Vitality has found their new Head Coach. According to Sheep Esports sources, Daniel “Faded” Hwang reached an agreement with the French club to join the Hive in VCT EMEA. He was a priority for Vitality since the start, they only showed interest in one other coach who was also interesting for them. They did interviews with other coaches and they ended choosing Faded as first priority.

Still unknown in Europe, Faded has been the HC of Team SoloMid (TSM) in the North American Challenger League since March 2024. His main achievement was to lead the TSM roster to the final of the local league's Stage 2. The team was beaten by M80, but nevertheless managed to take part in the Ascension Americas tournament..., with the winner earning promotion to the VCT Americas. This hope was short-lived, however, as TSM finished last in the Group Stage of this tournament.

Keep growing

Faded then crosses the Atlantic to be promoted to Tier 1 of the VALORANT world circuit. There, he will take the place of Harry “Gorilla” Mepham, expected to join Movistar KOI as previously reported by Sheep Esports. As for Vitality, they have experienced it all this season. The Bees were unable to test themselves with their final roster at the EMEA Kick-Off and only integrated Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko for Stage 1. The club finished the Group Stage 3-3 - like the other four teams in the Alpha Group - but missed out on play-off qualification due to the round difference.

Until then Assistant Coach, Gorilla had been promoted to Head Coach and the Hive had taken the gamble of not making any changes to its roster until Stage 2. A choice that paid off, as Vitality established themselves as one of the best teams in the VCT EMEA: after a more conclusive group phase (3-1), Vitality qualified for the playoffs and even reached the grand final, which they lost to Fnatic. Qualified for the Champions, Vitality failed to progress beyond the group phase.