Team SMG have parted ways with four of their players, the Singaporean organization has announced.
SINGAPORE – Yu “Envious” Ewa, Kellyn “Kaephrodite” Sim, Jularat “YOKY” Buaphan, and Elyse “Ratatoulyse” Lim have all departed the team, the organization announced on Monday. With that, Team SMG are now down to just two players: Abigail “Kohaibi” Kong, the last member of the original SMG Game Changers core, and Ryona “Tarathiel” Tan, the most recent recruit.
“As the VCT Game Changers season draws to a close for us, we say thank you and farewell to four of our VALORANT players – Kaephrodite and Envious, who were with us from the start as well as YOKY and ratatoulyse. Good luck and have fun in your future endeavors!” the announcement reads.
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(Photo courtesy of Team SMG)
The decision comes one month following the team’s quarter-final exit in the VCT Game Changers APAC Elite stage, the most highly acclaimed APAC tournament of the year, after losses to X10 Sapphire and ZOL Meraki.
Envious and Kaephrodite were part of the original Game Changers lineup that Team SMG formed in March, signing the core of Renatus White and two Thai imports. The signings also mark the first time in the organization’s history in VALORANT to build a squad featuring players from outside the MY/SG region. During this time, the team most notably finished runners-up to AEC in the second stage of the VCT Game Changers Open.
SMG made their first roster change following the end of the Open circuit, with former Alter Ego Celeste in-game leader Tarathiel and former Thirsts Red member Ratatoulyse replacing Wanwisa “fixky” Pannil on the active roster and, at the same time, expanding the team to a six-player lineup.
This leaves Team SMG with the task of finding three additional players before the start of Game Changers 2023. In the meantime, the organization has yet to comment on its next step forward, while YOKY and Ratatoulyse have revealed that they have been allowed to explore their options as unrestricted free agents and are on the lookout for a new team.
This means that Team SMG are now down to the following duo:
- 🇸🇬 Abigail “Kohaibi” Kong
- 🇮🇩 Ryona “Tarathiel” Tan
- 🇸🇬 Alex “falfalfal” Cheang (Coach)
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Cover photo courtesy of Team SMG
