One of VALORANT’s most experienced IGLs, Pujan ‘FNS’ Mehta, has officially announced his retirement from the competitive scene to focus on streaming.
After taking a short break in 2023, the tactical mastermind returned to the VCT stage with NRG for another season. However, right after the conclusion of Americas Stage 1, he announced his departure.
“I haven’t had this thought in my entire career, but this is the first time I went home and I had the thought that I don’t want to play anymore,” FNS revealed.
“I think it was the accumulation of all the seasons, but also enduring failure to an extent which was way more than I’ve had success. And having failed the way we did was probably the tipping point for me. I was like, look, something’s got to change on this team, and I’m not trying to cut anybody else on this team, period,” he added.
FNS’ VALORANT Legacy
FNS has established a notable legacy within Riot’s competitive shooter. He began his VALORANT journey with Together We Are Terrific (TWT), but within months, he was picked up by major North American organisation Team Envy. Under his leadership, the team qualified for Masters Berlin and VALORANT Champions 2021.
Team Envy was later rebranded as OpTic Gaming, where FNS had the most successful time of his career. In 2022, he lifted the Masters Reykjavík trophy and finished runner-up at VALORANT Champions 2022.
When OpTic didn’t make it to the VCT partnership programme, the roster was signed by NRG, where FNS served for two years. During his break, he started streaming VALORANT and VCT matches, receiving massive support from the VCT Americas and Pacific community.
For his fans, it’s a bittersweet moment as they won’t be able to see him compete in esports anymore, but they’ll now get to interact with him more regularly through his streams.
In a short period of time, FNS has gained nearly 400,000 followers on Twitch and has openly expressed his love for streaming multiple times.
To fill void left by FNS, NRG has brought in Logan ‘skuba’ Jenkins from Sentinels’ academy team, Cubert Academy. Moreover, the team has welcomed back former coach Malkolm ‘bonkar’ Rench as the organisation gears up for the Esports World Cup qualifiers and VCT Americas Stage 2.
