Editor’s note: Upcomer is owned by Enthusiast Gaming which also owns Luminosity Gaming.
Inactive Luminosity Gaming players Brenden “stellar” McGrath and Brady “thief” Dever are set to be released from their contracts on Aug. 25, multiple sources told Upcomer Aug. 21.
The pair will be free to find a new VALORANT team without the need of a buy out.
Stellar and Thief were dropped from Luminosity’s starting VALORANT roster on May 25 following elimination from the VALORANT Championship Tour Stage 2 Challengers 2 event, which concluded in April.
Luminosity was eliminated by NRG Esports which prompted the roster shakeup.
Both players have played in a limited capacity with some teams, however. Most notably, Thief played as a stand-in for Version1 during VCT Stage 3 Challengers 1. Thief managed to take down his former team Luminosity but lost to 100 Thieves and Kansas City Pioneers. Version1 failed to qualify for Challengers Playoffs as a result.
Stellar, on the other hand, has recently played alongside OOKERS, a free agent VALORANT roster. The team participated in the Nerd Street Gamers Summer Championship, where they were knocked out by eventual-finalists Cloud9 Blue in the round of 16.
Stellar and Thief were both original members of the Luminosity lineup when the organization entered VALORANT esports on Aug. 14, 2020. During the first VCT event earlier this year, Luminosity managed to take down Sentinels and Envy but was defeated by Sentinels in a rematch. The organization finished in the top three which ensured a placement at the next Challengers event.
Luminosity bombed out of the VCT Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs, however. They were defeated by XSET and then FaZe Clan in the lower bracket. Sentinels, 100 Thieves and Envy were the three teams that managed to secure qualification for VCT Masters in Berlin, Germany, which is set to take place Sept. 10 to Sept. 19.
One of the newest members of the team, Joseph “ban” Seungmin Oh, will remain on the bench, as first reported by Upcomer.
