UPDATE (August 10th 2020): Team Liquid have confirmed the signing of the Fish123 Valorant roster and ScreaM.
Original article (published July 13th 2020): Esports powerhouse Team Liquid are on the verge of announcing the arrival of UK Valorant players from Fish123, according to reports.
1pv and ESPN Esports are reporting that Team Liquid have signed the players, along with Belgian CSGO pro turned Valorant player Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom to round off the roster.
Several sources have also told Esports News UK it’s likely this is happening.
Fish123 consists of UK Valorant players Adam ‘ec1s’ Eccles, Dom ‘soulcas’ Sulcas, James ‘Kryptix’ Affleck and Travis ‘L1NK’ Mendoza. Their coach is Connor ‘Sliggy’ Blomfield.
The Fish123 Valorant roster previously included Ardis ‘ardiis’ Svarenieks, who left the side before being accused of cheating – allegations that he denied.
Fish123 have been making waves in the Valorant esports scene as it begins to take off, having won and performed well in various early tournaments.
So far there’s been no official word from Team Liquid and Fish123 on the move.
The possible move adds further hype to the potential of competitive Valorant talent from the UK and Europe, with the likes of Boaster, Onscreen and others playing and producing content around the game at a high level.
Fish123 are due to take part in the $50,000 WePlay! Valorant Invitational this week, alongside orgs including G2, NiP and others.
Riot’s tactical 5v5 shooter Valorant launched in early June following months of hype and beta keys handed out to viewers watching streams of the game on Twitch. It was first announced last year as part of League of Legends’ 10-year anniversary celebrations, when it was known as ‘Project A’.
Last month, Riot announced the Valorant Ignition Series, an official partner program where Riot spotlights a few tournaments each week.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
