Elevate restart roster with miniature and ShoukR

ELEVATE began their roster in September, announcing they would build around Erika "KP" Lytle and Justin "Jerk" Milani. But after failing to lock down a solid roster, Elevate has released the two players, and restarted with Blake "miniature" Gittins, Rahmin "ShoukR" Shoukoohi, and coach Kyle “Phaz” Dornian.

Success has been few and far between for Elevate since entering VALORANT, their best finish being second place in the EVOlution Open - North America. While they began with a solid roster of KP, Jerk, miniature, Chris "duck" Dutoit, and Armel "Leak" Araneta, ShoukR and Anderson "Nanners" Lutkehus were added for the Allied Esports Strafe Series #2, Drake "Exalt" Branly for the Rarity Found Summer, and a completely rotating roster was used for the 30Bomb: Invitational Series #2. KP alleges these issues were the reason Elevate chose to start afresh.

They’ve chosen two quite experienced players in miniature and ShoukR. Both come from the lower-level North American scene in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. In VALORANT, though, they’ve accrued a fair amount of experience. miniature was initially a member of Morning Light, with whom he won Nerd Street Gamers’ Open #16, but left shortly after. He played with mixes for a while before joining Elevate, where, as mentioned, they’ve only seen brief success.

When Charlotte Phoenix were dropped by the organization, they began playing events with ShoukR. Things went well, as they nearly qualified for the FaZe Clan VALORANT Invitational. They soon found themselves signed by Rise. However, they only played several events under the organization with ShoukR before he left the starting lineup. After the PULSE Series, his release was announced.

After taking a short period off, ShoukR returned with Elevate, though, as mentioned, he’s been somewhat in and out of the team. Elevate have now committed to him, and it will be interesting to see what they can do.

Ahead of First Strike, Elevate will be looking for more success. Their rebuild will need to take place quickly, as yesterday it was announced that the first qualifier for First Strike in North America will begin next week.

Elevate are now:

Blake “miniature” Gittins Rahmin “ShoukR” Shoukoohi

Kyle “Phaz” Dornian (Coach)