XSET co-founder Marco Mereau has launched a new organization called M80, which will enter the VALORANT Challengers League next year, the team announced today.The organization has signed several Valorant players from former major teams in the North American region.Former NRG player Daniel “EIU” Vucenovic has joined the team, along with former Ver1 in-game leader Alexander “Xander” Dituri.As first reported by Sportsluma on November 18th, the rest of the squad is completed by former Ghost Gaming players Mohamed “JonCat” Amin Ouarid, Gianfranco “CoalaNob” Potestio, and Marc-Andre “Nismo” Tayar.
M80 coined the slogan “All Roads Lead to Ascension”, a reference to the new tournament organized by Riot Games. The circuit will serve as the respective regional qualification for each of the three international leagues. M80 will compete in Challengers to try to earn a spot in the Ascension Circuit, which will feature the best teams from South America and Latin America, as M80 prepares to compete in the North America Challengers Circuit.
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The roster will be one of the most prominent in the region, with teams like The Guard and TSM. Fans can watch the team next year when they go up against the best of the tier-two circuit. XSET was one of several organizations that failed to secure a partnership with Riot to compete in the US International League, despite performing better than some of the other teams that earned the slot. Meru later announced his departure from the company on 4 November.
Players M80 has brought in so far include former NRG player Daniel ‘EU’ Vukenovic, ECVersion1 player Alexander ‘Xander’ Dituri, and former Ghost Gaming players Mohamed ‘Jonkat’ Amin Orid, Gianfranco ‘Coalanob’ Potestio and Marc-Andre . ‘Nismo’ ready. The team will be coached by Gunter, a former analyst for Ghost Gaming.
In addition, the organization’s slogan ‘All roads lead to ascension’ is a reference to the new tournament organized by Riot Games. The Challengers Ascension Circuit will serve as regional qualification for each of the three international leagues: EMEA, Americas and Pacific. Teams that advance through the Ascension Qualifiers will then compete in the International League through two years of promotion.
The entrepreneur has years of experience in the gaming and esports industry. For example, in early 2019, Mereu served as SVP of Content Distribution for Super League Gaming, an eSports community and content platform. He was also the founder and CEO of Framerate, a cross-platform esports network, before it was acquired by Super League Gaming.
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