Valorant Transfers 2027: every off-season roster change

The biggest moves since the Champions final

Since LOUD became world champions on October 18, 2026, four stories have shaped the off-season. For each one we note what is official and what is only reported.

All roster changes by date (as of November 1, 2026)

The list covers changes at teams that played in the VCT in 2026 or are partner teams in 2027, plus new rosters with well-known names. It is based on the vlr.gg transfer list, supplemented by reports from major esports outlets. Official means the player or team announced it. Report means outlets report it but there is no official confirmation.

25 entries shown

Dates follow vlr.gg or the day of the announcement. Players without a new team are listed with their departure only.

Champions 2026 teams: who stays, who goes?

Of the 16 teams that played at Champions 2026 in Shanghai, nine had announced departures by October 31. The full Champions rosters are on our Valorant teams page.

Transfer window, Open Qualifiers and Kickoff: the timeline

Many contracts in VALORANT esports end when free agency starts. According to esportnow, moves announced earlier still depend on paperwork and the transfer window – lukxo’s move included. After that things move fast, because the first qualifiers for 2027 start just a few days later.

1. Oct 18, 2026 Champions final in Shanghai: LOUD beat Team Vitality 3–1
2. Oct 22, 2026 Riot reveals the 32 partner teams for 2027–28 (list)
3. Nov 2, 2026 Transfer window opens, many contracts expire
4. Nov 5–8, 2026 Open Qualifier 1 in Europe and North America
5. Nov 12–15, 2026 Open Qualifier 2 in Europe and North America
6. Nov 26 – Dec 5 European Kickoff qualifier playoffs (16 teams, 2 Kickoff slots)
7. Jan 14, 2027 Kickoff in São Paulo, Berlin, Bangkok and Hangzhou

Every qualifier date by region is on the VCT 2027 page. In the European qualifier, the top four teams from each of the two Open Qualifiers join eight invited non-partner teams in the playoffs; the top two reach EMEA Kickoff.

New rosters with big names

Aurora Gaming is the most exciting newcomer: the Serbian organization was previously active in Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 and presents its first VALORANT roster with Derke, Boo, trexx, B1SK (previously UCAM Esports) and chiwa. Aurora has not announced a coach yet. According to THESPIKE, the team has to go through the European Open Qualifiers (November 5–8) to reach VCT EMEA Kickoff.

Mandatory presented a new roster on October 29 with Kicks (previously Team Liquid), Veqaj (previously FNATIC), starxo, MiniBoo and runneR, with Larsson as head coach (per vlr.gg).

Players in focus: who is behind the big moves

The list shows what happened – this section explains why these moves get so much attention. Who are the players everyone is talking about, and what do they bring? Everything here comes from the linked sources and our own tournament pages.

lukxo (LOUD)

lukxo was one of the world champions’ key players at Champions 2026. In the upper semifinal against defending champions NRG he was the best player according to VLR.gg with a 1.43 rating and 63 kills, and in the upper final against Team Vitality he led again with a 1.32 rating and 64 kills – every series is in our Champions live hub. On October 29 he confirmed his departure from LOUD himself: he did not want to stay without knowing who would remain on the team. Reports name LEVIATÁN as his next team. According to our Chamber guide, lukxo has played the most Chamber rounds among pros (789 rounds on 37 maps, source: VLR.gg).

erde (LOUD)

erde became world champion with LOUD and tournament MVP of Champions 2026 – just over seven months after signing on March 5, 2026. His career began in 2022 at the LEVIATÁN Academy; in 2025 he returned there and won both stages of Challengers LATAM South ACE with the team. A move to LEVIATÁN would therefore be a return to the club that developed him. It is not official, though – so far there is only the Sheep Esports report. The MVP’s crosshair, sens and setup are on our page erde crosshair & settings.

Derke (most recently Team Vitality)

Derke has been among EMEA’s best for years: with Fnatic he won LOCK//IN São Paulo and Masters Tokyo in 2023, and he joined Team Vitality for the 2025 season. With Vitality he reached the Champions 2026 grand final and lost 1–3 to LOUD. On October 24, Vitality parted ways with him after two years; in his farewell Derke wrote that he was grateful and wished he could have achieved more with the team. Since October 28 he has played for Aurora Gaming. The settings he and other pros use are in our Valorant pro settings.

Jinggg and d4v41 (Paper Rex)

The two shaped Paper Rex’s aggressive style for years: d4v41 has been with the organization since 2020 (back then still in CS:GO), Jinggg since September 2021. In 2025 they won Masters Toronto together with f0rsakeN, something and PatMen (3–1 in the grand final against Fnatic). At Champions 2026, Paper Rex finished 7th–8th. According to Strafe, the departures have nothing to do with partnership status – Paper Rex remains a partner team for 2027–28. d4v41 was allowed to explore other options as his contract neared its end, which the team confirmed in its statement.

Meteor, Wo0t and keiko

Three more well-known names are still without a new team: Meteor won Masters Shanghai 2024 with Gen.G and Masters Bangkok 2025 with T1 and says he is open to offers from Korea, Japan and China. Wo0t played three years for Team Heretics and had the most kills of the event during their run to the Masters Shanghai 2024 grand final. keiko leaves NRG after one season (previously two years at Team Liquid) and is a restricted free agent – an interested team may need an agreement with NRG.

Teams without a partner spot: what happens to their rosters

From 2027, each international league has only eight partner teams instead of ten. Teams that lost their spot have to qualify again through the Open Qualifiers – or release their rosters. The transfer list shows this clearly:

• Cloud9 wants to continue (“We are not leaving”) and is holding tryouts for a roster for the North American Open Qualifiers.
• FURIA has lost six players plus head coach shaW and assistant coach Kamino since October 19 (per vlr.gg).
• KIWOOM DRX parted ways with MaKo, BeYN, HYUNMIN and free1ng as well as head coach termi and coach Argency on October 21.
• Global Esports is exiting esports entirely according to its founder; the roster has been released.
• NAVI is without chloric (Oct 28), GIANTX without head coach pipsoN (Oct 19) and ara (Oct 25).

For players on these teams, the off-season matters a lot: good players are often signed by partner teams, while others form new rosters for the Open Qualifiers – just like Aurora did with Derke, Boo and trexx. The 32 teams locked in for 2027 are listed in the partner teams section of our VCT 2027 page and in the FAQ below.

The teams behind the biggest moves

For every VCT season, Riot adds player cards for the partner teams to the game. These eight official cards from the 2026 season (game data via the community API valorant-api.com) show the teams that have shaped the off-season most so far – from world champions LOUD to Sentinels.

Rumors: what is not official yet

These items come from media reports and have not been confirmed by players or teams. We list them separately so it stays clear what is settled.

• lukxo and erde to LEVIATÁN: According to Sheep Esports (Oct 28), both have reached a verbal agreement with LEVIATÁN; according to THESPIKE Brasil, LOUD accepted the offer for lukxo. MIBR reportedly offered more money. Only lukxo’s departure from LOUD is confirmed.
• Paper Rex 2027: According to Sheep Esports, f0rsakeN and something stay, and PatMen is expected to return after a year with Global Esports. Paper Rex has not confirmed this.

Transfer terms explained

The same terms keep coming up in roster news. Here is how to read the list above – more esports terms are explained in our Valorant glossary.

• Free agent: a player without a valid contract. He can join any team without a transfer fee.
• Restricted free agent: a player his team no longer wants to field but who is still under contract. A new team therefore usually has to reach an agreement with the old one – right now this applies to keiko, for example (contract with NRG until 2027).
• Buyout: a payment to the old team so that a player under contract can move. That is how Derke went from Fnatic to Vitality in 2025 – via a buyout agreement, according to Sheep Esports.
• Verbal agreement: player and team agree, but nothing has been signed or announced yet. We list such news as “report”.
• Loan: a player temporarily plays for another team but stays under contract with his current one; vlr.gg marks such moves with “(loan)”.
• Partner team: one of the 32 teams with a fixed spot in Riot’s partner program (2027–28) and a guaranteed Kickoff slot.
• Transfer window: the period in which moves officially go through. For the 2026/27 off-season it opens on November 2, 2026.

How we check every entry

Every entry needs at least one reliable source. A move counts as “official” when the team or player announced it themselves or vlr.gg lists it in its transfer list. Media reports that rely on anonymous sources are marked as “report”. We only include social media leaks when at least one established esports outlet reports on them. If we spot a mistake, we correct it and update the date at the top of the page. If you like to predict results yourself, dates and status of the prediction games are in our Pick’Ems guide.

🏆 More on the new season: the schedule, cities and all 32 partner teams are on VCT 2027, the Champions 2026 rosters on Valorant teams. The settings the pros use are in Valorant pro settings and the pro crosshair database.

Frequently asked questions about Valorant transfers

When does the Valorant transfer window open?

The VCT transfer window opens on November 2, 2026. Many contracts expire on that date. Moves that players and teams announced earlier only become formally effective then.

Where is lukxo going?

lukxo confirmed himself on October 29, 2026 that he is leaving LOUD. Several reports name LEVIATÁN as his next team; neither LOUD nor LEVIATÁN has announced it officially (as of November 1, 2026).

Is erde joining LEVIATÁN?

According to Sheep Esports, erde and lukxo have reached a verbal agreement with LEVIATÁN. There is no official confirmation from erde, LOUD or LEVIATÁN yet – so it is a report, not a confirmed transfer.

Which team does Derke play for in 2027?

Derke left Team Vitality on October 24, 2026 and has played for Aurora Gaming since October 28 – together with Boo, trexx, B1SK and chiwa. Aurora is not a partner team and has to qualify for VCT EMEA Kickoff through the Open Qualifiers.

Are Jinggg and d4v41 leaving Paper Rex?

Yes. Paper Rex announced the departures of Jinggg and d4v41 on October 31, 2026. Neither player has announced a new team yet.

How often is this transfer list updated?

We check the list against vlr.gg and the teams’ own announcements and update it several times a week during the off-season. The “Last updated” date at the top shows the current status.

Which teams are VCT partner teams in 2027?

On October 22, 2026, Riot confirmed the 32 partner teams for 2027–28, eight per region: in Americas 100 Thieves, G2, KRÜ, LEVIATÁN, LOUD, MIBR, NRG and Sentinels; in EMEA BBL, Fnatic, FUT, Gentle Mates, Karmine Corp, Team Heretics, Team Liquid and Team Vitality; in Pacific Crazy Raccoon, FULL SENSE, GAM, Gen.G, Paper Rex, RRQ, T1 and ZETA DIVISION; in China All Gamers, Bilibili Gaming, EDward Gaming, JD Gaming, Trace Esports, TYLOO, Weibo Gaming and Xi Lai Gaming. Teams no longer included are Cloud9, FURIA, NAVI and KIWOOM DRX, among others.

What is a restricted free agent?

A restricted free agent is still under contract but no longer fielded by his team. An interested team therefore usually has to reach an agreement with the current team. A current example is keiko, who is leaving NRG after one season.

Is Cloud9 still playing VALORANT in 2027?

Yes. Cloud9 lost its partner spot but wants to continue (“We are not leaving”) and is holding tryouts for a roster for the North American Open Qualifiers.

When does the 2027 VCT season start?

The season starts with Kickoff from January 14 to February 7, 2027, simultaneously in São Paulo, Berlin, Bangkok and Hangzhou. The Open Qualifiers for it already start in November 2026.

Sources & status

• THESPIKE: Vitality part ways with Derke (Oct 24, 2026)
• Fragster: Wo0t, Meteor and keiko (October 2026)
• THESPIKE: Cloud9 loses its partner spot for 2027 (Oct 19, 2026)
• Strafe: Derke joins Team Vitality for 2025 and Sheep Esports: buyout agreement
• vlr.gg: Fnatic win LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo 2023
• THESPIKE: Paper Rex win Masters Toronto 2025
• vlr.gg – Transfers: all entries from October 18 to 31, 2026
• Strafe: lukxo explains why he is leaving LOUD (Oct 29, 2026)
• esportnow: lukxo and LEVIATÁN (Oct 29, 2026)
• THESPIKE: Derke, Boo and trexx join Aurora Gaming (Oct 28, 2026)
• Strafe: Paper Rex without Jinggg and d4v41 (Oct 31, 2026)
• Sheep Esports: lukxo and erde, verbal agreement with LEVIATÁN (Oct 28, 2026)
• THESPIKE: VCT EMEA 2027 Kickoff Qualifiers

Status: November 1, 2026, 00:30 CET. Every entry has been checked against vlr.gg and the sources listed. We add new moves as soon as they are official.