Franchise hits hard: Optic’s Era might come to an end

On the Richard Lewis Show, Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker stated that the squad will probably break up when discussing Optic’s future in Valorant.

With 1250 Circuit Points, OpTic Gaming were the most dominant Valorant lineup in North America and among the top teams worldwide this year. The squad placed second twice in the NA Challengers circuit while winning VCT Masters Reykjavik in April 2022. The North American team qualified for the VCT Champions as well, and after playing LOUD in one of the season’s greatest finals, they came in second place.

Having failed to be selected for VALORANT partnerships, OpTic Gaming’s commitment to Valorant is nearly over, and fans are unlikely to see the fierce lineup fight together in VCT 2023. Shortly after OpTic was officially dropped from the partnership list, Victor Wong, Austin “crashies” Roberts, Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen, Pujan “FNS” Mehta and superstar yay declared that they are free agents and seeking new homes. While other members and the organization itself remain silent, Yay spoke about Optic’s situation on The Richard Lewis Show, stating that the lineup would probably split up.

 

“We are talking to a few different people… but it’s really hard, unfortunately,” yay said on The Richard Lewis Show last night. “For us, who were succeeding and doing really well, to pay that much money… it would be really hard, and most likely, we would have to split up.”  -yay on Optic’s future

Will OpTic’s VALORANT roster survive the partnership fiasco?

According to a report that surfaced earlier this month, TSM was interested in purchasing the entire OpTic roster if OpTic didn’t get a partnership. However as the franchising process completely unfolded, TSM was also missing from the partnered team list along with OpTic.

Currently, the team doesn’t have many options to stay together, especially since a buyout will cost the buying team millions. However, there are only two organizations in NA that could be interested in taking the optic roster on. They are both capable to pay the heavy buyout and in need of a talented roster.

 

Evil Geniuses has a long track record of featuring top esports players in its lineups across various titles.  The organization is home to some of the greatest esports players, including Timothy “autimatic” Ta, Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen, and Jeong “Impact” Eon-yeong. But in Valorant, EG has never advanced very far in any VCT qualification, nor has it ever qualified for an international competition.

However, as evidenced by its success in other esports games like CS:GO, Call of Duty, Dota 2, and League of Legends, the organization has a strong ambition to succeed in every esports title it joins. The organization needs to build a strong core capable of excelling both domestically and internationally in order to achieve similar success in the Valorant’s Americas league. Given Optic’s record this year, it’s reasonable to say that Valorant’s core will be a wonderful fit for one of the most prominent esports organizations in the world.

In 2021, Sentinels were the best team in North America, but this year the squad struggled and saw numerous roster changes. With many exciting additions over the past few months, the organization has brought esports stars like Michael “shroud” Grzesiek, Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan, and Tyson “TenZ” Ngo under one roof. Despite the new additions, the squad struggled in the Last Chance Qualifiers and failed to advance to the Valorant Champions 2021.

However, as Sentinels prepares for its new partnership following the disastrous Valorant season, It is expected that the organization will try to bolster its lineup. Sentinels could perhaps try to acquire key players from OpTic as their expertise might aid Sentinels in regaining its dominance in Valorant.

“Yay” reportedly receive a $ 1 million offer 

 

The OpTic superstar “yay,” who is presently a restricted free agent, has reportedly received a $1 million per year contract offer from  Bleed eSports, according to VLR.gg journalist Seulgi. The arrangement, however, reportedly collapsed following the initial negotiations. Instead, the organization has changed course and is now pursuing a similar arrangement with one of the top APAC players, whose name has not yet been made public.

Yay spoke on The Richard Lewis Show about his situation and the interest he received from an APAC organization. He claimed that the organization was offering him a ludicrous amount of money. Even though the name of the organization wasn’t confirmed on the show, he confirmed that the amount was one million dollars a year.

After disbanding its team, which included former G2 Esports player Jacob “pyth” Mourujärvi, Bleed eSports are currently evaluating its possibilities in the Valorant scene. The Singaporean organization was also contemplating the possibility of teaming up with Indian esports organisation Global Esports to compete in the Valorant league under the name GE BLEED.

The arrangement, which was reportedly worth $6 million, was also scrapped after Riot informed the partnering groups of the league’s rules. To prevent such conflicts, the developer has put strict restrictions on strategic alliances with external rival organizations and will ultimately decide if such agreements can be made.

Header: Riot Games