Sources: TSM bench Brax on VALORANT roster

North American VALORANT squad TSM have dropped Braxton “Brax” Pierce from their starting roster, sources told Upcomer on Tuesday.

TSM have practiced with 17-year old Sean “bang” Bezerra for several days as his replacement, sources said.

Bang has not signed the contract to join TSM as a permanent replacement at the time of publication, however, according to journalist Ryan Friend.

The reason for Brax’ removal remains unclear, however.

TSM have undergone a management shift recently following the acquisition of Chet Singh in May. The organization released Taylor “Tailored” Broomall following a string of poor results in the VCT. Brax has played just four maps with the side following his arrival on March 31. He played with TSM during the VCT Stage 2 Challengers 1 qualifier but failed to take down Immortals in the round of 16.

[brid video=”757975″ player=”25910″ title=”Banned%20in%20CSGO%20Resurrected%20in%20Valorant%20The%20Rise%20Fall%20and%20Rise%20Again%20of%20Brax” duration=”962″ description=”Braxton “Brax” Pierce was, at one point, widely considered to be among North America’s most promising up-and-coming Counter-Strike talents. He was young, mechanically gifted and one of the region’s future hopes for one day winning a Major, the pinnacle of competition in CS:GO. But before he could realize his potential, the young prodigy was banned from competing at the highest level of the game he loved — unable to accomplish the heights, that at one point, seemed an inevitability.But then, a new opportunity presented itself. Riot Games’ brightly colored, explosive entry into the FPS genre: Valorant. And Brax himself is at the helm of this budding new esport. Experience the entire journey, from CS:GO prodigy to Valorant veteran, in the first installment of Upcomer’s Rise and Fall video series. Written by: Charlie Howard (@CharlieHoward_)Edited by: Yovcho Yovchev (@fxnicovisuals)Graphics and thumbnail by: Adam Fitzsimmons (@Adam_Fitz_)Supervising Producer and Narrator: Colin McNeil (@McNeilColin)Visit Upcomer.com and download the mobile app for more. Find Upcomer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/UpcomerFootage sources: https://pastebin.com/jChUcySs” uploaddate=”2021-04-17″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19254/thumb/757975_t_1618677901.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19254/sd/757975.mp4″]

Bang is set to join his first professional VALORANT team following his impressive performances at the lower level. He recently played for OTW Esports in the Stage 2 Challengers 2 qualifier in April.

Although OTW Esports managed to take down Ghost Gaming in the round of 32 the side lost to Noble in the round of 16. TSM, on the other hand, defeated Soniqs and Gen.G on their side of the bracket to qualify for Challengers 2.

TSM is set to compete in VCT Stage 3 following the conclusion of Stage 2 Masters. The first international event began Monday with Sentinels and Version1 as the representatives from North America. Stage 2 Masters is set to conclude on May 31 with the first place team earning $200,000.

TSM have two inactive players following the benching of brax. Former starting member Stephen “reltuC” Cutler was moved to the bench on May 3.

If bang joins TSM, the North American organization is set to field the following roster:

• James “hazed” Cobb
• Taylor “Drone” Johnson
• Matthew “WARDELL” Yu
• Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik
• bang
• brax (Inactive)
• reltuC (Inactive)