Last week, Fnatic VALORANT fans were given a scare when the team announced that Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev had contracted COVID-19. Luckily for the squad, they’ve gotten some good news today: The 19-year-old has confirmed that he’s tested negative for COVID. As a result, he will be able to rejoin Fnatic in Iceland for 2022 VCT Masters Reykjavík, which is set to begin on Sunday, April 10.
When reports surfaced around the situation, sources told Dot Esports that Derke wasn’t experiencing any symptoms. He also reassured fans on the competitive VALORANT subreddit that there was a good chance he’d still be able to attend the event and asked that they “just relax and believe.”
Prior to this negative test, Fnatic acquired Joona “H1ber” Parviainen on loan from KOI as a precaution to fill in the newly-vacated spot on the team, in case Derke wasn’t able to make it to Masters. With this news, however, it looks like H1ber won’t need to take the stage after all with a majority of the starting roster now available.
Related: Fnatic adds Alliance’s Fea as stand-in for BraveAF at VCT Masters Reykjavík
This is also great news for Fnatic since the team suspended Andrey “BraveAF” Gorchakov after leaked messages from the player supposedly showed support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They will still be moving forward with Enzo “Fearoth” Mestari as their fifth member on loan from Alliance.
With this development, Fnatic’s lineup now consists of Boaster, Mistic, Magnum, Derke, and Fearoth, who will set their eyes on their first VCT Masters trophy. The team qualified for the tournament after placing third in stage one of EMEA Challengers and could be a contender for a deep run at the event.
This article includes affiliate links, which may provide small compensation to Dot Esports.
Published: Apr 6, 2022 11:07 am