Sources: Caldya Esport are set to join VALORANT Challengers France Revolution with a new roster

According to sources close to Sheep Esports, Caldya Esport is set to enter in VALORANT Challengers France for the 2026 season and has secured a fully French five-man roster built around Lucas "lux9" Danna, Nathan “nAyte” Berquignol, David “soren” Soth, Charles “NRK” Pedretti, Titouan “TITOUNE” Houssein and Nanochon, the coach. In 2025, several of these players already crossed paths directly or indirectly on the French circuit.

NRK and TITOUNE followed a similarly close trajectory: the two were regularly linked across various French projects, playing for Hide On Bush, and ToDoBew. Soren, for his part, is coming off a structured season with Karmine Corp Blue Stars in Challengers France 2025, after being announced in late 2024 as one of the pillars of KC’s academy project in the French league.

As for nAyte, he has an unusual background: a former high-level Fortnite player, he gradually turned to Valorant after ending his career in Epic Games' battle royale. With growing experience on the VALORANT scene, he notably played the VCL France Up & Down this year alongside Lux9 at NFM, where they were eliminated in the lower final by Hide On Bush.

Finally, at the helm of the project is a coach who has already proven himself in French tier three, albeit in an assistant coach role, notably with La Masia and NFM. For Nanochon, this is a new challenge: he no longer plays a secondary role within the coaching staff, but is now Caldya's conductor for 2026.

For Caldya Esport, this roster would represent a turning point after a 2025 largely devoted to consolidating its position within the French ecosystem. The organisation appeared in Challengers France 2025: Up & Down Revolution, a run that ultimately failed. In parallel, Caldya remained active on the domestic circuit, notably securing a third-place finish in VALORANT Premier France toward the end of 2025, confirming a consistent presence near the top of national competitions, without, however, clearing the threshold of a qualification in the French League.

In this context, a 2026 roster built around lux9, nAyte, soren, NRK, and TITOUNE would fit the logic of a new cycle: bringing together players already exposed to the VCL Up & Down pathway and to academy projects such as KCBS, with the aim of transforming an organisation that, until now, has largely been confined to Premier qualification tournaments and the Up & Down circuit. Caldya would be looking to shift up a gear and establish itself in Challengers France, not merely to take part in qualification, but to measure itself against the strongest French Tier 2 teams.