MIBR has moved its whole VALORANT lineup to the bench.
The five players involved are aspas, zekken, Verno, tex, and mazino. That’s the full starting five.
Benched doesn’t mean released. A benched player can still be under contract. It isn’t clear if the five are free to look for offers, are listed for transfer, or are simply waiting for MIBR’s next step.
This wasn’t a lineup of unknowns. aspas is the biggest name in Brazilian VALORANT. He lifted the VALORANT Champions 2022 trophy with LOUD. zekken won Masters Madrid 2024 with Sentinels.
Pairing those two with Verno gave MIBR one of the most talked-about rosters in the Americas. Expectations were huge. The lineup never turned that hype into an international trophy.
Since VALORANT is played five-on-five, benching every starter is about as big as a roster move gets. Teams can also keep substitutes and extra registered players, and it isn’t known if anyone outside the starting five is affected.
Bench now and back later?
A full benching doesn’t have to end in five new faces. MIBR could open every spot to trials and keep some of the current players if no one better shows up.
Some fans point to 100 Thieves as an example. They believe that team made a similar sweeping move and later brought back Cryo and Asuna. Others doubt MIBR would let aspas go for good.
The transfer rumor mill is already spinning too. Fans have linked zekken to Sentinels and G2, Verno to Sentinels, and aspas to LOUD. None of these links are backed by reports of talks or offers. For now, they’re wishlists.
