5 ex-CS:GO pros who have become Valorant stars

CS:GO's competitive scene can be a cruel mistress sometimes. A lot of talent, either doesn't shine through, or gets a brief stint in the spotlight before fading again. We take a look at which pros have crossed the pond and found a home in Valorant, from CS:GO veterans to new kids on the block.

1. Hiko

Spencer 'Hiko' Martin had been playing CS essentially ever since it came out. He was one of the game's OG talents, who almost reached the peak of the sport, but had his major title yanked away by coldzera's jumping awp play in MLG columbus 2016. After spending 2 years in Rogue and eventually fading away into obscurity, Hiko retired from CS in June 2020, to focus on his Valorant career. Ever since, Hiko has landed a spot on the 100 Thieves Valorant Roster (an org that has recently withdrawn from competing in CS:GO) that has seen him return to form on stream, and in the server.

2. TenZ

Tyson 'TenZ' Ngo was a rising star in the CS:GO scene. Having started off as a streamer who competed without an organization in 'Bad News Bears', before getting signed by the renowned Cloud9 Gaming. However, owing to poor results and volatile roster moves, TenZ found himself benched within three months, after which he continued as a streamer under the Cloud 9 name.

Within 5 days of Valorant's beta launch though, TenZ announced his retirement from CS:GO, and switched to Cloud 9's Valorant roster, where podium finishes have been aplenty for the squad.

3. Wardell

Matthew "Wardell" Yu, the ex Ghost Gaming player for CS:GO, is now one of Valorant's biggest stars. Relegated to playing mostly tier 2 CS in his Global Offensive career, Wardell was an absolute beast, that somehow never found his way into a tier 1 organization. Having retired from CS in April 2020, Wardell finds himself in one of Valorant's most stacked teams, TSM, who dominated the early months of the competitive scene.

4. reltuC

Stephen "reltuC" Cutler, a player who's CS:GO career was essentially a string of middling results, ended with a whimper at Team Envy owing to poor team results. After spending a year without an organization in CS, reltuC was welcomed with open arms by Valorant, where he now can be found fragging it out alongside Wardell in TSM.

5. ShahZam

Shahzeeb "ShahZaM" Khan, the man who's laugh is almost as iconic as his plays, finds himself in Valorant's Sentinels squad after a CS career of 7 years. Upon completing his final stint in CS at Complexity before the "Juggernaut" rebuild, ShahZam found himself without an organization for 6 months before retiring from the game and joining Valorant. His winning form seemed to return right off the bat.

Agree with our list? Which other CS pros do you feel are thriving today? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments below.

Edited by Nikhil Vinod