TSM Valorant drops Wardell, is he headed to 100 Thieves next?

TSM’s roster troubles continue with the surprise release of Matthew “Wardell” Yu from the organization’s Valorant team.

TSM FTX has announced the departure of Matthew “Wardell” Yu from its Valorant roster. The announcement comes after the squad failed to qualify for North American VCT 2022 Stage 1 Challengers. TSM reports that the decision was a mutual one between Wardell and the organization. Fans are currently speculating who might replace such a core member of the team.

TSM FTX publicly announced the decision via social media on March 23. The statement claimed that the decision was mutual and was stemming from the organization’s move to Texas. Wardell is currently based in his birth country of Canada and he may have resisted a permanent move so far from home. Considering the OP specialist’s decent performance in the 2022 season, the move is unlikely to be related to Wardell’s individual performance.

Today, we mutually parted ways with @WARDELL416.

He's decided not to move to Texas with the rest of the team and has therefore chosen to step down.

Matt has been an important part of TSM from the beginning, and we wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors. pic.twitter.com/6NUheMRtWi

— TSM (@TSM) March 23, 2022

Wardell is one of many Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pros who switched from Valve’s first-person shooter to playing Valorant shortly after its release. He appeared on the debut TSM Valorant squad, which hit the ground running with multiple championships won including at FaZe Clan Invitational and VCT 2021 Stage 3 Challengers 2. The squad’s performance has somewhat tapered off in 2022 with just $4,750 in winnings. With Wardell’s leave, Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik is the only remaining member of TSM’s original Valorant roster.

Will Wardell join 100 Thieve after TSM drop?

With the departure of Wardell, TSM’s Valorant roster currently looks like this:

• Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik
• Aleko “Aleko” Gabuniya
• Corey “corey” Nigra
• Daniel “Rossy” Abedrabbo
• Preston “Juv3nile” Dornon (Coach)
• Andrew “aRubyz” Seewer (Coach)

TSM will now begin yet another hunt for a fifth member of the roster. The team has churned through more than five players since the start of 2021. 

As for Wardell’s next team, the most obvious choice seems to be 100 Thieves. The North American team currently has two roster slots filled with stand-ins, including a player affiliated with TSM in Sean “bang” Bezerra. The 100 Thieves organization is based in Los Angeles, but players on the roster are spread out across the United States. Wardell should be able to play online from Canada and fly in for LANs and boot camps, alleviating the geographic issue that allegedly became a problem with TSM.