Major organizations worldwide continue to make different moves in their VALORANT lineups and esports divisions to perform better throughout the 2023 season. In this opportunity, MAD Lions signed Joseph “Bjor” Bjorklund and Hasan “BlackHeart” Hammad to their VALORANT lineup.
It should be noted that MAD Lions currently competes in the VALORANT Challengers in the NA region. Furthermore, these lineup changes were a long time coming after the team finished second to last in the league after signing a terrible Group Stage with a 1-4 record.
Likewise, in the last few days, we reported that MAD Lions had released Anthony “ZexRow” Colandro and Taylor “drone” Johnson. In addition, several internal problems in the team triggered these departures.
MAD Lions signs Bjor and BlackHeart
The Spanish organization, MAD Lions, signed Bjor and BlackHeart to fill the spots in the starting lineup of their VALORANT team left by ZexRow and drone. After the various controversies regarding the fight between ZexRow and Justin “Trick” Sears on Twitter over the departure of these two players, VALORANT journalist George Geddes reported the signing of the players.
Sources: MAD Lions is set to sign @Bjorlulu and @BlackHeartVAL to the VALORANT roster.
The pair will replace ZexRow and Drone.
Read via jobless bum George Guesses. pic.twitter.com/E2EZbvl41A
— George Geddes (@GeorgeCGed) April 7, 2023
Bjor is one of North America’s most talented players on the VALORNAT scene. While he has not been part of a top-tier organization, he has always carried the teams he has defended, such as Immortals and BBg.
Blackheart, meanwhile, is not a well-known player in the VALORANT competitive scene, as he has not played at the top level since the game’s launch. However, the player spent two months as a substitute in the popular North American team Cloud9.
MAD Lions’ early-season ups and downs
MAD Lions had a spectacular start to the 2023 season, as they managed to qualify for Split 1 of the VCL NA after dominating their rivals in the Open Qualifiers. However, in the Split 1 Group Stage, the team had a terrible performance slump, where they finished, as mentioned, with a very poor 1-4 record. Because of this, the team did not qualify for the Mid-Season Face Off.
A few days ago, the organization announced that ZexRow and drone would not be part of the squad for the remainder of the season. We must remember that ZexRow was the most decisive player in this lineup. However, the player blamed the IGL and team captain Trick for influencing the decision to expel them from the team.
yea I got dropped by moonchopper and trickaim but that doesn't change the fact that trick took over the roster and changed it completely after qualing within 2 months and thinks he deserves the spot lol https://t.co/V5AVTJLUAc
— ZexRow (@ZexRow) April 4, 2023
From that moment on, an intense discussion began between these two players in a Twitter thread, which showed that the team’s problems go far beyond the sporting ones.
Now, with the signing of this pair of players, we will have to wait to see how the players’ adaptation will be, and the team’s performance will be evaluated in detail in the upcoming competitions.
Header: MAD Lions
