One of the major pieces of the
VCT EMEA offseason has chosen his next destination. After spending two years with
Natus Vincere, Emirhan "
hiro" Kat is set to join
Team Heretics, sources tell
Sheep Esports. Mentioned in several rumors throughout the offseason, the Dutch-Turkish player will ultimately join the Spanish organization.
Multiple teams interested
Per sources familiar with the situation who have shared information with Sheep Esports, at least two other teams that can’t be named for now were in a race to secure the player. Hiro has finally decided on his team for 2027 and has just reached a verbal agreement with Team Heretics at the time of writing this report.
Once again putting together an impressive season from a statistical standpoint, hiro unfortunately failed to translate his strong individual performances into collective success with NAVI, who endured a much more difficult year. By joining Team Heretics, he will have the opportunity to compete for a more prestigious organization that is currently undergoing a rebuild.
Heretics in Super Team mode?
After the disappointment of missing
VALORANT Champions, Team Heretics are taking their rebuild seriously. The Spanish team had already decided early in the offseason to extend Benjy "
benjyfishy" Fish and Enes "
RieNs" Ecirli for the years to come. The team is now adding hiro to its new roster, bringing in another player with significant individual potential. hiro's arrival could potentially entail a tactical reorganization of the team, given that benjyfishy had also been playing the Sentinel role up until now.
At the same time, the team gave its In-Game Leader, Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius, permission to explore his options and announced the departure of Martynas "koshmaras" Namikas, who joined midway through the season. At 20 years old, hiro competed at Champions 2024 with Fnatic but has not had another opportunity to play at an international event since, despite his steady progression and several peaks in individual performance.
Meanwhile, the loss of hiro could lead to a complete rebuild on NAVI's side. The Ukrainian team went through numerous changes this season while consistently keeping hiro at the center of its roster. Unfortunately, those changes produced little success, and the team has already allowed some of its players to explore their options, especially as every member of the roster is out of contract after this season, including hiro, who was the team's longest-serving player.
The Transfers Hub will be updated soon with all VCT 2027 changes. The offseason will not slow down as many teams are discussing player changes. Team Heretics 2026’s roster:
- Benjy "benjyfishy" Fish
- Enes "RieNs" Ecirli
- Emirhan "hiro" Kat
- TBD
- TBD
