CS:GO pros freakazoid and Zellsis announce move to Valorant

American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players Ryan “freakazoid” Abadir and Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro have announced that they are retiring from Counter-Strike and are moving to Valorant.

The duo last played for Swole Patrol, alongside freakazoid’s younger brother, Austin “Cooper-” Abadir, Edgar “MarKE” Maldonado, and Victor “food” Wong. The team was notably reformed after the roster was released by eUnited in early March.

In an announcement posted on his personal Twitter account, Zellsis cites that his move to Valorant was influenced by Swole Patrol’s inability to secure organizational support.

“As you guys know we’ve been looking for an org to represent us for a while, and due to the current pandemic, that looks very unlikely. The current CS scene currently just does not have enough orgs for the lower levels of the scene, or even the promise of support at all. As many of you can expect from what I just said, I will be playing Valorant from now on, this decision took some time for me to make, but I hope it holds nothing but the best for the future,” said Zellsis.

“Sometimes life says out with the old and gotta go with the new. I’m quitting CS and going to be playing Valorant. I can’t wait to be a part of the team that competes at Worlds or whatever it’s called for it and [messing things] up against teams worldwide,” said freakazoid in his own announcement.

Zellsis has played CS:GO professionally as a rifler since 2016 for teams such as Lazarus Esports and Team Singularity while also having four separate stints with Swole Patrol in his career.

Meanwhile, freakazoid has played professionally as a rifler and in-game leader since the days of Counter-Strike: Source from 2010 to 2012. He moved to CS:GO with Team Dynamic in July 2012 and has played with teams such as Cloud9, Echo Fox, and Ghost Gaming, alongside having three separate stints with Swole Patrol.

While Valorant is still only a little over a month into its closed beta phase, the hype surrounding the game has been phenomenal. Big-name players from other shooter games like CS:GO, Apex Legends, and Overwatch are already trying their luck in Valorant’s fledgling competitive scene well ahead of its expected rise to a top tier esport.