TSM signs Engh as head coach

One of the heavy favorites to win VALORANT Split One Challengers 2023, TSM, has strengthened its roster by signing Andrey “Engh” Sholokhov as Head Coach of the team.

Engh knows his role strictly at TSM, as he was previously the Head Coach of Gambit Esports and M3 Champions.

Split One Challengers 2023 is TSM’s goal

There is no doubt that TSM’s primary goal is to take home the champions trophy of the Split One Challengers 2023. This tournament will feature 12 VALORANT teams from the North American region battling for VCL NA Points and the chance to represent NA at MSI.

About Engh

Engh was first signed to the VCT by Gambit Esports in 2020. This team consisted of Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov, Nikita “d3ffo” Sudakov, Bogdan “Sheydos” Naumov, Danila “Sunset” Soloviov, and Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin.

This Gambit wreaked havoc in the 2021 CIS VCT, winning five out of six Challengers and Masters tournaments in the region. Thanks to this, Gambit was invited to participate in the 2021 EMEA Stage Three Challengers Playoffs. With this, they could fight for a place in the Masters 3 to be held in Berlin.

Success followed for Engh and Gambit

Gambit lived up to expectations. After some spectacular battles in the Lower Bracket, they won the EMEA championship trophy to be the first seed for the Berlin Masters 3.

In Masters 3, the team swept all of their opponents, except for a loss to 100 Thieves in the Group Stage. So dominant was their dominance that they only lost three maps throughout the tournament. Finally, they won the grand final against Team Envy with a crushing 3-0 victory.

With the victory in the Masters, Gambit secured their place in the Champions 2021. The team was also favored to win it. But, instead, the team fell to Acend, also from EMEA, to finish in second place.

2022 was a bad year for the team

In the 2022 season, Gambit announced that their entire squad would stay together and play under the M3 Champions banner.

But, the team’s performance did not live up to its success in 2021. So much so was their low level that the team failed to qualify for international tournaments all year.

M3 Champions failed to perform well in Stage One Challengers and fell in Masters 2 by one place, finishing in fourth place behind Guild Esports. As a result, the team’s last chance to qualify for Champions 2022 was at the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier. On this occasion, M3C lost 1-3 in the grand final to Team Liquid to end their hopes of attending an international tournament in 2022.

With this result, the organization decided to dissolve the lineup, and Engh signed Bonk as the new Head Coach. In these months together, Engh led the team to a second-place finish in the French VLR.

Engh decided to leave Bonk last December 29th and was in free agency until his signing by TSM a few hours ago.

The first test for Engh at TSM

The first test Engh in his new home will be at the North America Split One Challengers 2023. TSM is in Group B with great teams like The Guard, M80, Disguised, Dark Ratio, and OREsports.

As mentioned, the teams will fight for valuable VCL NA Points and four spots to represent NA at MSI 2023.

Header: VCT | Flickr