Emil "runneR" Trajkovski has reached a verbal agreement with GIANTX (GX) for the upcoming 2025 VCT EMEA season, according to sources close to Sheep Esports. Under the GX banner, runneR took first place in the VCT OFF//SEASON Spotlight Series 2024, a tournament featuring mixed gender rosters composed of both Game Changers and Challengers League players. Following their championship run, the organization has elected to promote runneR to the main VCT roster for 2025.
runneR’s entrance into the VALORANT Champions Tour began in late 2023 with Team Vitality (VIT) placing second at Convergence 2023, a four-team offseason tournament featuring two EMEA and two APAC teams. In EMEA Stage 1, VIT was locked in a five-way tie with a 3-3 match record in Group Alpha but ended in last place due to tiebreakers. Come Stage 2, VIT took fourth seed coming into playoffs and finished second place in EMEA, securing themselves a ticket to Champions 2024 in Seoul. There, Vitality were eliminated in the Group Stage after a not-so-close 0-2 match against LEVIATÁN. Throughout the year, runneR primarily filled the sentinel role. His most picked agents were Cypher and Killjoy and he averaged a 205.1 and 186.3 ACS during Stage 2 and Champions respectively.
Despite a decent Champions run in 2023, GIANTX struggled throughout 2024. Failing to qualify for playoffs for both Stage 1 and 2 sent the organization into an early offseason, trying to rebuild in hopes of another Champions tournament appearance. runneR’s move to GiantX leaves only one spot left to fill.
GIANTX’s reported 2025 VCT EMEA roster:
Kirill "Cloud" Nekhozhin
Semyon "purp0" Borchev
Emil "runneR" Trajkovski
???
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