M3C Valorant Roster Disbands

Following multiple players announcing their free agency, the M3C Valorant roster is reportedly set to disband, bringing the end of the former Gambit Esports roster.

If the reports are true, this will mark the end of one of the most dominant Valorant teams from the CIS region as the players explore individual offers.

According to recent events, the M3C roster – formerly Gambit Esports – has pulled the plug on the project and disbanded the team. The news follows the team’s failed attempt to be selected for the 2023 VCT partnership, leaving the players with no other option but to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Bogdan “Sheydos” Naumov was the first player to announce his departure from M3 Champions on Monday, September 19. Shortly after, his teammates in Igor “Redgar” Vlasov, Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov, Yaroslav “Jady” Nikolaev, and Denis “Gray” Danilyuk all left the team, leaving M3C without an active lineup.

“Thank you for all the good memories and moments we had in Gambit. But it’s time to move on alone, I’m sure we’ll play with my brothers again,” said Sheydos.

“As you understand, Gambit/M3C story is over, so I can only say thanks to my teammates for these unreal 2 years together. Now I’m looking for individual offers; you can contact me on my email,” announced Chronicle in a Twitter post, announcing his free agency.

With that, M3 Champions officially disbanded six months after the team was formed. The core came together in March 2022, after the Russian squad was released from Gambit Esports, which closed down its Valorant division.

Since then, M3C signed Yaroslav “Jady” Nikolaev, who arrived into the team in August 2022 as the only new signing, replacing Nikita “d3ffo” Sudakov. Unfortunately, his stint with M3C was rather short-lived, as the team recognized it was not accepted into the VCT partnership program, leaving it in a tough spot ahead of the next season.

The former Gambit Esports roster is recognized as one of the top Valorant teams from the CIS region and the world, with plenty of accolades to show for.

As a part of Gambit Esports, Chronicle and co. dominated the CIS region in 2021 and also achieved plenty of success internationally. Notably, Gambit won Both CIS Stage 1 Challengers events, as well as VCT 2021: CIS Stage 2 Challengers 2, VCT 2021: CIS Stage 1 Masters, VCT 2021: CIS Stage 3 Challengers 1, and the Stage 3 Playoffs.

Besides domestic success, Gambit also left a mark on the international stage. The Russian team won VCT 2021: Stage 3 Masters – Berlin in September 2021 and reached the finals of VALORANT Champions 2021, where they lost against Acend (2-3) in a closely-fought best-of-five series.

Even after going solo and forming M3 Champions, the Russian team have achieved some success, granted they had a slow start to the year. In March, M3C placed fifth-sixth at VCT 2022: EMEA Stage 1 Challengers and improved in Stage 2 Challengers, finishing fourth after losing to the eventual finalists, FunPlus Phoenix.

In their last tournament together, the VCT 2022: EMEA Last Chance Qualifier, M3C, got off to a strong start, beating Acend, OG LDN UTD, and Team Liquid. Unfortunately, M3C lost to Liquid in a grand finals rematch (1-3), thus failing to qualify for VALORANT Champions 2022.

M3C have since not attended a single tournament, and while the recent disbandment shocked many, it has been rumored to happen since M3C’s failed run in the Last Chance Qualifiers.

As it stands now, it’s unclear what will happen with the former members; however, with the new season fast approaching and many teams looking to make roster changes, the former Gambit core likely won’t struggle to find a new home.