Oceania’s best Valorant team disbands after Ascension run
Riot GamesBonkers’ players will be going their separate ways just weeks after participating in the VCT Pacific Ascension tournament.
On Twitter, Bonkers announced that the team is no more with a brief post saying, ‘It was a good run, guys’. Shortly afterward, some of the players confirmed that they are open to individual offers for next season.
Bonkers made headlines last month by winning Split 2 of Valorant Challengers Oceania League. With that victory, the team qualified for VCT Pacific Ascension, where they were the only roster competing without the backing of an organization.
In a pre-tournament interview with Dexerto, Jackson ‘Minimise’ White detailed the hardships that the team faced on a daily basis. Bonkers had to raise $6,000 for a bootcamp, with popular streamer and content creator Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik among those who donated to help the team.
Bonkers made it to the Ascension playoffs, where their tournament run came to an end in the first round following a 0-2 defeat to BOOM Esports. A week after the event, Lewis ‘WAT’ Watson announced his departure from the team.
Bonkers announce disbandment
Aaron ‘Eno’ Cheah, Bonkers’ analyst, spoke about a “wild six months” with the roster in a Twitter post in which he also praised their journey from a relatively unknown team in Oceania to one of the best in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We started as a mix of young, inexperienced talents and left as a team that could compete with the best in APAC,” he wrote. “Seeing the boys grow past every challenge and evolve individually throughout our journey is something I will never forget with pride.
“Even though we may not end up on the same team again, this is just the beginning of their long careers and I’m so glad we are able to put OCE on the map. Thank you and I hope to see you guys on the server again.”
The news of Bonkers’ disbandment is yet another blow for Oceanic Valorant. Of the eight teams competing in Valorant Challengers Split 2, only two were supported by an organization.
Last week, Oceania also lost its only Valorant player competing at the highest level after VCT Pacific League player Michael ‘WRONSKI’ Wronski retired from the game after less than a year with Global Esports.