Fnatic bench Valorant duo ahead of VCT Stage 2
Magnum said Fnatic is ready for another lower bracket run. | Photo by Lance Skundrich | Provided by Riot Games
Fnatic have benched Martin ‘Magnum’ Peňkov and Andrey ‘BraveAF’ Gorchakov ahead of Valorant Champions Tour Stage 2, the team announced Friday, April 22. Fnatic recently bowed out of VCT Masters Reykjavík in the group stage.
Magnum was last seen competing with the team in their short-lived run at VCT Masters Reykjavík, which BraveAF did not attend due to due to visa issues and the travel restrictions in place for Russians citizens.
Prior to the event, BraveAF was also placed under suspension by Fnatic for comments he made about the Russian invasion of Ukraine that were made public online.
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesEnzo ‘Fearoth’ Mestari stood in for BraveAF in Iceland, with Joona ‘H1ber’ Parviainen brought in as an emergency substitute thanks to a positive test returned by Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev.
Fnatic moving on from Magnum and BraveAF
In a statement about the moves, Fnatic said that Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett will move to a supportive role, while James ‘Mistic’ Orfila will take up BraveAF’s flex role.
Updates on our Valorant team: Magnum and BraveAF to move to the inactive roster.
Both @just_magnum and @braveaff are incredible players and we want to thank them for everything they've brought to the team.
More details here: https://t.co/wdT94EjAQR pic.twitter.com/itEubXO6iS
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) April 22, 2022
The organization said that the team is looking to add more consistent firepower over Magnum and that BraveAF could not continue on the roster due to the uncertainty around his availability to attend bootcamps and in-person tournaments.
“As we continued to evaluate how we could maintain BraveAF’s place in the roster, we realized more and more that unfortunately, his position was untenable,” Colin Johnson, Fnatic’s Valorant team director said.
“This is due to a lack of clarity around being able to come to future bootcamps, live events and even our ability to continue to pay him due to political restrictions.”
Magnum joined Fnatic in April 2021 as the one of the first moves the organization made outside of signing the SUMN FC roster. BraveAF was Fnatic’s newest acquisition, signing in January 2022 to replace Domagoj ‘doma’ Fancev.
Fnatic will need to find two new players before VCT Stage 2 EMEA Challengers, which is set to start May 13, 2022.
Fnatic Valorant roster:
- Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett
- James ‘Mistic’ Orfila
- Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev
- Tom ‘otom’ Hart (substitute)
- Martin ‘Magnum’ Peňkov (benched)
- Andrey ‘BraveAF’ Gorchakov (benched)
