NSG to VCT: VALORANT pros who found early success in Nerd Street tournaments

Before competing in VCT Americas, the top tier of VALORANT esports in the Americas region, many of the players competed in Nerd Street tournaments. Nerd Street has long provided a proving ground for Tier 2 and Tier 3 players hoping to ascend to the highest level of VALORANT esports. The following players excelled not just in online tournaments, but in LAN tournaments such as Summer and Winter Champs as well as other one-off LAN tournaments. The success these players had on LAN early in their careers was a preview of what they would accomplish on the big stage of VCT Americas and global Masters and Champions tournaments around the world.

Zekken

Photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

Zachary "zekken" Patrone won Nerd Street’s Winter Champs in 2022 with XSET. That XSET team would go on to have success in the VALORANT Champions Tour that same year. When the team was not selected as one of the partnership teams by Riot Games for the 2023 season and beyond, the roster dissolved and zekken ended up getting picked up by Sentinels where he has found a lot of success as the team’s primary duelist since then. Zekken and Sentinels won the VCT Americas Kickoff tournament in 2024 and went on to win Masters Madrid. Zekken was named MVP of Masters Madrid and tied the record for most kills in a single VCT match at the time with 101 across the five-map grand final. Since then, zekken and Sentinels have qualified for multiple global events including Champions 2024 where they finished fourth, and both Masters Bangkok and Masters Toronto this year.

Johnqt

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Amine "johnqt" Ouarid won Nerd Street’s Summer Champs 2022 tournament with Ghost Gaming. He was part of the M80 team that fell just short of qualifying for VCT Americas when they lost in the 2023 Ascension tournament. However, johnqt got picked up by Sentinels and joined up with zekken & co. for the 2024 season. It was a reunion with his former coach on that championship Ghost Gaming squad, Adam "kaplan" Kaplan, who took over as Sentinels’ head coach in 2023. As the team’s in-game leader, johnqt helped lead Sentinels to win Americas Kickoff 2024 and then Masters Madrid. He has been part of a very successful Sentinels roster over the past two years that has qualified for multiple international events and been a top contender in VCT Americas.

C0M

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Before becoming a world champion, Corbin “C0M” Lee was champion of Nerd Street’s Winter 2022 Philly LAN with Akrew. Later that year, C0M would get picked up by Evil Geniuses. In 2023, C0M and EG went on an unbelievable run going from one of the worst teams in VCT Americas to qualifying for Masters Tokyo and finishing second and then winning Champions in Los Angeles. Thus far, C0M and his teammates have been the only North American players to win VALORANT Champions. Over the past two years, C0M has played for Leviatán, a team that won VCT Americas Stage 2 last year and finished third at Champions.

Jawgemo

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Like C0M, Alexander “jawgemo” Mor was also on the Evil Geniuses team that won Champions 2023. Before that, he had finished second with the pick-up team Booster Seat Gaming at the Frag VALORANT Major held at Localhost Philadelphia in 2021. That was his last tournament before he got picked up by EG, whom he played for from 2022 to 2024. Following the 2024 VCT season, jawgemo got signed by G2 Esports. This G2 roster has found a lot of success in 2025, winning both Americas Kickoff and Americas Stage 1 while finishing second at Masters Bangkok and fourth at Masters Toronto.

Leaf

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Nathan “leaf” Orf won Nerd Street’s Summer Champs 2021 tournament with Cloud9 Blue. He qualified for Champions with Cloud9 that same year. It was the very first VALORANT Champions tournament, and C9 went further than any North American team, finishing in the top eight. Leaf continued to play with C9 in 2022 and 2023 after C9 got selected to be one of the partner teams in VCT Americas. In 2024, leaf joined G2 Esports, which has become one of the best teams in the world this year. Leaf and G2 are two-time Americas champions this year, runners-up at Masters Bangkok and top four finishers at Masters Toronto.

Bang

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Sean “bang” Bezerra won the Frag VALORANT Major held at Localhost Philadelphia in 2021 with a pick-up team called On The Way. Bang, like most of his teammates on that team, would go on to get picked up by teams to compete in VCT in the following years. A few months after this win, Bang signed with 100 Thieves, whom he played for until 2024. The highlights of his tenure with 100T were qualifying for Champions 2022 and winning Stage 1 of VCT Americas 2024. Sentinels signed Bang for the 2025 VCT season where he joined two other former Nerd Street champs in zekken and johnqt. Bang and Sen have finished second in Americas Kickoff and Americas Stage 1 as well as qualified for both Masters Bangkok and Masters Toronto this year.

Tex

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Ian "tex" Botsch finished second at Nerd Street Summer Champs 2021 with NRG. He would go on to play for The Guard, a team that won the 2023 Americas Ascension tournament. When The Guard organization decided not want to compete in VCT Americas in 2024, the roster was released and tex was not signed by G2 Esports like the rest of his teammates. However, he ended up signing with Leviatán, and together they won Stage 2 of VCT Americas 2024. Lev and tex finished third at Champions 2024.

Eeiu

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Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic was teammates with tex on the NRG team that finished second at Nerd Street’s Summer Champs in 2021. In 2023, he was teammates with johnqt on the M80 team that finished second at the Americas Ascension tournament. Despite the loss, he finally got his chance to compete in VCT Americas in 2024 when he signed with 100 Thieves. Last year, he won VCT Americas with 100 Thieves and competed at Masters Shanghai. Eeiu was also named Initiator of the Year in his rookie season in VCT Americas.

Cryocells

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Like zekken, Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban won Nerd Street’s Winter Champs 2022 tournament with XSET. Crycocells signed with 100 Thieves later that year and has been with that organization ever since. Cryo, playing alongside Bang and eeiu, won Stage 1 of VCT Americas in 2024, and 100 Thieves qualified for Masters Shanghai where they finished fourth.

Xeppaa

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Erick "Xeppaa" Bach won Nerd Street Summer Champs in 2021 with Cloud9 Blue. Shortly after that Cloud9 Blue became just Cloud9 and competed at Champions 2021 where the team finished in the top eight. C9 have made many roster changes since then, but Xeppaa has been the one constant on the team. He is currently in his fifth year with the organization.

Mitch

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Mitchell "mitch" Semago was teammates with Xeppaa on the Cloud9 team that won Nerd Street Summer Champs 2021 and then competed at VALORANT Champions 2021. He continued to play for C9 in 2022 and then was signed by Oxygen Esports for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. This year he has returned to Cloud9 to once again team up with Xeppaa and compete in VCT Americas for the first time.

V1c

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Victor "v1c" Truong, who signed with Cloud9 ahead of this season, won Nerd Street’s Lockdown 2 tournament with Moist x Shopify (aka Lobster Fishers) in 2023 and was on the Booster Seat Gaming team that finished second at the Frag VALORANT Major in Philly in 2021. VCT Americas 2025 is v1c’s rookie season in the league.

Read more: Lobster Fishers win Nerd Street's Lockdown 2 Finals

Mada

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Before joining NRG for the VCT Americas 2025 season, Adam "mada" Pampuch won Nerd Street’s Lockdown 2 tournament in 2023 with Moist x Shopify (aka Lobster Fishers). In his rookie season in VCT Americas, mada led the league in ACS during Kickoff and was fourth during Stage 1.

Brawk

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Brock "brawk" Somerhalder is a three-time Nerd Street LAN champion. He was teammates with mada and v1c on the team that won Nerd Street’s Lockdown 2 tournament in 2023. In 2022, he was on the Ghost Gaming team that won Summer Champs, and in 2021, brawk won the Frag VALORANT Major in Philadelphia with On The Way. NRG signed brawk ahead of Stage 1 of VCT Americas this year.

Zander

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Alexander "Zander" Dituri was teammates with brawk and bang when they won the Frag VALORANT Major in Philly. He failed to reach VCT Americas twice in 2023 and 2024 as M80 lost the Americas Ascension tournament. He finally got his shot to play in Tier 1 this year when he got signed by 100 Thieves.

Lead photo credit: Stefan Wisnoski