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Team Heretics announced Óscar ‘mixwell’ Cañellas’s retirement from professional Valorant before the start of the 2024 VCT season. The former decorated CS:GO pro switched to Riot Games' exciting tactical shooter, Valorant, a few years ago. He was a part of Team Heretics for about a year after leaving his team, G2 Esports, in October of 2022. Even though the squad did not fare well in terms of outcomes, Mixwell has served as a sort of anchor for the group and has been an integral member since the beginning.
Community members were shocked upon hearing the news. One user on Reddit, u/Verehrungen, remarked:
Sad to see, him in G2 was one of the big reasons I started following early EU Val. Feels like after his peak he got too much flak for his gameplay and was a little underrated, with a lot of people saying he only stayed around because of his brand. Though in the end he's a replaceable player, and this is a nice end to a very respectable career.
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Mixwell was unable to replicate his CS:GO success after transitioning to Valorant, leading to his retirement after three disappointing years. His future is uncertain, and we delve into the speculation from all corners of the internet.
Mixwell’s retirement saddens the Valorant community and FPS veterans
Mixwell, originally from Counter-Strike: Source, transitioned to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and found recognition with OpTic Gaming. Notable achievements in his CS:GO career include winning ELEAGUE Season 2, reaching the IEM Sydney 2017 semifinals, and finishing first in ESL Pro League's sixth season in North America. Despite his AWP prowess, he secured just one S-Tier trophy in his CS:GO journey.
In 2020, Mixwell and other CS:GO professionals transitioned to Valorant. He displayed his skills with achievements like a third-fourth place finish in the First Strike tournament and wins at Red Bull Homeground and the BLAST Twitch Invitational upon rejoining G2. However, as G2's dominance in Europe's Valorant scene faded in 2021, Mixwell joined Team Heretics in 2022.
Unfortunately, Team Heretics faced challenges in Valorant competitions, notably being one of the first teams to be eliminated in the VCT LOCK IN tournament and winning only two games in the VCT EMEA season. Mixwell's inability to replicate his CS:GO success sparked discussions within the Valorant community and among FPS veterans.
Mixwell announced his retirement on his Twitch channel and released a long video on YouTube highlighting his career. Members of the subreddit mentioned that it was an emotional announcement.
Many FPS veterans in the community acknowledge Mixwell's accolades. However, like the two sides of a coin, there were members in the community who questioned if Mixwell lived up to his potential.
On a tamer note, u/netrature acknowledges the fact that the Spaniard has had a sizeable impact on the scene. Mixwell is considered to be one of the rare top-tier duelist players who could play both Jett and Raze in an impactful way.
Mixwell has a very sizeable and devoted fan following. People call him 'padre' (father), and he is often referred to as the player who put Spanish esports on the map. According to Redditor u/itsDYA, Mixwell's watchparties were both educational and entertaining.
Moving forward, Mixwell's future endeavors remain uncertain, with speculation about a potential return to Counter-Strike, content creation, or him exploring new opportunities within the Valorant scene. Amid the chaos, he received warm regards from OpTic Gaming CEO Hector Rodriguez, who wished him luck.
This support from the Optic esports head prompted one fan to tell him to “bring (Mixwell) home.” With Mixwell’s large fan base, there is potential for him to pursue content creation or streaming, whether that will be for OpTic Gaming or someone else remains to be seen.
