Gentle Mates Gentle Mates Europe Rank #9 Proxh Yusuf Emre Tunc starxo Patryk Kopczynski marteen Martin Pátek H1ber Joona Parviainen Minny Patrik Hušek announced a late roster change with the return of Joona "H1ber" Parviainen to tier one and the benching of Taranvir "bipo" Singh ahead of the VCT EMEA Stage 2 Play-Ins.

bipo bipo is seen onstage at VALORANT Masters Santiago Playoffs Stage Day 3 (Photo: Riot Games)

Initially drawing attention to himself while on MOUZ MOUZ Inactive , bipo dominated tier two on Duelist, which caught Gentle Mates' eye. The organization would later sign him ahead of the 2026 VCT season.

Riot's removal of KOI KOI Inactive as a VCT Partner opened the door for Gentle Mates' promotion, giving bipo his first real shot on the VCT stage. The roster made a deep run, reaching the upper-bracket final of EMEA Kickoff, losing to the newly promoted squad that took over BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #3 Crewen Ali Eren Sargin Lar0k Yusuf Kaan Kanber Loita Utku Kart Rosé Eren Erzan lovers rock Umut Pekdoğan . The French organization beat FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #15 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Cloud Kirill Nehozhin Alfajer Emir Ali Beder in the middle final, qualifying for Gentle Mates' first-ever international appearance in VCT.

At Masters Santiago, Gentle Mates defeated China powerhouses EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) Jieni7 Zhang Juntai (张君泰) and regional rival Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #13 purp0 Semyon Borchev nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin kamo Kamil Frąckowiak trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Kicks Kimmie Laasner before losing both matches in the playoffs against All Gamers All Gamers China Rank #5 Shr1mp Yang Yong (杨勇) K1ra Huang Zhihao (黄志豪) Bai Zhang Zeyang (张泽洋) f4ngeer Roman Smirnov iamgrq Gao Ruiqi (高锐琦) and eventual Masters Santiago winners, Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #1 WoohyuN Moon Woo-hyun (문우현) Xross Jeonghwan (정환) Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) .

Since then, Gentle Mates finished Group Alpha with a 2-3 record in Stage 1 , where Eternal Fire Eternal Fire Europe Rank #18 Spear Arda Burak Kartal audaz Soner Ekiz Favian Enes Yiğiter echo Ömür Serkan Şenol nekky Anıl Dağdeviren dominated the team in the playoffs. The squad bounced back, making a deep run in EWC 2026, losing to eventual finalists NRG NRG North America Rank #2 keiko Georgio Sanassy brawk Brock Somerhalder mada Adam Pampuch skuba Logan Jenkins Ethan Ethan Arnold . The organization currently sits 2-3 in Stage 2, fighting for a Champions spot in the Play-Ins.

Set to replace bipo, H1ber brings tier-one experience from stints with FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #15 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Cloud Kirill Nehozhin Alfajer Emir Ali Beder , Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #2 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen PROFEK Dawid Święć Derke Nikita Niko Sirmitev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu , and KOI, most recently earning a sub role with Finland Finland Inactive hoody Aaro Peltokangas Snowi Otto Rautiainen Jamppi Elias Olkkonen Derke Nikita Niko Sirmitev iluri Ilari Puranen Famsii Ramses Valentino Erasmus Koivukangas H1ber Joona Parviainen , who received a direct invitation to the Esports Nation Cup. His résumé includes a Masters Reykjavík appearance with FNATIC, adding international tournament experience to an already experienced Gentle Mates roster. Vitality dropped H1ber before the start of VCT LOCK//IN 2023, meaning he'll make his VCT partnership era debut at the beginning of Play-Ins.

h1ber H1ber is seen onstage playing for FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #15 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Cloud Kirill Nehozhin Alfajer Emir Ali Beder at Masters Reykjavik (Photo: Riot Games)

H1ber most recently played for British Challengers side Twisted Saints Esports Twisted Saints Esports Europe Rank #79 Luvjix Luboš Jíra 77even Richard Venskevychius DaGG3r Danylo Chub MonOkson Eugene Nosko in the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier, missing out on reaching the Play-Ins. Now, he will get his shot in the Play-Ins with Gentle Mates.

H1ber and Gentle Mates will enter the Play-Ins in the upper quarterfinals, where they will face the winner of FNATIC and Enterprise Esports Enterprise Esports Europe Rank #1 MAGNUM Martin Penkov iluri Ilari Puranen Lime Jacob Foster paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski kozzy Denis Stefan Aionitoaei .

Gentle Mates is now: