Demon1 leaves Cloud9, signs with ENVY as Inspire moves to bench

by

Demon1 will be joining ENVY after playing only one game with Cloud9, just a day before ENVY faces EG in an elimination match.

The competitive VALORANT world has seen a lot of changes lately. Demon1 first joined Cloud9 as a temporary replacement for OXY, but after only one game, he’s now playing for ENVY.

Demon1 is once again a key player, but ENVY Inspire has been benched due to team disagreements. This change happened right before their crucial elimination match at the VCT Americas 2026: Kickoff.

Demon1 leaves Cloud9 and joins ENVY

Maximilian “Demon1” Mazanov hinted all day on X (formerly Twitter) that he would be leaving Cloud9. This move was expected, as he was only temporarily filling in for Francis “OXY” Hoang, who is now back playing regularly.

So, ENVY just announced they signed Demon1 on February 6th, which is awesome! But honestly, the timing is kinda crazy. We’re playing in the VCT Americas Kickoff Lower Bracket tomorrow, and if we lose to Evil Geniuses, that could be it for us in the tournament. It’s a lot of pressure to put on a new player right away, but hopefully, he can help us pull through!

Along with the announcement, ENVY stated that Hunter “inspire” Schline is now a free agent and able to look for opportunities with other teams. Although ENVY hasn’t given a specific reason for this decision, many fans believe it might be due to disagreements inspire had with his teammates.

ENVY reaches the Tier 1 incomplete

It’s also helpful to understand where ENVY currently stands in the top league. Although the team impressively won Ascension to qualify, they haven’t been able to compete with the players they originally planned to use.

Three of the team’s five players are under 18, preventing them from competing in the VCT Americas league until they reach that age. Because of this rule, the team had to make roster changes immediately after qualifying. They brought on Daniel “Rossy” Abedrabbo, formerly of Leviátan, and Angelo “keznit” Mori, previously with KRÜ, to complete their lineup.

Will ENVY be able to fight their way through the Lower Bracket and qualify for their first international tournament? Only time will tell!

Read More

2026-02-06 16:41