Tundra, the London-based esports organisation housing the world’s best Dota 2, Fortnite and FIFA talent, are excited to announce their entrance into VALORANT with the acquisition of YONK. The up-and-coming VALORANT team was created in December 2021 by Yacine “Yacine” Lahgmari and Malkom “bonkar” Rench from Guild Esports and quickly attracted other well-known players including Vilius ‘Krea6on’ Malinauskas from Alliance and Ouali ‘m4china’ Manset from Team Vitality.
Tundra has been steadily building its portfolio of teams focusing on the professionalism and experience of the talent they sign. The acquisition comes after YONK’s promising performance at the VCT EU Challengers, and will see Tundra enter into their fourth gaming title with VALORANT. YONK’s players are all pro player veterans having come from a diverse range of FPS titles including CS:GO and Paladins, with each having competed for the biggest esports teams in the world, in major tournaments.
“VALORANT’s competitive ecosystem is continuing to thrive, has strong publisher support and a growing community which makes it the ideal next title for us. YONK also presented a fantastic opportunity. The calibre and experience of their players is exactly what we’re looking for to help us maintain Tundra’s strong performance levels,” said Maxim Demin, co-owner of Tundra.
“We are honoured and grateful for this fantastic opportunity that Tundra is giving us. We have plenty to prove, and the only goal is to win Champions together. We believe that Tundra can provide all the resources needed in terms of performance and coaching, and we are looking forward to an incredible 2022 season,” said Yacine “Yacine” Laghmari.
“YONK’s players are veterans of the industry. The fact that they have experience competing in major championships is very exciting as they come with the knowledge and understanding of what it takes to compete at the highest level. They are still a new team and we’re looking forward to helping them on their VALORANT journey,” Anthony Graham, Co-Founder and Esports and Operations Director.
The official Tundra Valorant roster will include:
- Yacine “Yacine” Laghmari – Swedish CS:GO player from the age of 12 turned Valorant pro, having played under Guild Esports and Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Malkolm “bonkar” Rench – Two time World Champion in the Paladins World Championship, ex-Guild Esports player and Valorant pro that mains Sova, Astra and Breach
- Nichlas “Nille” Busk – Danish CS:GO pro with more than 10 years of FPS experience and 1.33 Valorant K/D ratio
- Ouali “M4CHINA” Manset – 27-year-old French pro player achieving 1st place in 2020 Rix.GG cup and ex-player for Team Vitality
- Vilius “krea6on” Malinauskas – Lithuanian FPS veteran with multiple top placements in 2021 Valorant tournaments and qualifiers including DreamHack Beyond Europe and Razer Invitational Europe
- Salah “Salah” Barakat (Coach) – Having previously coached for Fire Flux Esports, Salah will now be supporting the Tundra roster on its way to become one of the best Valorant teams globally
- Joe “Strong” Edwards (Analyst) – Two-time League of Legends LCS Champion and Valorant expert who will be supporting the team with insights and extensive gameplay knowledge
The announcement comes after Tundra’s recent signing of Fortnite player Harry “Veno” Pearson.
