Zander and Version1 To Part Ways

Version1 is looking to replace Alexander “Zander” Dituri on the active Valorant lineup and bring in a new in-game leader. However, it’s currently unclear who Version1 will bring in as a replacement.

Version1 is looking to make changes to its Valorant division following the team’s disappointing start to the season. The first step towards improving the North American squad is to replace their in-game leader, Zander, who is moving to the bench in the coming days.

The decision follows Version1’s underwhelming performances in 2022, as the squad failed to live up to the standards it has set itself up for. Even though Version1 won NSG: Winter Championship – Open 4 and even made it through the qualifiers, V1 could only manage a fifth-eight place finish at NSG: Winter Championship.

Since then, V1 attended VCT 2022: North America Stage 1 Challengers, where they got off to a strong start but failed to show up when it mattered. Version1 made it out of the group stage with a perfect record, beating the likes of Sentinels, OpTic, and NRG, but they flopped in the playoffs.

First, they lost against Luminosity Gaming (1-2), bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Sentinels, but slipped in the next round, where V1 got eliminated by Cloud9.

But worse was yet to come. In April, Version1 attended VCT 2022: NA Stage 2 Challengers – Open Qualifier 1, where they won the opening two series against Complexity and Evil Geniuses, but lost the next three against NRG, Luminosity, and Girl Kissers, thus failing to qualify for the second NA VCT Challengers.

As a result of their humiliating performance in the NA Stage 2 Challengers open qualifying event, Version1 decided to make some much-needed changes to re-establish themselves as one of NA’s top Valorant teams.

Although not confirmed yet, reliable sources revealed that Version1 is looking to bench its current in-game leader; however, it’s unknown who will replace him.

Some speculate Version1 might look to add Matthew “WARDELL” Yu back to the lineup, but he will likely remain on the bench. But even though replacing an in-game leader won’t be easy, many Valorant teams who did not qualify for the second stage will look to make changes, so V1 should have plenty of options.

Zander joined Version1 at the end of December 2021 from SoaR and has been the primary IGL of the team ever since. And even though V1 decided to part ways with him, Zander has achieved fairly successful results over the five months.

Most notably, he helped Version1 place top-six at the ALORANT Champions Tour Stage One Challengers, but unfortunately, he couldn’t achieve much since.

The 20-year-old has yet to comment on the reports, nor has he revealed which team he might end up joining. But unless another squad decides to pick him up, Zander will likely remain on Version1’s bench.

But given his experience as an in-game leader and the success he has achieved in the role over the years would make Zardel one of the most sought-after prospects on the market. So while his future remains uncertain, Zardel likely won’t have a hard time finding a new home.

With the departure of Zander, Version1 will field only four players in the active lineup, meaning the team will need to find a replacement soon. However, since the team did not qualify for the second stage, they can use the time to try out new faces in some lesser tournaments.

Version1’s current lineup consists of Loic “effys” Sauvageau, Erik “penny” Penny, Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro, and Maxim “wippie” Shepelev.