OG Esports bring in davidp, bench Matelian

After announcing their VCT 2022 roster just a week ago, OG Esports have benched Guillaume "Matelian" Kalka in favor of David "davidp" Prins ahead of VCT 2022 - Europe - Stage 1 - Open Qualifier 2.

The European organization’s head coach Julien "daemoN" Ducros explained on Twitter that it was difficult to foster Matelian’s development while simultaneously achieving OG’s short-term aims of making it to VCT, given the small qualifying windows teams have. He also said that davidp’s skill and experience would help overcome the team’s current challenges and drive them to the top 4. It is expected that OG Esports will reconsider Matelian’s spot on the team after the next set of qualifiers and possibly the Regional League.

The Frenchman spent the majority of 2021 on unsigned rosters, having started his VALORANT career with Edelweiss Esports in 2020. He was never able to make it past Challengers Open Qualifiers and Matelian’s most notable placements are a 5th-8th finish at Red Bull Home Ground - #2 - Open Qualifier and runners ups at French events Underdogs - January 2021 and Underdogs - November 2020.

But his fragging output was still strong for a support role, at a 1.07 rating and 186 ACS over the last three months, and there was clearly plenty of room for growth with OG Esports. However, after only playing VCT Europe Stage 1 Qualifier 1, where the team finished 17th-32nd and were running out of chances to qualify for VCT, Matelian was moved to an inactive role and the team brought in the more experienced davidp.

davidp is a name that needs little introduction for fans of the European VALORANT scene. The Belgian first made his name with his 2020 stint on G2 Esports, during which they dominated the scene, winning a number of 3rd party tournaments. After their disappointment at First Strike Europe Regional Final, davidp had a short span of time with EXCEL, but failed to have any notable results.

He spent the latter part of 2021 with GIANTX and seemed to be on the up when the team placed second and fifth at VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Europe - Challengers 2 and VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - EMEA - Challengers Playoffs respectively, but this form too faded away by the end of the year, when he found himself a free agent. davidp now joins OG Esports on trial and will hope to get the team into the closed qualifier and further.

You can follow OG Esports’ progress at VCT 2022 - Europe - Stage 1 - Open Qualifier 2, which will start January 17th.

With the change, OG Esports are:

Guillaume "Matelian" Kalka (benched)