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Former World Champion s0m and FNS Form VCT 2027 "Superteam"
Sam “s0m” Oh, who won the 2025 VALORANT Champions title with NRG, has announced a team for the North American VCT Americas Kickoff 2027 qualifiers. The roster features Ava “florescent” Eugene, Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen, Ryan “Shanks” Ngo, and Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik, with Pujan “FNS” Mehta as coach.
s0m unveiled the lineup in a post on X on Saturday, October 24. The promotional graphic lists November 5, 2026 as the team's debut date and says matches will be streamed on s0m's Twitch channel. Official VCT broadcasts will only begin during the playoffs. The announcement did not reveal the team's name or the times of its opening matches.
International Champions and Streamers Join s0m's Team
The lineup brings together players with experience at the highest level of international VALORANT and content creators known for streaming the game.
s0m won VALORANT Champions 2025 with NRG, defeating Fnatic 3-2 in the final. A few weeks later, he announced a break from competitive play to focus on content creation. His appearance in the qualifiers marks another competitive outing, rather than a return to a VCT partner team's roster, at least for now.
florescent won the Game Changers Championship in both 2023 and 2024 with Shopify Rebellion and competed in VCT EMEA with Apeks in 2025. Marved and FNS are also international title winners, having won Masters Reykjavík 2022 with OpTic Gaming. Shanks and Subroza round out the five-player roster, both having competed professionally before becoming known for their streams.
How Do the VCT Americas Kickoff 2027 Qualifiers Work?
The team will attempt to secure one of North America's spots at Kickoff 2027. Under Riot Games' new format, VCT Americas will feature eight partner teams and four Open Qualifier teams. One of those four places will go directly to the winner of the North American qualifier playoffs.
North America will hold two open qualifiers in November, both using single-elimination brackets with best-of-three (Bo3) matches. At least four teams from each qualifier will advance to the 16-team playoffs, which begin with a Swiss stage before moving into a double-elimination bracket. The playoff winner earns a Kickoff spot, while the runner-up will have another opportunity through the Americas Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) in December.
Both North American playoff finalists will also qualify for Red Bull Home Ground 2026 in Los Angeles. See the full North America qualifier schedule and format.
VCT Americas Kickoff 2027 will take place in São Paulo, Brazil, starting on January 14. The new path for non-partner teams is part of the VCT 2027 overhaul, which will allow independent rosters to compete for spots at international events throughout the season.
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Featured Image Credit: Riot Games
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