ScreaM to “reflect” on future after VCT elimination, explains CS2 comment
Hara Amorós / Riot Games / LVPKarmine Corp Valorant star ScreaM says that he has a lot of thinking to do after his team was eliminated from VCT EMEA LCQ. Meanwhile, he dropped a clear reference to Counter-Strike, the game in which he began his career as a pro player.
ScreaM’s Valorant season came to an end on July 21 after Karmine Corp was eliminated from the VCT EMEA LCQ by NAVI. It was a fitting ending to a disappointing season in which the French team struggled to remain competitive and had to deal with internal turmoil.
Three weeks into the VCT EMEA league, Alexis ‘Newzera’ Humbert stepped down from the roster, with ScreaM accusing him of “abandoning” the team. With the roster lock already in place, KCorp had no choice but to field assistant coach Ahmed ‘ZE1SH’ El Sheikh for the rest of the season.
Hara Amorós / Riot Games / LVPThe French team ended the regular season in last place, with only two victories from nine matches and a 4-15 map record. KCorp survived the first round of the LCQ, beating BBL Esports, but then back-to-back losses at the hands of Giants and NAVI brought their season to an end.
Hours after the match, ScreaM revealed that he will assess his career options once he has had some time to rest.
“I had never taken a flight that fast after a game, already back home,” he tweeted. “Time to rest and reflect on the options I have got for the future of my career.”
ScreaM ended his tweet by making what is understood to be a reference to Counter-Strike 2, though he did not say whether he is considering a return to Valve’s FPS. “I heard there’s a game coming out soon…”
ScreaM disappointed with KCorp’s season
ScreaM’s comments came hours after another, longer, tweet of his, in French, in which he admitted to being disappointed with the team’s season. “These were the worst results of my FPS career,” he said, adding that he takes “full responsibility” for the team’s failures.
The Belgian star went on to say that he remains baffled by Newzera’s decision to leave the team halfway through the season.
“Despite the difficulties and frustrations we’ve been through as a team, I still can’t understand abandoning a position,” he wrote. “Karmine Corp is giving this chance, which is so hard to come by, to a while new generation of players of wearing this jersey, and this one was simply abandoned in the middle of the split.
“It’s beyond my moral code to give up, let alone to give up on my team.”
Newzera, whose reasons for leaving the team have not been disclosed, has since responded to ScreaM’s tweet, saying: “It’s a pity that KC lets you write stuff like this when everything for me is absolutely restricted. You know very well that if I tell the whole truth it’s going to be a pain in the ass for everyone.”
ScreaM went on to explain the tweet that sparked the controversy was “tweeted out of frustration at not qualifying” and called his words “clumsy and unnecessary”. The veteran esports competitor also spoke about how much this loss has affected him, claiming that the preparation for the event affected his personal health.
Additionally, he offered clarification on his comment about Counter-Strike 2 and any implication he’d be moving over to that game instead of Valorant.
“For the reference to CS2, it was more irony than anything else, very misplaced with hindsight given the circumstances. I want to continue in Valorant and do everything to win trophies.”
At the time of writing, ScreaM’s destination following Karmine Corp’s elimination remains to be seen. The organization has yet to address ScreaM’s comments.
The 29-year-old competed at the highest level in the CS:GO scene between 2013 and 2019 on teams like VeryGames, G2 Esports, and Envy, twice making HLTV.org’s top 20 player of the year ranking. He switched to Valorant in 2020 because of the lack of opportunities in the CS:GO scene. “CS has given me a lot and I wish things were different,” he said at the time.
Keep track of all the changes in the Valorant scene with our off-season rostermania tracker.