After four years of competing and over one year of absence from the stage, Leo "Leo" Jannesson has stepped away from competitive Valorant.

“Whilst the last year hasn't been what we or Leo had hoped for, we are incredibly proud that Leo's career was with us and for all the achievements we had with him on our roster,” FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder stated in their announcement. “For now, Leo will be stepping away from VALORANT and we wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”

After first gaining notoriety as a player with bonk bonk Inactive juseu Elric Belland and later Guild Esports Guild Esports Inactive , Leo joined a star-studded FNATIC lineup at the end of 2022. He played an integral part in what remains the most dominant season of any roster in the game's history, winning back-to-back international trophies at LOCK//IN São Paulo and Masters Tokyo with undefeated runs in both events.

Individually, Leo also cemented himself as the blueprint for Initiator players around the world, earning the title of MVP at LOCK//IN and ending Tokyo with the second-highest rating at the event behind his MVP teammate Emir "Alfajer" Ali Beder.

Leo holding Masters Tokyo trophy One of the five first and only players to this day to claim back-to-back international titles. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

Following a fourth-place finish at Champions 2023, the FNATIC superteam stuck together for 2024 with sights set on returning to the summit. While they still performed well regionally, they struggled to recapture their peak, missing out on Masters Madrid and exiting in the top eight at Masters Shanghai.

Masters Shanghai turned out to be Leo's final appearance on the stage; he stepped down from FNATIC's active roster in June 2024 due to health issues, with the expectation of returning once he had recovered. However, he remained too unwell to return and now enters retirement after a year of inactivity.

With the announcement of his retirement, many of Leo's former teammates expressed their best wishes to him going into the future.

“Proud to have been your IGL and your teammate,” said Jake "Boaster" Howlett.

Alfajer added, “Such amazing years together, such a good friend…thanks for all the things [we've] been through together.”

Despite his involuntary absence, Leo will be remembered as one of the most skilled and decorated players the game has ever had to offer. His former coach Jacob "Mini" Harris asserted, “Leo set the standard for how great Valorant should be played and most still don't come close.”

FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder is now:

  • Jake "Boaster" Howlett
  • Austin "crashies" Roberts
  • Kajetan "kaajak" Haremski
  • Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov
  • Emir "Alfajer" Ali Beder
  • Colin "CoJo" Johnson (Manager)
  • Milan "Milan" de Meij (Head coach)
  • Benjamin "Scuttt" Hutchinson (Assistant coach)
  • Philipp "Szed" Schickor (Performance coach)