9INE sign brand new VALORANT roster

The Swedish organization 9INE recently announced that they had brought on a roster for Riot Games’ new powerhouse FPS VALORANT. The organization was first founded in 2014, and relaunched in 2019 with a team in CS:GO. They decided to stick to their roots by signing a full Swedish squad who have plenty of experience in tactical shooters.

“We are so happy to have such talented young players on board. All we ask from them is to stay positive, train hard, and develop their already-considerable skills. We have faith that they have the determination and the talent to conquer any challenge, and we know that their passion for gaming will bring in results,” tells us William Lövqvist, Co-Owner of 9INE.

The players are backed by a ton of online and LAN tournament experience, starting off with the team captain Oscar “xcelcs” Wassberg. Xcelcs was a professional player in Apex Legends for Crowns Esports Club, as well as a coach for multiple organizations in both Apex and Fortnite. Simon “Foosker” Kotala Rojas was an Apex player as well, actually playing with xcelcs on Crowns Esports Club. He achieved top 700 in the EU Apex ladder as well. Next on the line-up we have Rasmus “kqvxD” Berggren, who has a pile of CS:GO LAN experience, winning four offline tournaments in Sweden. He also qualified for FPL-C, placing 7th. Next, we have an Overwatch player, Rasmus “Foxiz” Ekström, who has taken multiple top 2 as well as some top 1 placements in tournaments while playing for a couple of organizations, one specifically being CycloneGG. Last but not least, Ville “Bylle” Bylund is brought on with some LAN experience in CS:GO.

“We would love to see Riot combine the tournament environment of FOTA with a large international organization, such as gamepass sales or skin sales, in conjunction with a strong community-driven tournament atmosphere. Such a combination, with the Riot’s franchised LOL league system, would help the tier 1-3 teams. We feel that working alongside communities is necessary so as to be able to embrace players from all different esports scenes,” continues Lövqvist.

No doubt, the organization has high expectations not only for their team, but also for the VALORANT esports scene in general. Only time will tell if they have what it takes to make it.

9INE line-up consists of:

Oscar “xcelcs” Wassberg Simon “Foosker” Kotala Rojas Rasmus “kqvxD” Berggren Rasmus “Foxiz” Ekström Ville “Bylle” Bylund