M80 M80 North America Rank #20 Kyu Mirel Braco Hrustemovic Spaz Adam Laamoumi Boni NiSMO Marc-Andre Tayar alvinboy Alvin Hong has announced the arrival of former Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #4 Reduxx Yassin Aboulalazm Jerrwin Gurjiwan Gill Victor Victor Wong stand-in johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid cortezia Gabriel Cortez JonahP Jonah Pulice head coach Adam "kaplan" Kaplan, and the return of Marc-Andre "NiSMO" Tayar, who returns to the stage after retiring earlier this year, former Sentinels in-game leader Mirel "Kyu" Braco Hrustemovic, who returns to the M80 banner after competing for the team in 2025, and former Nightblood Gaming Nightblood Gaming North America Rank #14 sonofcar zeek Burair Ali monSi Ludovic Lefebvre practo Christopher Ryu FireBallOps Cameron Tomaselli player Adam "Spaz" Laamoumi.

The Challengers squad's rebuild kicked off when it parted ways with Derrek "Derrek" Ha, who has since joined QoR QoR North America Rank #10 Derrek Derrek Ha moose Kaleb Jayne flyuh Xavier Carlson kumi Notexxd Jaden Anderson , the NA ACE Stage 1 champions.

kaplan and Kyu departed Sentinels after a disappointing start to the 2026 season, which began with a 9th-10th place finish at Americas Kickoff. In addition to shedding light on the team's group stage finish at Champions Paris, CEO Rob Moore also criticized the coach's personnel changes, saying "roster decisions kaplan has made to address these issues have sent us in the wrong direction."

With M80, the pair has an opportunity to bounce back with one of the most storied tier two organizations in North American Valorant. While the org has finished second in two of the last three Americas Ascension tournaments, the M80 banner has developed and been worn by some key figures in NA Valorant, such as johnqt , eeiu , and koalanoob .

"Some of my most fun days coaching have been in the last couple weeks," kaplan said. "These guys get what it means to be a team, and they know how to have fun while doing it. Stoked to show what we're capable of, and I'm grateful to everyone at M80 for placing their trust in us."

Joining kaplan in his first stage with the squad will not just be Kyu, but also NiSMO, a well-travelled veteran who previously played for M80 for two seasons and most recently competed for Cubert Academy Cubert Academy Inactive zander Alexander Dituri stand-in nightz Christian Smith in 2025. He retired earlier in the year and assumed M80's vacant head coaching role, but now returns to competitive play after just one stage in the coaching booth.

"Stepping away from competing to focus on coaching gave me a lot of clarity," NiSMO said. "It wasn't an easy choice to make, but after a lot of reflection, I know I'm not done competing yet. I'm returning to play, with a new perspective and a stronger understanding of the game. This feels like the right move for me right now."

With Spaz in Stage 1, Nightblood was one of the last teams eliminated in the Swiss Stage, narrowly missing out on the playoffs. He's well-traveled, having played for Moist x Shopify Moist x Shopify Inactive Pa1nt Amarri Peak Spaz Adam Laamoumi Paincakes Jake Hass BcJ Brendan Jensen brawk Brock Somerhalder and Shopify Rebellion Black Shopify Rebellion Black North America Rank #13 zander Alexander Dituri satellite exa Kim Lee-hwan (김이환) Smoke NaturE Nicholas Garrison in the past. He likely joins as the team's Controller, a role that he has primarily played throughout the course of his five-plus-year career.

M80's Stage 1 left more to be desired, as the team narrowly qualified through the Swiss Stage with a 4-3 record before finishing 5th-6th in the playoffs, taking home just 40 circuit points. Since M80's elimination, the org has parted ways with Pa1nt , gMd , and the aforementioned Derrek. As of the writing of this article, M80's five-man lineup is now finalized.

M80 M80 North America Rank #20 Kyu Mirel Braco Hrustemovic Spaz Adam Laamoumi Boni NiSMO Marc-Andre Tayar alvinboy Alvin Hong 's full roster is now: