{"id":38955,"date":"2024-10-10T19:35:41","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T23:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/?p=38955"},"modified":"2024-10-10T19:35:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T23:35:41","slug":"nrg-esports-release-valorant-star-player-demon1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/nrg-esports-release-valorant-star-player-demon1\/","title":{"rendered":"NRG Esports release VALORANT star player Demon1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Max \u201cDemon1\u201d Mazanov, the 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/valorant\/\" title=\"VALORANT betting guide\">VALORANT<\/a> World Champion and MVP, has officially been released by NRG Esports, opening up what is expected to be a competitive sweepstakes for the star player.<\/p>\n<p>Despite an incredible run with Evil Geniuses in 2023, where he helped the underdog team to a world championship, 2024 was a far cry from his past glory.<\/p>\n<p>Demon1&#8217;s move to NRG Esports, after escaping &#8220;contract hell&#8221; with Evil Geniuses, initially looked promising.<\/p>\n<p>NRG had high hopes for their revamped roster, featuring not only Demon1 but also his former EG teammate Ethan &#8220;Ethan&#8221; Cole Arnold.<\/p>\n<p>However, NRG&#8217;s season turned into a disappointment.<\/p>\n<p>They failed to qualify for the Americas playoffs in the first <a href=\"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/valorant\/champions-tour\/\" title=\"VALORANT Champions Tour betting guide\">VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT)<\/a> split, and in a bid to change course, Demon1 was benched mid-season.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this shakeup, NRG missed the playoffs again and did not qualify for any international LANs in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In their announcement on social media, NRG acknowledged Demon1&#8217;s immense talent, stating, \u201cHe\u2019s too good to keep on the bench, so we\u2019re giving him the chance to shine elsewhere,\u201d while Demon1 responded with a simple \u201cLFT\u201d (Looking for Team).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"qst\" dir=\"ltr\">LFT<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Demon1 (@Demon1___) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Demon1___\/status\/1844122355276316939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Although the team&#8217;s performance was underwhelming, the decision to release such a skilled player still came as a surprise, particularly given the investment NRG made in securing him and Ethan\u2014reportedly with personal contributions from former coach Chet &#8220;Chet&#8221; Singh towards their buyouts.<\/p>\n<p>NRG\u2019s roster, once brimming with star talent, is now reduced to just Ethan, Pujan \u201cFNS\u201d Mehta, and streamer Sam \u201cs0m\u201d Oh.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Demon1 has already been linked to other teams, including a potential move to Leviat\u00e1n, who are rebuilding after key departures.<\/p>\n<p>With his skillset, it&#8217;s expected that teams from the EMEA or Pacific regions will be interested in acquiring him.<\/p>\n<p>As NRG looks to the future, rumours point to the team focusing on younger talent, with players like Andrew \u201cVerno\u201d Maust being connected to the roster for 2025.<\/p>\n<p>FNS is also expected to remain with the team for his final year of professional play, offering a steady hand as NRG rebuilds after a disastrous 2024 season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">He&#39;s too good to keep on the bench, so we&#39;re giving him the chance to shine elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for everything <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Demon1___?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Demon1___<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FfOe77YK7d\">pic.twitter.com\/FfOe77YK7d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NRG (@NRGgg) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NRGgg\/status\/1844121417039929698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/news\/\" class=\"contentLinkBtn\">More esports news<\/a><\/p>\n<hr>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Max \u201cDemon1\u201d Mazanov has officially been released by NRG Esports, opening up what is expected to be a competitive sweepstakes for the star VALORANT player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":38959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3580,409,1150,1610],"class_list":["post-38955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-max-demon1-mazanov","tag-nrg-esports","tag-valorant","tag-valorant-champions-tour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38955"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38957,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38955\/revisions\/38957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}