Demon1 joins ENVY in VCT Americas to replace inspire

Another major shake-up has hit VCT Americas. After starting the season without a team and following a brief stint with Cloud9, Maximilian "Demon1" Mazanov will be joining ENVY for the remainder of the Kickoff, announced the organization on Thursday.

The recently promoted VCT squad is making a roster change ahead of a decisive match this Friday as it looks to keep its hopes of qualifying for Masters Santiago alive. Earlier this Thursday, ENVY announced that Hunter "inspire" Schline had been moved to the inactive roster for reasons not disclosed publicly.

So far, ENVY’s season has been marked by inconsistency. With two wins and two losses, the team has already fallen into the lower part of the triple-elimination bracket and must now win five consecutive matches to retain any chance of qualifying for Santiago. To do so, the organization has opted to part ways with inspire. A member of the roster since last year, he had contributed to ENVY’s success and its Ascension victory. That, however, did not prevent the team from placing him on the inactive roster before the Kickoff has even concluded.

On the other hand, Demon1 finds himself presented with another prime opportunity. After the former Champions 2023 MVP stated in December that he was considering retirement if he failed to find a team for 2026, his professional career now appears poised to continue. Two weeks ago, Demon1 was signed by Cloud9 to replace Francis " OXY " Hoang, who was temporarily absent for personal reasons. During those two matches, Cloud9 defeated Leviatán and… ENVY, with Demon1 standing out by earning MVP honors in both games.

His lower-bracket run with ENVY will therefore begin tonight against Evil Geniuses, the very team with which he won Champions — a fitting opportunity to open a new chapter in his career. Meanwhile, inspire added on his X account that he had been allowed to explore his options for the rest of the year.