FNS announces NRG departure as Valorant star pivots from pro play to streaming

NRG’s star Valorant IGL, FNS, has announced his departure from the VCT roster to make a switch from pro play to streaming. 

Pujan “FNS” Mehta is one of NA Valorant’s most tenured IGLs. From a long career in CSGO, and eventually a move to Valorant which saw him lift a trophy at Masters Reykjyavik 2022, he is arguably one of the brightest ‘IGLs ‘stars in the game. 

As 2023’s off-season started, FNS revealed on his stream he and fellow teammate Sam “s0m” Oh would both be departing NRG together to focus on streaming while fielding opportunities. 

Now, on September 19, FNS has formally announced in an Instagram post his departure from the NRG’s VCT roster, pivoting towards streaming. 

Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

FNS announces departure from NRG as he pivots to streaming

“Obviously, things didn’t work out as well as we had expected from start to finish but I want to thank some people who helped me get to this point in my career to begin with,” FNS started off his farewell, thanking longtime former teammates Austin “crashies” Roberts and Victor “Victor” Wong.

He further thanked NRG and fans for supporting his career. As for his future, FNS said, “I’ve genuinely enjoyed streaming the past two-three weeks and even though I’ve had conversations with orgs to potentially play next year, my heart just isn’t in competing at this moment.” 

He continues, “So joining a team just wouldn’t be fair to them. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect and I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to build something of my own.”

FNS explains he wants to see how far he can take streaming, promising once he is satisfied with what he built, he will be back competing once again. 

NRG is currently in the middle of a rebuild, as star player Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks has been linked with a move back to EMEA with NAVI, and s0m has already departed the team to focus on streaming. 

NRG has yet to announce the players who will be replacing the three who are departing for the 2024 season.