Gambit drops most Russian rosters – How long until Valorant roster drops?

Esports org Gambit fielded an impressive list of teams in different games. However, recently they’ve been shutting down squads pretty much wherever they have them. With Dota 2, CS:GO and Fortnite squads now all released, things don’t look good for their remaining teams.

In response to restrictions on Russian teams, it looks like their successful Valorant and Apex squads might have to move or shut down soon.

Gambit roster plight continues

It all started with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which saw much of the CIS region facing extreme problems in organizing events, while regional teams face internal struggles to maintain normal business operations. A huge amount of teams have issues with traveling abroad due to either embargoes or inability to obtain visas. Prominent Russian teams like Virtus.Pro and Gambit are largely banned from competing under their names and have to field placeholder names. Payouts are largely blocked as well.

Initially, Gambit opted for a full roster “release”, as all players were allowed to compete in various events under placeholder names. Eventually, the organization saw this model as unsustainable and one by one teams were released for real from being represented by Gambit.

Both Gambit Dota 2 rosters released

Gambit Esports Dota 2 rosters have been among the high-profile shutdowns. In April, Gambit Esports released their entire main Dota 2 roster (AS Monaco Gambit). However, this wasn’t the end of their bloodletting. They’ve now dropped their B-tier secondary team (Gambit), right before the launch of the 2022 Dota Pro Tour 3. This basically leaves them without a roster in the game for the first time since 2017.

This secondary team could only play the Dota 2 Champions League events, while previously solid in their performance at DPC Tour 2 . They did have some impressive games lately and the team was showing improvements. The roster will be sticking as a team though and they’ll compete under a new One Move name. They’re also going to keep their spot in the EEU Division I.

Gambit CSGO roster moved on

Gambit has operated a team in CSGO since 2016. Their latest roster was high caliber and one of the best CSGO teams in 21/22. Back in April, the entire roster was acquired by Cloud9 after competing under a placeholder name for 2 months. Cloud9 previously operated a CSGO team but shut down back in March 2021. Acquiring the CSGO roster of Gambit esports has given them an entry back into the sport with a strong line-up.

Fortnite and Other Teams

Alongside the CSGO and Dota 2 roster, Gambit had some players that were active in Fortnite. This is a game with a less traditional team structure than CSGO and Dota, but their squad here was a big part of Gambit. Just like the other squads though, all their players have been now released.

Epic Games are no longer paying cash prizes to Russian players. However, Gambit’s squad was definitely under a lot less pressure in this game than many others, which makes the shutdown more surprising. Alongside these other teams, Gambit has also dropped out of LoL back in 2021. Essentially they’ve shut down all but a couple of squads.

What Does Gambit Have Left?

All of these rosters have been dropped by Gambit recently, so what’s left of the org? The biggest name is probably their Valorant M3 Champions squad. Gambit Valorant is one of their more notable teams, having won the regional VCT 3 times. However, the org shutting down so many of their teams doesn’t bode well for them.

How long do M3 Champions have left?

As it stands, it doesn’t seem likely that Gambit can keep their Valorant squad represented for long. There is no doubt the entire M3 roster will be quickly picked up by a competing organization.

Ongoing restrictions make it difficult for Russian teams to compete. Gambit esports divesting themselves of teams have taken themselves out of the running for a lot of games. Hopefully, their Valorant team can survive by moving to a new org as their CSGO squad has managed. However, it’s possible that the players end up in different teams eventually. Between rosters being banned and teams moving off on their own, things don’t look very bright for the organization going forward. With their teams largely continuing without them, even the possibility of teams being restructured once there are more favorable conditions doesn’t seem too likely.