Oxygen Esports hasn’t played an official VALORANT series since the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier back in October. That event saw them drop out in the second round of the Losers Bracket. The team had some decent success in VALORANT with 3rd place finish at First Strike Turkey, a trip to Turkey Stage 1 Masters, and 2nd place finishes in Challengers 1 of both Stage 2 and 3.

Unfortunately, the rest of their 2021 was not as fruitful. Near the end of the year, players began looking for other offers. Some were transferred to other teams and now, the rest have been released. The interesting thing is that immediately after Oxygen Esports moved out of Turkey, they announced the signing of a North American Academy roster. With no current main roster.

Oxygen releases Turkish roster and announces NA Academy team

Today we announce the departure of #OXGVAL. We want to thank all our players, staff and supporters for the incredible journey we had.

The Turkish #VCT scene will always have a special place in our hearts. #OXGHELAL🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/JRcnRm9wzr

— Oxygen Esports (@OXG_Esports) January 28, 2022

The final remaining contracted members of Oxygen were Muhammed “m1tez“ Tezcan, Cihan “Unity“ Seferoğlu, and coach Deren “Cuaj” Ülgen. Prior to the Turkish team being let go, Erdem “toronto“ Soğukpınar was moved to NOM Esports and Burak “glovee“ Yıldırım to SuperMassive Blaze.

We’re coming home to NA for #Valorant!

Welcome OXG Valorant Academy
🗡️@NotReduxx
🤖@Virtyyyy
🧪@Nurfed
🃏@RustunL
🏹@VernoFPS
👨‍🏫@480wrap pic.twitter.com/qmZ7nNKtC5

— Oxygen Esports (@OXG_Esports) January 28, 2022

Following the announcement of the Turkish squad’s departure, the signing of ex-FLICKBAITERS was revealed. The team will be playing as the Oxygen VALORANT Academy.

The roster will be:

• Yassin “Reduxx“ Aboulalazm
• Leandro “Virtyy” Moreno
• James “Nurfed“ McFadden
• Rustun “Rustun” Lusk 
• Andrew “Verno“ Maust

Reduxx was already a part of the organization as a streamer, so the signing makes perfect sense. The lack of a main roster aside from this Academy team is a bit puzzling. No matter the situation, though, ex-FLICKBAITERS has been on a roll. They have consistently made it to the Grand Final in the NSG Winter Championship open events and the monthly Pittsburgh Knights tournaments.

The likelihood that they are home to only an Academy roster for too long is rather low. Look for Oxygen Esports to sign another roster as its main or quickly promote the Academy team to main roster status if they continue to perform how they have been.

Stay tuned to Run It Back for more breaking news!