Top South American VALORANT squad reportedly signs ex-The Guard duelist

Every single player of The Guard’s Ascenscion Americas-winning VALORANT squad found a home at G2 this season except for their duelist, who has reportedly finally found his spot in franchising, albeit in South America instead of his longtime home in NA.

Former The Guard and NRG duelist Ian “tex” Botsch has come to a verbal agreement to join South American team Leviatán, according to a Sept. 24 report from blix.gg. This would mark their second duelist pickup over the 2023-24 offseason, only four days after reportedly picking up VCT Americas MVP Erick “aspas” Santos.

This is a bit of a surprise roster move for both tex and Leviatán. Tex had developed his skills on NRG, most known for his consistent Jett and Chamber play. He never led his team to any notable highs while on NRG, but when the org was promoted to franchising and tex departed, The Guard came calling. They were looking for a replacement after their star duelist Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo was snatched by franchised team T1, and tex fit in like a glove.

He wasn’t needed to pop off as hard as Sayaplayer did, but he did so anyway. Some of The Guard’s highlights across their 2023 campaign were led by the duelist play of tex, especially in their Ascension Americas run. Tex led the entire tournament in first kills per round at 0.24, while tying for first alongside teammate Trent “trent” Cairns in kills per round at 0.82.

So, despite all his experience in American teams, tex is heading to a South American squad. That alone is a bit of a risk, but something we’ve seen happen before, though mostly the other way around. Sentinels notably brought two of LOUD’s stars to their team last off-season, matching them with American and Canadian talent. Now, tex is joining Leviatán’s retool, with aspas rumored to join alongside him. That makes the signing even stranger, as both tex and aspas fit the same role at duelist, although tex is known to flex a little more than aspas does.

Now, whether the flexibility that tex can provide means he’ll be running double duelist alongside aspas or he’ll be playing KAY/O or Chamber more often will come to fruition over time. Either way, if this report holds true, we’ve got ourselves a curiously exciting team brewing in VCT Americas.