“We’ve gained so much resilience”: One kiNgg and his four rookies. The winning formula in VCT 2026 and beyond

VALORANT Masters London concluded on June 21st with a five-map thriller between Pacific’s Paper Rex and VCT Americas’ Leviatán. But it wasn’t the event favorite, comprised of a loyal core of VCT legends, that lifted the Masters London trophy in the end.

It was Leviatán who came out on top with a dominant performance on the final map, Lotus. Not only is this the first Masters trophy going to a LATAM team, the Argentinian esports organization also locked in this historic accomplishment with a roster of four rookies that had never stepped on an international stage prior to Masters London.

With an average age of 20 years and 5 days, Leviatán has become the youngest global VALORANT champion in history, less than three months after rookie team Nongshim RedForce won Masters Santiago. In an exclusive interview with Esports Insider, Leviatán’s in-game leader (IGL) Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena discussed the team’s journey towards the Masters London crown and the strengths of his four rookies.

Rookies are expected to underperform during their international debuts due to a variety of factors. Cheers from the crowd drown out some in-game sounds. Opponents from other regions bring new play styles. Plus, the stakes and associated pressure are never higher than at a global event.

And yet Leviatán has shown incredible resilience at Masters London. Alongside historic giants like FunPlus Phoenix and Fnatic, it is one of the few teams in VALORANT history to reach a global Grand Final via a full lower-bracket run. Four consecutive match wins with little downtime in between were required to make this happen.

According to kiNgg, this lower-bracket run contributed significantly to the roster’s ability to bounce back from setbacks. Notably, in the Grand Final versus Paper Rex, Leviatán suffered a devastating 2-13 stomp on the first map, Fracture. But the squad swiftly retaliated with a 13-6 victory on Split to even out the score.

“I feel like thanks to all the lower run thing, we’ve gained so much resilience, so much experience also as a team,” explained kiNgg. “After losing map one, we’re just ‘Okay guys, it’s fine.’ It’s a best-of-five. It doesn’t matter if you win 3-0 [or] 3-2. At the end, it’s the exact same result, so we just shrugged it off.”

Unlike his teammates, kiNgg has come close to an international title before. At Champions 2024, he barely missed out on a Grand Final spot by losing to Team Heretics in the Lower Bracket Final. This time, Leviatán and kiNgg seemed to have their first trophy locked in with a dominant start on Lotus.

However, right before the finish line, Paper Rex managed to gain back momentum and scramble a couple of rounds together.

When asked whether this moment brought up doubts in his mind, kiNgg replied confidently: “No, absolutely not. Not even if I was the team losing 11-1. The last thing I would lose is hope for the match.”

He added: “Even if they were winning 11-1, I’m just saying to everyone, ‘Guys, we’re 0-0. Just focus on each round.’ Win[ning] is just a result. It’s not guaranteed. So, everyone was just so calm, so chill. And not at any moment, I had any doubts that we just had to keep playing good to get the trophy.”

kiNgg is by far the most experienced player on his team. And he’s also Leviatán’s longest-standing member, having spent nearly five years with the organization. From his perspective as an IGL and VCT veteran, he reflected on the growth of his four rookies.

Starting with Bruno “Neon” Rodríguez, the youngest roster member and the Masters London MVP. Hailing from Leviatán Academy, Neon was promoted to the Tier 1 roster ahead of the 2026 VCT season. But due to the league’s age restrictions, he missed out on most of this year’s Kickoff event before making his VCT debut at 18 years of age.

As top VCT teams look to reinforce their rosters with young prodigies, Leviatán was not the only organization to make this calculated decision. EMEA’s Team Vitality scouted Ștefan “Sayonara” Mîtcu all the way back in March, 2025 and waited for nearly a year to deploy the young gun in its active roster. For both Team Vitality and Leviatán, the risky move has paid off. The former finished fourth at Masters London, and Leviatán saw its youngest player be crowned tournament MVP.

‘’Since he joined the team, I’ve been telling him he’s the best in the world. He’s out of his mind. He’s incredible,” emphasized kiNgg. “It’s one of those players that you see him in practice, and I’m just, ‘Wow, this guy is just insane.’ So, I’m just proud of him to get that MVP. He deserves it so much. He’s my GOAT. He’s incredible.’’

“We’re the greatest duelist duo in the f****** world.” Those were the words Eduardo “Sato” Nagahama chose to describe himself and his ranked duo of five years, Rodrigo “spikeziN” Lombardi. 

“Sato has grown so much. I’ve known him since last year. He was the type of player to overheat a little bit. I was very harsh with him last year. I would even be harsh with him this year,” revealed kiNgg about Leviatán’s hype man. “Now, after all the evolution he’s had in this tournament, or since before that even, he feels like the second-most experienced player. He’s been helping me in some things. He’s doing incredible calls. He’s just grown so much as a player. He was already a shooter, and now, he’s not only a shooter. He’s a very, very smart player.”

While Sato grinded in Tier 2 until he was old enough to join Leviatán for VCT Americas 2025 Stage 2, his duo since childhood had a more complicated path to Tier 1. Despite winning Ascension 2024 with 2GAME Esports, spikeziN wasn’t old enough to compete in VCT Americas until almost one year later. Following a disastrous Stage 2 result in 2025, the prodigy then moved over to Leviatán to prove himself both regionally and on the international stage.

“spike[ziN], is just a flex that you wanna have in your team a hundred percent. He has everything. Not only he’s a flex in terms of agent pool. He’s a flex in absolutely everything. He can be the guy that can give you an incredible comm. He can be the guy that can just pop off,” highlighted kiNgg in our interview. “He’s always there helping you in absolutely everything. He’s just incredible. I’m really proud of him. And he can show that he can not only play Neon. He can play whatever he wants.

“He just happens to be one of the best Neons in the world, so it’s not his fault. He’s just insane.”

Guilherme “blowz” Oliveira had been grinding Tier 3 since 2021 before his VALORANT esports career took off in the South American Challengers scene. Winning his first Challenger trophies as part of free agent teams, Only Aim, Olimpo, and THE 7, earned him a spot on Leviatán Academy. Although blowz has only been in Tier 1 since VCT 2026 Kickoff, kiNgg already sees a lot of potential in the rookie.

“blowz has grown to be an incredible second caller,” the IGL pointed out. “He’s been helping me a lot with many situations. At the beginning, I was the guy kinda trying to say everything. And now, he’s the guy that’s even leading many times, like for post plants, retake situations. […] I can see him, in the near future, being even in IGL. He has the quality to be one. So, I’m really grateful that I have him by my side.”

Leviatán’s win at Masters London is reminiscent of Nongshim RedForce, who lifted the Masters Santiago trophy with four players who had previously never stepped on a global VCT stage before.

However, there are crucial differences between the journeys of these two rookie rosters, showcasing that individual firepower isn’t enough to remain at the top of VALORANT esports even in 2026’s micro-focused meta.

Like many of the less-experienced teams attending Masters Santiago, including Gentle Mates and BBL Esports, Nongshim RedForce suffered a notable drop in regional performance following the event. Due to a combination of meta shifts and role issues within the roster, the Korean organization failed to qualify for the second international VCT competition of the year.

Leviatán specifically, however, has solid chances heading into Stage 2 and beyond. In addition to excellent mechanical skill, its players are known for their discipline and flexibility in the agent pool. With its lower-bracket run, Leviatán has also proven its resilience and ability to adapt its playbook if necessary. 

If Leviatán continues its momentum through the last stages of VCT 2026, the organization could become a prime role model for roster formation and management at the highest level of VALORANT competition. It is not just raw firepower that writes these rookie success stories. It is also the adjacent support and coaching system that turns young guns into full-fledged professionals within weeks.