Team Vitality has taken a proactive approach to its next offseason. According to sources from Sheep Esports, the French organization has reached an agreement with Ștefan “Sayonara” Mîtcu. However, having only recently turned 17, the Moldovan player remains ineligible to compete in the VCT EMEA. Consequently, he will continue on loan with the Challengers League France club until he is permitted to join the VALORANT EMEA elite next season.

Outstanding metrics

This move may come as a surprise given the Bees’ recent success. Vitality clinched the VCT EMEA Kickoff title in February and subsequently represented the region at the Masters Bangkok, where they were eliminated in the semifinals by G2 Esports, the VCT Americas champion. Yet Sayonara, an Initiator and Duelist, is no ordinary prospect. Since last year, the young talent has consistently impressed in the lower tiers. He first made waves in the Challengers League Spain, winning Split 1 with KPI Gaming in his debut season. He even became the youngest VCL Spain winner and MVP ever.

More importantly, he distinguished himself on an individual level, finishing with the league’s second-highest rating 2.0 (1.34), just behind his teammate Semyon “purp0” Borchev (1.38), who now competes in the VCT EMEA with GIANTX. While KPI fell short of defending its title in Split 2, finishing third, Sayonara raised his performance even further, securing the highest rating 2.0 (1.36) in the league. He also topped multiple statistical categories, including K:D (1.52), KAST (80%), and KPR (0.93).

In the footsteps of Bo and Zen

These outstanding metrics naturally caught the attention of top-tier organizations. Fnatic, for instance, enlisted Sayonara for late-season tournaments in 2024, fully aware that he would be unavailable for VCT EMEA 2025 due to age restrictions. Seeking further development, the rising star switched leagues and joined DVM in the French championship. Just as he did in Split 2 of the 2024 Challengers League Spain, Sayonara was unable to lead his team to the title but once again dominated the individual leaderboards, posting the best rating 2.0 (1.33), highest K:D (1.53), and best KAST (81%) of the split.

Faced with such promise, Team Vitality moved swiftly to secure his future services, ensuring they would not miss out on this exceptional talent. This is not the first time Vitality has signed a player well in advance of their eligibility. In League of Legends, the organization recruited Yang-Bo “Bo” Zhou in June 2022 while he was serving a suspension, with the Chinese jungler only becoming eligible to compete in early 2023. Similarly, in Rocket League, Alexis “zen” Bernier joined the club in October 2022 but had to wait until May 2023 to participate in the RLCS, once again due to a suspension.