According to sources close to
Sheep Esports, Conner
“GLYPH” Garcia has reached a verbal agreement to join Gentle Mates for the 2026
VALORANT VCT EMEA season. GLYPH is a 21-year-old Filipino-American player who has been competing with Winthrop University and in the North American circuit, including recent appearances in Challengers NA.
GLYPH played a full year split between collegiate competition and North America’s VCL/ACE ecosystem, including promotion/relegation series and Stage 2 playoff matches against lineups such as Shopify Rebellion Gold, Maryville University, and TSM. In the mid-season, he helped Ambrosia to win three consecutive elimination series in promotion/relegation, and secure their slot for the following stage. He later appeared in Stage 3 playoff matches against TSM toward the end of the season. In terms of role, GLYPH has mainly operated mostly as a Controller. Across his most recent matches, he played Omen in roughly 70% of his maps with a 1.06 rating and 204 ACS, and rotated into Viper when needed.
For Gentle Mates, this move comes at a moment of full reconstruction. Gentle Mates spent 2025 in VCT EMEA as the 2023 Ascension winner for a last year if they do not fill the requirements to remain in the league. Opening the year with a 7th–8th finish at Kickoff and then ending both Stage 1 and Stage 2 at the bottom of the table. Stage 2 was the breaking point: Gentle Mates went winless in groups, missed playoffs, and as a result lost their partnered status. Even so, they produced isolated highs outside the league schedule, including a LAN win at BtcTurk GameFest in Istanbul, where they beat Natus Vincere 3–1 after a 2–1 win over BBL PCIFIC the previous day.
After Stage 2 results, Gentle Mates were no longer part of the partnered league and their roster was effectively released. The situation shifted again when Riot
removed KOI from VCT EMEA and reassigned that partnered slot to Gentle Mates, restoring them to the league ahead of 2026 while Riot Games prepares wider structural changes for 2027. Bringing in GLYPH would be one of the first concrete steps in assembling a new core under that reinstated slot. Rather than extending a roster that finished last in Stage 2, Gentle Mates would be moving on a North America–developed Controller with a full year of officials and recent high-pressure promotion/relegation series experience.
