Ghost Gaming Steps Back from VALORANT and Releases Roster and Coach
Ghost Gaming has made the decision to step back from the competitive North American VALORANT scene, leading to the release of their full roster and coach.
In a statement released today, Ghost Gaming revealed that they were not chosen as a partnered organization for the 2023 Americas international VALORANT league. However, they expressed their commitment to supporting the scene through various means such as creators, original content, weekly community scrims, and event hosting.
The entire Ghost starting roster, including Marc-Andre “NiSMO” Tayar, GianFranco “koalanoob” Potestio, Brock “brawk” Somerhalder, Mouhamed Amine “johnqt” Ouarid, and Alex “aproto” Protopapas, has been released to unrestricted free agency. Coach Adam Kaplan has also been released.
The team, which came together throughout 2021 and 2022, had a remarkable season in the NA VCT Stage Two main event after aproto joined the roster. Ghost qualified for Stage Two via the open qualifier and finished the main event with a 4-1 record, tying for the best record thanks to consecutive wins against The Guard, NRG, TSM, and 100 Thieves. However, Ghost fell short in the playoffs, and their absence from Stage One prevented them from earning enough points to qualify for the NA Last Chance Qualifier.
Ghost is now added to the growing list of organizations and teams that have left VALORANT due to a lack of partnership in the 2023 Americas international league. Other organizations that have departed include Luminosity, Shopify Rebellion, Complexity, NYFU (NYXL), and more. Although these organizations have stepped back, they might consider returning in the future with Riot’s announcement of an expanded tier two system through Challengers for 2023, which includes designated broadcast windows and potential promotion opportunities.
The players and coach are now free to sign with any roster during the upcoming offseason period following Champions 2022.
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