NRG has signed former 100Thieves player Ethan “Ethan” Arnold and correspondingly moved Bradley “ANDROID” Fodor to their inactive roster, the team announced on Thursday. Ethan will replace ANDROID on the NRG roster for the next stage of the NA VALORANT Champions Tour.
NRG Valorant is coming for the top spot in NA
Welcome back @ethanarnold 😈 pic.twitter.com/hdG1RgkOLb
— NRG (@NRGgg) April 21, 2022
Ethan joins NRG for Stage 2
Ethan made a name for himself in the NA VALORANT scene by joining 100 Thieves in early 2021. In their first tournament with Ethan on the roster, 100 Thieves made a lower bracket run to the finals, finishing second at Stage 1 Challengers 3 in 2021. Despite losing to FaZe Clan in the finals, the team looked improved in comparison to their lower bracket loss to Gen.G in the tournament before he joined. Despite a disappointing performance in NA’s Stage 1 Masters, the team rebounded to win Stage 2 Challengers 1.
After a second-place finish in the Challengers 3 playoffs, the team qualified for Masters 3 in Berlin, the second international tournament of 2021. Against teams all over the world, they made a good run to reach the semi-finals, losing to fellow NA squad Team Envy (now known as OpTic Gaming). Flexing in between Sage, Skye and Omen, he was vital to that roster and their success. However, that turned out to be the beginning of the end for the 100Thieves roster. After failing to qualify for Champions in 2021 and finishing third in the NA Last Chance Qualifier for the final spot, Ethan and 100Thieves had to wait until 2022 to compete again. With a reconstructed roster and a new agent for Ethan to learn in Chamber, the team looked primed to compete again in 2022.
The team automatically qualified for Challengers 1 of 2022, but started off slow and never caught up. This included a tough loss to rookie team The Guard, getting beat 13-0 on Ascent. Just after, the team removed two players from the roster, and played in minor tournaments afterwards. Ethan competed in those, but was moved to the inactive roster on April 14, 2022. Now, he joins another team that is aiming to qualify for Stage 2 in NA.
NRG’s future with this change
ANDROID, now moved onto the inactive roster, was a core member of NRG to get them into Challengers 1. His key role as a Chamber specialist was crucial to the roster’s playstyle. That choice qualified them alongside The Guard in the lower bracket in the first qualifier. But, as the roster faced off against NA’s best teams, they finished 1-4. That record was the same as 100Thieves, albeit in different groups.
I will no longer be playing for NRG as I have been moved to the bench. Pretty devastated from this but I understand their decision. I wish nothing but the best to all of the guys at NRG— I genuinely hope they kill it in vct as they’ve all been W teammates since day one 👍 https://t.co/wJO4oKGLdt
— Bradley Fodor (@androidfps) April 21, 2022
ANDROID confirmed that he will no longer play for NRG, but will take some time off to improve before heading back into the VCT scene.
