The competitive FPS community was caught off guard by a surprise transition to VALORANT by an established CS:GO pro. Again. In the span of about thirty minutes, Evil Geniuses’ Ethan “Ethan” Arnold departed the org and CS:GO to join 100 Thieves’ VALORANT roster. 1ooT will compete with Ethan in the starting lineup for the VCT NA Challengers 3 main event. They have moved Quan “dicey” Tran to the bench.
A new uniform and new chapter for Ethan. Image via 100 Thieves.
Ethan transitions to VALORANT after a five-year career in North American Counter-Strike. He’s spent the past three years with the same roster core on NRG Esports and Evil Geniuses. An exciting rifler, his production was a huge part of the success EG found in 2019 after signing the NRG roster. With Ethan in their ranks, EG was once considered the best team in NA and one of the best teams in the world.
Ethan joins 100 Thieves at a pivotal moment
He joins a 100 Thieves VALORANT roster under a lot of pressure to qualify for NA Masters 1. The former First Strike champions were a no-show at Challengers 1 with Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella attending to the birth of his child. He returned for Challengers 2, but the team stumbled at the finish line after losses to Luminosity and Sentinels in the main event. With their Challengers 2 finish, they don’t have to endure an open qualifier for Challengers 3. However, it is their final shot at making Masters.
In a TwitLonger post, Ethan didn’t provide any concrete details for why he’s switching. All he says is that he’s switching over starting today. Evil Geniuses’ CS:GO had re-located to Europe to compete in competitions that had moved away from North America. With the switch to 100T and VALORANT, Ethan can remain in North America while undertaking a new journey. Ethan makes his 100 Thieves VALORANT debut on March 4 in the NA Challengers 3 main event.
