Current Chaos EC in-game leader Joshua “steel” Nissan is set to leave the ranks of professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for new first-person shooter Valorant, according to a report at dbltap.
If true, it means that steel will become the one of the last players from iBUYPOWER’s infamous CSGO roster to switch sides in the tactical shooter war between Valve’s CSGO and Riot Games’ upstart Valorant.
iBUYPOWER existed in CSGO’s early days before disaster struck the promising North American team. In 2015, four of its members were accused and found guilty of match-fixing. All four received indefinite bans from Valve for their participation in the scheme. Since then, third-party tournament organizers ESL and FACEIT have lifted the players’ bans. But Valve’s stance has remained unchanged, leaving the players unable to participate in CSGO’s Majors, the biggest CSGO events of the year, as well as any other official Valve-sponsored tournaments.
The report indicated that steel, one of the game’s top in-game leaders, has garnered interest from several professional Valorant teams. It also states that Edgar “MarKE” Maldonado will replace steel on Chaos EC’s roster, a potential blow to a team that has found recent success during CSGO’s summer schedule. Chaos recently nabbed a spot in the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 12.
The move would make for an interesting departure for steel, who has repeatedly dissed Valorant as an esport. But with Valve out of the picture, steel stands to make more money and have far more opportunities for international competition while playing under Riot Games’ oversight.
The IGL’s switch to Valroant would be a missed opportunity for Valve, as the company has ignored repeated calls from its community to remove steel’s ban over the last several years. steel would certainly be among the most prominent and skilled CSGO players to make the move to Valorant, should he go forward with it.
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