Price Cal Callum Burgoyne thooOOM Thom Slaghekke brazy Lars Verduin | runner-up: BROTHAS BROTHAS Europe Rank #155 TDS Tommi Severinkangas raaka w1lp lowi
• Project V: XMG Sector Cup #2 winner: Dogs Dogs Inactive YoungOne Varlas Luca Di Benedetto RxYaL Onur Yilmaz quantumrino BALJEED George John | runner-up: Laterious Laterious Europe Unranked michey Michael Nickel Belyaks1 Raio Dansbergs W4nteD Giuliano Sotgiu Nitro Karol Przedpełski Daveeski David Pawlowski
• VEU S2 - Stage 1 WC#1 winner: armani briefs armani briefs Europe Rank #42 Daisuke Alexander Gushin prackz Kasparas Mazys Kajuks Kajus Skurvydas 1nput alain Ion Miscu | runner-up: incognito incognito Europe Rank #64 nyczu Szymon Kulik darkosek kaajak PROFEK Sferon Tomasz Biniak
• / VCL Malaysia/Signapore's open qualifiers kicked off.
• VCL Indonesia began their open qualifiers.
• / VCL Taiwan/Hong Kong started their open qualifier.
• VALORANT Vietnam: Rising Stars entered their first week of competition.

Other News & Rumours

• A report by Dot Esports has detailed that Jovanni "Jovi" Vera is set to return to North American coaching with Evil Geniuses GC Evil Geniuses GC North America Rank #148 showliana Juliana Maransaldi theia Melisa Mundorff Stefanie Stefanie Jones . Upon his arrival, Christine "potter" Chi will be relieved of her head coach duties as she prepares the male roster for VCT Americas.
• In another report by Dot Esports, many details were released about free-agent teams approaching the first Open Qualifier. Disguised Disguised North America Rank #9 Exalt Drake Branly steel Joshua Nissan Genghsta Amgalan Nemekhbayar XXiF Damion Cook clear Joseph Allen has been signed by Disguised Toast's organization, STEALING LUNCH MONEY STEALING LUNCH MONEY Inactive Jonaaa6 Jonard Penaflor Lear Dayton Akau zeldris Elijah Hawkins PureVNS Vincent Nguyen nillyaz Chase Linder is set to get picked up by Indian team OREsports, as well as the deal with Dark Ratio Dark Ratio North America Rank #7 Ange Adam Milian Trick Justin Sears ZexRow Anthony Colandro Drone Taylor Johnson Will William Cheng and MAD Lions MAD Lions Inactive KRAY Calum Knight has potentially fallen through.
• According to a report by Blix.GG, ex- FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #2 Leo Leo Jannesson Derke Nikita Sirmitev Boaster Jake Howlett Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder players Enzo "Enzo" Mestari, Martin "MAGNUM" Penkov, and James "Mistic" Orfila have reached a verbal agreement to play for Apeks in the 2023 Polaris League.
• Another report by Blix.GG has detailed that DAMWON Gaming DAMWON Gaming Inactive Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) allow Park Sang-wook (박상욱) exy Park Geun-cheol (박근철) Estrella Park Gun (박건) Esperanza Jeong Jin-cheol (정진철) are set to add Ko "Sylvan" Young-sub (고영섭) to their VCL Korea roster. The team will operate as a six-man roster, although there is uncertainty about how long the six will last.