Fnatic make changes to Valorant roster: Derke leaves for Vitality, hiro and mini leave, kaajak and crashies join

Dom Sacco, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 19/05/2025

A number of changes are being made to Fnatic’s Valorant roster for 2025.

Russian-Finnish star Valorant player Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev (pictured, centre) has left Fnatic for Team Vitality.

The duelist initially posted a tweet saying: “Let the off season begin. Restricted free agent, open to [playing in] EMEA, NA and APAC [regions]. Highly motivated and dedicated to win.”

Fnatic’s UK Assistant Coach Jacob ‘mini’ Harris responded: “Couldn’t have done the past few years without you. Will be rooting for you wherever you choose to go.”

Fnatic’s Valorant Team Director Colin ‘CoJo’ Johnson added: “We’ve had a lot of discussions and reviews internally since Champions has ended, looking at all possibilities.

“We decided that it’s best to allow Derke to explore his opportunities while we explore what the future of FNC Valorant can look like. I’m confident in a positive outcome for both parties no matter what happens. Anyone interested in Derke – feel free to reach out at [email protected] to discuss!”

The news got Fnatic fans talking on social media, with Derke’s teammate and UK player Boaster trending on Twitter.

Fans spoke about the possibility of Derke leaving and how it would be a huge loss for Fnatic, in this post on the Fnatic subreddit and this one on the Valorant competitive subreddit.

Derke first joined Fnatic back in 2021, not long after Boaster joined, making them the longest-serving Valorant players at Fnatic so far.

Update (September 3rd 2024): Fnatic have now let go of hiro.

He said: “Thanks to Fnatic for everything, I will always apreciate the whole experience and the opportunity that was given to me. I’m proud to have been able to lift a trophy with this team and i really enjoyed my time with Fnatic.”

Doma‘s contract has also ended:

And UK assistant coach mini is taking a break from coaching in 2025:

Fnatic have also added kaajak and crashies to their Valorant roster, and Milan as assistant coach.

They also brought on board Sayonara temporarily for the 2024 off-season.

Leo remains a part of Fnatic, with an update from Fnatic’s Valorant Team Director Colin ‘CoJo’ Johnson here:

The news comes after the conclusion of the top-tier world championship, Valorant Champions 2024, which was won by Chinese org EDG. They defeated EMEA org Team Heretics 3-2, with Heretics’ UK player Benjyfishy narrowly missing out on a major trophy.

Fnatic exited Valorant Champions 2024 in the lower bracket quarter finals, with a 2-1 loss to Sentinels.

Fnatic have had a bit of a rollercoaster year in Valorant, failing to qualify for Masters Madrid and win a trophy at Masters Shanghai and Champions. They did, however, win back-to-back VCT EMEA tournaments in 2024.

Now they face the difficult process of finding the winning formula and final roster for 2025.

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Dom Sacco, Senior Editor

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He has almost two decades of experience in journalism, and left Esports News UK in June 2025. 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 also previously worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation.

All Posts By Dom Sacco