100 Thieves has introduced the departure of participant Drew ‘Kess’ Lee and Head Coach Anthony ‘Zikz’ Grey from its VALORANT roster.
Kess had simply joined 100 Thieves in July this yr, whereas Zikz had been with the North American organisation since 2023.
Kess has been lively within the VALORANT esports scene since 2021, representing a myriad of tier-three and tier-two organisations. Previous to his contract with 100 Thieves, the sentinel/flex participant competed for QoR Gaming within the North American Challengers ecosystem.
In response to final evening’s announcement from 100 Thieves, Kess shared through his private X (previously Twitter) account: “Nothing however grateful! Nonetheless searching for any alternatives!”
Coach Zikz began his esports profession in Riot Video games’ MOBA title, League of Legends. In April 2022, he transitioned to VALORANT, initially teaching North American esports organisation NRG.
Zikz additionally labored as an Assistant Coach underneath Evil Geniuses’ teaching legend Christine ‘potter’ Chi in the course of the workforce’s runner-up efficiency at Masters Tokyo 2023 and its profitable VALORANT Champions 2023 run.
“Because of all the gamers and workers near the workforce that I labored with day by day throughout my tenure at 100 Thieves – we constructed so many recollections and achieved an amazing deal in these two years,” commented Zikz on his departure from 100 Thieves.
Ongoing Roster Modifications
While at the moment competing in Riot’s franchised VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT), 100 Thieves has been a part of the sport’s aggressive scene since 2020.
Amongst its greatest worldwide achievements are a third- to fourth-place end at Masters Berlin 2021 and a fourth-place end at Masters Shanghai final yr.
This season, 100 Thieves didn’t qualify for each Masters occasions, resulting in the departure of in-game chief (IGL) Kelden ‘Boostio’ Pupello in July. Nevertheless, throughout VCT Americas Stage 2, the workforce suffered one other early Playoffs elimination regardless of promising Group Stage showings.
Because of this, the organisation revealed main rebuilding plans for its 2026 VCT roster in September. Though the remaining 4 members nonetheless have contracts with 100 Thieves for an additional yr, the roster has all been allowed to discover choices in the course of the ongoing low season.
