Derke Leaves Fnatic VALORANT Roster, Joins Team Vitality
21 Oct 2024
Read More
100 Thieves Announce A New Valorant Head Coach
- 100 Thieves signed Tony "Zikz" Gray as a new Valorant head coach
- Tony "Zikz" Gray won the Valorant world championship with Evil Geniuses as an assistant coach
- Michael "Mikes" Hockom returns to assistant coach role
Tony "Zikz" Gray
(credit: via Twitter (@Zikzlol))
On Monday, September 25, 100 Thieves announced the signing of a former Evil Geniuses assistant coach Tony "Zikz" Gray. The 30-year-old was announced as the new head coach of 100 Thieves' Valorant roster for the 2024 Valorant Championship Tour (VCT) season, replacing Michael "Mikes" Hockom, who moved to the assistant coach position.
Zikz started his esports career as an analyst for Counter Logic Gaming League of Legends roster in 20214 and has since served as a coach for CLG, TSM, and 100 Thieves before he transitioned to Valorant in April 2022. In his first year in the Valorant esports scene, Zikz served as an assistant coach of NRG Esports, but despite not winning a single tournament, Zikz has made a name for himself.
This earned him a spot as an assistant coach of Evil Geniuses, which he joined ahead of the 2023 season and played a key role in the team's success. With Evil Geniuses, Zikz placed third in VCT 2023 Americas League, made the finals of VCT Masters Tokyo, and won the VALORANT Champions 2023.
Even though Zikz only served as an assistant coach at Evil Geniuses, he was praised by both head coach Christine "potter" Chi and several members of EG for what he brought to the team, many stating that EG's world championship run wouldn't be possible without Zikz.
Now, Zikz will have a chance to prove himself as a head coach at 100 Thieves, who signed him on Monday, September 25, as a part of the North American esports organisation's new project for the 2024 season.
Zikz will replace now-former 100 Thieves head coach Michael "Mikes" Hockom, who will remain with the team for the 2023 season, albeit will move to the assistant coach position and work alongside Ziks. But while signing Ziks is a massive addition to the team, 100 Thieves aren't done making changes for the next season.
100 Thieves currently field four active members on its Valorant lineup, following the departure of Derrek "Derrek" Ha and Brenden "stellar" McGrath on September 12, meaning 100 Thieves will sign at least one more player before the 2024 VCT season begins.
Previous reports suggested that 100 Thieves already made an offer for Evil Geniuses' Kelden "Boostio" Pupello; however, the offer was turned down by Evil Geniuses, who has recently found itself under fire from the Valorant community for supposedly keeping its players in contract jail.
Even though 100 Thieves still have plenty of time to find the fifth player for the 2024 VCT season, the team is set to attend the Red Bull Home Ground #4 at the start of November, giving them just over one month to sign one more player to its roster.
