Mehmet "cNed" İpek is set to make his competitive return. On January 5, the FUT Esports player announced that he would not be part of the team’s roster for the start of the 2025 season. “I will not compete in VCT tournaments at the beginning of the year but that doesn’t mean I’m retired,” the Duelist clarified in a video posted on X. “I’m just taking a break this season. In the meantime, I will focus on myself, my streams and create content.” According to Sheep Esports sources, the player who famously won the inaugural edition of Champions in 2021 with Acend will resume competition—albeit a tier below — having reached a verbal agreement with Valiant for the second annual edition of the Challengers EMEA.

Valiant, who have just been crowned Challengers France's champions, recently saw their star player, Sylvain "Veqaj" Pattyn, depart for Gentle Mates earlier this week, as previously reported by Sheep Esports. In filling the shoes of the MVP of the Challengers France Stage 2, a profile of cNed’s caliber was anticipated—he was among the world’s top performers during VALORANT’s early competitive era. Even before securing the world title, the Turkish player had already claimed his first international trophy at the Masters.

While his 2024 campaign was far from unsuccessful, it proved less prolific. Competing with FUT, cNed finished third in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2 of VCT EMEA. However, his most recent outing ended on a high note, as he captured the title at Spike Nations #5 while representing Turkey, before taking his break.