FaZe Clan have announced their first women’s esports roster, a Valorant team that is set to compete in the VCT Game Changers circuit in North America. Some of the team’s players spoke with Dexerto about signing with the popular esports and gaming company.
When Vannesa ‘panini’ Emory was around 14 years old, she used to watch the original members of FaZe Clan and their trickshot videos before the group of YouTube creators turned the brand into the publically traded company it is today.
The Valorant pro told Dexerto that before she started her pro career, she wanted to be the first woman to sign with FaZe.
“I always looked up to the org and I always thought it was so cool,” she said. “I’m not going to lie: as years went by and as I got older and they weren’t picking up any women I was like, ‘That kind of sucks. I wonder when that’s going to happen…’ This was one of my dreams when I was a little girl. This was one of the orgs that I wanted to be a part of, and to be able to represent other women and then just like bring that to FaZe I think is going to be really cool.”
panini has officially realized her dream of representing FaZe, having joined the organization’s all-women’s Valorant team. She reunites with her former Complexity GX3 teammates Madison ‘Maddie’ Mann and Jennifer ‘refinnej’ Le, with ex-CLG CS:GO veterans Emma ‘Emy’ Choe and Diane ‘di^’ Tran rounding out the roster.
FaZe welcome Valorant Game Changers roster
Prior to joining FaZe, the players competed together for a while under the name ‘Hamboigas’. The team could not secure a spot in VCT 2022 Game Changers Series 3 after finishing 13th-16th in the open qualifier.
Emy, who made the switch over from CS:GO in the middle of 2022 along with di^, said that signing with FaZe after spending over six years with CLG feels like a new phase in her life.
“It’s kind of bittersweet because CLG was really good to us,” Emy told Dexerto. “But it is sweet because I get to interact with new people in a new org environment. FaZe definitely has a lot more reach when it comes to content and getting my brand out there. So I’m definitely going to be streaming more… It’s bittersweet, but it’s a new chapter.”
panini said the team is looking to grow together and see how far they can go when the NA VCT Game Changers circuit kicks off in April. The team hasn’t set any goals just yet and is looking to gauge what they can do in the competitive circuit with the support of an org.
The North American Game Changers scene went through a major shake-up in the offseason, with new teams forming around established talent, and younger players gettings a shot on signed teams.
“I think the scene is going to be like 10 times more competitive now,” panini said. “So I think going into this first GC event, we are going have to like watch out for a lot of teams and there is going to be a lot of good competition out there.”
FaZe Clan will debut its new Valorant roster in the VCT Game Changers circuit when the open qualifiers begin sometime in April.
FaZe Clan VCT Game Changers roster:
Vannesa ‘panini’ Emory
Emma ‘Emy’ Choe
Diane ‘di^’ Tran along
Madison ‘Maddie’ Mann
Jennifer ‘refinnej’ Le
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