Valorant pro s0m leaves NRG as VCT Americas roster mayhem continues

NRG has released Valorant player s0m, as the now-former pro revealed he is pivoting to streaming, as VCT Americas’ roster mayhem continues. 

At the start of the offseason, Sam “s0m” Oh revealed on his stream that his plans were to focus on streaming while waiting for the right opportunity to come through, implying he could be leaving NRG. 

And on September 13, NRG announced their long-time Valorant staple, s0m, would indeed be leaving the org after three years of playing under their banner. 

“I think for me personally, I saw this coming,” s0m said in his farewell video. “But it was kind of also my decision to step away.”

“This next year, I kind of just took a step back and decided that I’m just going to stream for now, and then if there comes an opportunity, or I see an opportunity I can take, or I can make one, then I’ll come back to competing,” s0m explained.

s0m had been signed on to NRG since late 2020 and had been a staple of the team ever since. During his tenure, he has grown to be one of Valorant’s biggest streamers with his streams regularly racking up thousands of viewers. 

NRG signed much of the 2022 OpTic roster, with s0m staying on with the team and pivoting to the Controller role. NRG had many solid performances throughout 2023, with second place in VCT Americas and top four at Master Tokyo. 

However, the team ended the season with a disappointing result after being upset by Bilibili Gaming twice in a row, bowing out from Valorant Champions in the group stage. 

When s0m discussed his off-season plans, NRG’s in-game leader Pujan “FNS” Mehta said he was joining s0m’s route, focusing on streaming and waiting for opportunities. However, NRG is yet to give any updates on their star IGL. 

Another NRG star player, Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks, is also reportedly going back to EMEA and signing on with his old FPX teammates at NAVI.