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Team Heretics is one of the two teams from the EMEA region that will participate in the VCT Masters Madrid event. This tournament is the first international outing in the VCT 2024 season, and the hype surrounding it is unreal. Some of the most popular teams from China, EMEA, Americas, and Pacific will convene at the Spanish capital to determine the champions of the maiden international event of the year.
Team Heretics are coming into this tournament with the home crowd buff. The Spanish organization will be hoping to make their audience proud and deliver a statement showing at the event. Here is everything you need to know about the EMEA's second seed at the competition, including the team history, current roster, and the overall expectations surrounding them.
History of Team Heretics in Valorant
Team Heretics have been one of the longest standing organizations in Valorant. They entered the scene in 2020 during the early days of Valorant with a roster consisting of now-popular names such as nukkye, pAura, and AvovA.
Heretics quickly established themselves as a major force in the Spanish leagues and garnered the reputation for being one of EMEA's best rosters. Their 2-3 loss against Acend during the VCT 2021 Europe Stage 1 Masters is still regarded as one of the greatest games in Valorant history.
Soon after this, the team would rarely put up good results, and predominantly played in the Tier 2 scene until the organization was announced as one of the 30 franchised teams ahead of the 2023 VCT season. Team Heretics assembled a roster consisting of AvovA, mixwell, keloqz, zeek, and Boo heading into the first season of the franchising era.
The team never found its footing throughout the year and was one of the worst teams in the EMEA league. Fans of the organization were expecting imminent changes to the roster coming into the 2024 season in hopes of better results.
Current roster of Team Heretics
Team Heretics crafted together a roster consisting of a veteran IGL and the only remaining member from the 2023 roster, Boo, along with four unproven talents in the Tier 1 scene. Sentinel player benjyfishy did play for them during the 2023 EMEA LCQ tournament, but he only played for two maps and was largely untested at the apex of VCT.
The current Team Heretics roster is:
- Ricardas "Boo" Lukaševičius (IGL)
- Dominykas "MiniBoo" Lukaševičius
- Enes "RieNs" Ecirli
- Benjy "benjyfishy" Fish
- Mert "Wo0t" Alkan
- Patryk "paTiTek" Fabrowski (substitute)
- Neil "neilzinho" Finlay (Head Coach)
The team had to start paTiTek over Wo0t during the EMEA Kickoff event due to the latter not meeting the age requirements needed to participate. Despite this, the team managed to pull off a fantastic run and secured a spot at VCT Masters Madrid, where they will be able to play in front of their home crowd.
Expectations for Team Heretics at VCT Masters Madrid
Team Heretics have a lot of expectations around them and a tall order to stand up at VCT Masters Madrid as the hometown favorite. While the team is missing the intended starter, Wo0T, paTiTek has been more than serviceable and is crucial to the set plays and aggressive playstyle. The EMEA team has shown a lot of flair and a tendency to skillcheck the opponent through raw aim duels and clever skirmishes.
However, the roster lacks some amount of discipline and often tends to aggress too much. Additionally, some of the players have a tendency to play inconsistently and be unable to maintain their high peaks. This will be a problem that the team will have to address as the level of competition will be higher.
Fans can expect the Spanish-based organization to be a strong contender for the Top 4 spot at VCT Masters Madrid. A fourth place finish seems the most reasonable, but a placement below is also not too farfetched.
Securing a spot in the Top 2 can be deemed as an incredible success for this lineup, whether they manage to lift the trophy or not, considering the playing field includes juggernauts like Sentinels, LOUD, and Karmine Corp.
Team Heretics will begin their VCT Masters Madrid 2024 journey against Americas Kickoff champions Sentinels on March 15, 2024. In the meantime, check out more VCT Masters Madrid related articles down below:
Top 5 Duelist Players to look out for || Top 5 Controller Players to look out for || All qualified teams at VCT Masters Madrid || Karmine Corp team overview || Sentinels team overview || Top 5 Sentinel Players to look out for
