NYFU sign YaBoiDre, neptune, ShoT UP, JSUNG to finalize roster

NYFU, formerly known as Andbox, announced the introduction of four new players to their roster ahead of the Stage 2 Open Qualifier featuring Diondre "YaBoiDre" Bond from Evil Geniuses, Jason "neptune" Tran from Rise, Andrew "ShoT UP" Orlowski from FaZe Clan, and finally Jason "JSUNG" Sung from Soniqs.

A couple of weeks ago, this New York based organization made their plans to restructure their roster public by parting ways and benching all members of the active roster except Chad "oderus" Miller, who was acquired earlier this year from Version1. The decision to revamp their roster became seemingly necessary after a disappointing start to the VCT 2022 season where the team finished 13th-16th in both Stage 1 – Open Qualifiers, missing out on VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Main Event. Furthermore, their tier 2 event participations also produced limited success, most notably a 3rd place at Pittsburgh Knights Monthly Gauntlet 2022 - February. Although the process of rebuilding a roster is lengthy and time-consuming, it seems that NYFU had no problem getting a team ready in just a couple of weeks. As a matter of fact, this new roster participated under the NYFU banner at the recently concluded NSG Summer Champs - Online Open 2 earning a 3rd-4th place after an unfortunate loss against Knights Academy.

Before being signed to NYFU, YaBoiDre was a member of Evil Geniuses’s active roster, signing only days before VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Open Qualifier 1. While the team couldn’t manage a noteworthy placement in that event, the subsequent VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Open Qualifier 2 progressed in their favour earning them a spot at VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Main Event. However, the roster failed to maintain their performance at the event losing 5-0 in the Group Stages and being eliminated from Playoff contention. YaBoiDre was one of the better players on the team, boasting a 1.16 rating and 230 ACS during his time with EG His impact on the team as a Sova and Chamber will certainly be missed.

Neptune was also a participant at VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Main Event as part of Rise’s roster. He had been a part of the organization since January 2021 competing in VCT events throughout the year. His contributions were instrumental in helping the team rank top 10 in the NA region according to circuit points and earn a spot at VCT 2021 - North America Last Chance Qualifier, from where they would’ve qualified for VCT 2021 - VALORANT Champions 2021 had Cloud9 not given them a hard time in the Grand Finals.

ShoT UP was a new member of FaZe Clan being acquired back in January, days before the start of the Open Qualifiers. Unlike EG, their luck didn’t shine in either of those tournaments diffusing the team’s hopes of participating in the Challengers Main Event. Following these losses, they resorted to competing in tier 2 tournaments with varying degrees of success and only one 1st place finish at BoomTV Proving Grounds - #3. Nonetheless, his stats are considerably impressive with 1.28 Rating and 256 ACS demonstrating the potential he has for being a lethal asset to the NYFU team.

Lastly, JSUNG a late entry into Soniqs’s roster will also be joining the team. Soniqs entered the Valorant scene considerably later than most of their counterparts. Despite such a late entry, they started participating intensively in all the possible ongoing tournaments to search for their breakthrough and solidify their name among the region’s best. Throughout 2021, they could only find limited success with 1st place in BoomTV Proving Grounds - Season 2 and NSG Summer Champs - Summer Champs - Open 8, and the 2nd place in Rival Room - Rival 1. However, they couldn’t make any of the VCT Challengers events in either of the two stages they participated in the qualifiers for. JSUNG was signed in late October, as one of the final additions to the team before the off-season. During his time with the team, he participated in several regional tournaments but failed to make the top three leaderboard in most tournaments and also missed qualification for Stage 1 Challengers. JSUNG is known for playing Kay/O and has a 1.19 Rating and 230 ACS over the last three months.

With these changes, NYFU’s roster is as follows:

Matt "wardino" Dickens (Head Coach) Gordan "g0g1" Prošić (Assistant Coach)