Leviatán bench Nozwer with little over a month to go until the start of the 2024 VCT season.
Leviatán have come out with a shock announcement that Agustín "Nozwer" Ibarra has been removed from the starting line up of their VALORANT team for VCT 2024. The news broke via an official announcement on Leviatán's social media:
"The decision whether to keep a player or coach on a roster is always difficult. It has been decided that Agustín "Nozwer" Ibarra will not continue to be in the starting line-up and will be moved to a substitute role." Leviatán go on to state that while they did not plan on this doing this earlier in the off-season, they do regret cutting Nozwer loose in this fashion.
Nozwer's response to the removal
Nozwer joined Leviatán from FURIA in 2022, shortly after the organization had secured their franchise slot in the Americas League. Despite the team's struggles domestically, the initiator player finished the regular season with the fifth highest average rating of 1.12. He also finished the season with an average K/D of 1.13; the seventh highest in the Americas League for 2023.
Nozwer made a brief statement on his Twitter page following the initial announcement. The Argentine had this to say about the decision.
"It's a shame how things happened and how long they took. I honestly didn't expect it, but I respect the decision as a professional. For my part, I wanted to say that regardless of where I go or what happens, I will continue working to achieve my dream, even if the path becomes more difficult, it is the commitment I have carried since I started competing."
What next?
Leviatán have been one of the most outstanding teams this off-season in terms of how they have gone about strengthening their roster; most notably the signing of Aspas from LOUD. That, paired with a slew of initial successes at off-season tournaments had put the LATAM team on a path to success for VCT 2024. Now that they have decided to let go off one of their most consistent players, those heightened expectations may have been premature.
It is unclear who will be stepping in to take Nzr's place in the starting line-up at this time. But with little over a month to go till the VCT 2024 Kickoff event, Leviatán will have to hope that this decision does not effect their chances for success.