Tundra Esports have been acquiring teams in various esports and the organization announced Monday that its most recent signing is that of free-agent VALORANT roster YONK. The roster failed to make the main VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 1 competition in the Europe, Middle East and Africa Champions league, but they did manage to qualify for one of the VALORANT Regional Leagues in VRL Northern Europe: Polaris.
TUNDRA x VALORANT 💥
YONK is no more! Join us in welcoming this cracked team to the #TundraTribe 🔺
🔫 @YACINELAGHMARI
🔫 @Officialbonkar [IGL]
🔫 @m4chinacsgo
🔫 @NilleValorant
🔫 @krea6oN #VCT. We're coming for you… pic.twitter.com/xM5VsOyCrF— TUNDRA (@TundraEsports) February 14, 2022
YONK battled through the open qualifier for the right to compete in the league. The VRL starts competition Monday with the roster playing under the Tundra Esports banner Wednesday against the free-agent roster who cars? who is currently unsigned.
Meet Tundra Esports’ VALORANT roster
YONK is a roster built around former Guild Esports stars Yacine “yzn” Laghmari and Malkolm “bonkar” Rench, who were benched in October of 2021. Yacine is the main Duelist for the squad while bonkar is the in-game-leader and mainly plays Controllers. The other members of the team include former Team Vitality player Ouali “M4CHINA” Manset, former Alliance player Vilius “krea6oN” Malinauskas and former Counter-Strike pro Nichlas “Nille” Busk.
The team also has two coaches under Tundra Esports in Salah “Salah” Barakat and Joe “Strong” Edwards.
YONK were formed specifically to qualify in VCT competition, but they lost to G2 Esports and CGN Esports in the second and first VCT Challengers qualifiers, respectfully.
“VALORANT’s competitive ecosystem is continuing to thrive, has strong publisher support and a growing community which makes it the ideal next title for us. YONK also presented a fantastic opportunity. The caliber and experience of their players are exactly what we’re looking for to help us maintain Tundra’s strong performance levels,” Maxim Demin, the co-owner of Tundra Esports, said in a press release.
Under Tundra Esports, the roster has a chance to qualify for the main VCT competition in the summer if they manage to top the VRL Northern Europe: Polaris standings and win out in the promotion tournament.
