GIANTX removes runneR and tomaszy from VCT starting roster

GIANTX has announced massive changes to its VALORANT roster midway through the ongoing VCT EMEA Stage 1. The team has removed its initiator Emil ‘runneR’ Trajkovski and duelist Tomás ‘tomaszy’ Machado from the starting lineup.

They will be replaced by Karel ‘Flickless’ Maeckelbergh and Hanceriuc ‘ara’ Eduard-George, both coming from the Challenger team UCAM Esports under the Affiliate Partnership Programme. The duo is set to make their debut for the European organisation against Fnatic on April 17th.

“We see the hard work and the performances they put out in the Challengers League and feel it could be what we need to reignite our performance and competitive momentum,” GIANTX shared on X (Twitter).

This decision is made to help the team regain its footing and improve results in the rest of the season.

“Our results this year have not been a reflection of the standards we want to hold ourselves at in GIANTX. After attempts to rework our current roster, we are now in a position where we feel the need to make more drastic changes,” the team announced.

With these moves, runneR will stay in Berlin as the sixth player, while tomaszy has been benched and will fly back to his home in Portugal.

“We want to thank both runneR and tomaszy for their hard work, individual effort, team contribution, and unwavering commitment to the organization despite the results,” GIANTX added.

So far, GIANTX has delivered an underwhelming performance in both EMEA Kickoff and Stage 1 2025, managing to secure only one series win. 

While the team still has a slim chance of qualifying to the Stage 1 playoffs, it will need to play near-perfect VALORANT and hope that other teams like NAVI lose the rest of its matches. Even then, the squad will need to have a higher map differential to advance further.