Jacob “
valyn” Batio is set to join Fnatic for the 2027
VALORANT season, according to sources close to
Sheep Esports. The American in-game leader, who spent the last three seasons with G2 Esports, would move from VCT Americas to VCT EMEA. The player is leaving G2 right after competing in Champions 2026. As
Sheep Esports reported, Eduardo “
Sato” Nagahama is set to replace him in the roster that G2 will take into the 2027-2028 partnership cycle.
Before the Fnatic news, valyn had an option in VCT Americas.
Sheep Esports previously reported that he had reached a verbal agreement with LYON, conditional on the Mexican organization securing a partnership slot. LYON
was not selected as one of the eight partner teams, which left valyn free to join another organization.
valyn arrived at G2 in 2023 and has been the team’s in-game leader since 2024. He was part of the roster that won all three VCT Americas tournaments in 2025 and finished second at Masters Bangkok. In 2026, G2 won Americas Stage 1 and finished in the top four at Champions Shanghai, where the team lost to 100 Thieves in the lower bracket.
The player’s departure is one of several changes at G2 ahead of the new cycle. Besides Sato, Francisco “
kiNgg” Aravena is
set to join the team, taking the spot left by Andrej “
babybay” Francisty and the in-game leading duties.
babybay, in turn, is
exploring options in VCT China for 2027, according to sources. According to the VCT Global Contract Database, Nathan “
leaf” Orf and Trent “
trent” Cairns, as well as head coach Josh “
JoshRT” Lee, have contracts running through the end of the 2028 season.
Fnatic, the Champions 2025 runners-up, will be one of the eight partner teams in VCT EMEA for the 2027-2028 cycle.
Sheep Esports has already reported other moves in the organization’s roster for next season: Martin “
marteen” Pátek
is set to join from Gentle Mates after reaching a verbal agreement, while Emir “
Alfajer” Beder is expected to join M8 after five years with the organization.
