Following the departure of Sam “s0m” Oh after their Valorant Champions 2025 winning campaign, NRG have announced the signing of Georgio “keiko” Sanassy.

The British player was signed from Team Liquid, ending his two-year stay with the Dutch organization.

Keiko Joins NRG

Following a spell in VCT Ascension with Apeks, former Fortnite player keiko announced himself on the international VCT stage with Liquid in 2025. The team participated in all three international VCT events throughout the year, with their best placement being 5th-6th at Valorant Masters: Bangkok.

Liquid were also incredibly successful regionally, ending EMEA Stage 2 with a trophy as they took down GIANTX with a  3-0 scoreline in the grand final.

Although originally signed by Liquid as their primary duelist, keiko transitioned into a controller player for the 2025 season thanks to the signing of Kamil “kamo” Frackowiak. Given that s0m served as NRG’s controller prior to his departure, it’s likely that this is the role that keiko will continue with now that he is a part of the North American organization.

Keiko One of Two Players Better than s0m Last Year

As s0m’s replacement on the server, keiko will have to put up a formidable rating in order to cover for the outgoing American’s firepower. That shouldn’t be a concern, though, the Brit was one of two Omen players rated higher than s0m across 2025, the other being Sentinels’ Marshall “N4RRATE” Massey.

That said, Keiko will have more than just an on-the-server role to fill during his time on NRG. Although he wasn’t the IGL of the team, s0m served as NRG’s beating heart. His energy was often what drove NRG through close games, hyping the team up and getting crowds on their side. 

keiko’s departure from Liquid leaves the EMEA team with just three players on their roster for the VCT 2026 season. Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko and Patryk “paTiTek” Fabrowski have both also departed the team, whilst Nico “Harmii” Harms has joined. 

Avoiding a scare

Although NRG fans can be happy with the signing of keiko, they almost faced a scare as one of their most important players appeared to have made a shock move to G2.

Their captain, Ethan “Ethan” Arnold, had been shown on the VCT Database to have departed the roster, and seemingly had joined G2 on a contract running until 2027. This change was later revoked, with Ethan returning to the NRG roster much to the relief of the NRG fanbase.