In December of 2021, Acend made history at VALORANT Champions. They emerged as unlikely victors and became the first world champions in their esport. But none of this would have been possible without their star player: Mehmet Yağız ‘cNed’ İpek.
The Turkish talent exploded onto the VALORANT scene in 2020, transforming himself from a complete unknown to one of the game’s most popular players.
And, while 2021 also had its low moments for the flashy Jett main, cNed ended the year with a monumental achievement. Now, he’s ready for more.
This is The Rise of cNed.
Who is cNed?
Before taking VALORANT by storm, cNed’s roots in competitive gaming came mostly through two titles — Counter Strike: Global Offensive, like many of his current peers, and something called Zula, a Turkish-developed FPS title that looks eerily like a cross between CS:GO and Call of Duty. And it was with Zula in 2019 that cNed began picking up competitive experience.
But when the VALORANT beta released in April of 2020, cNed immediately took his skills to Riot Game’s new FPS title. It didn’t take long before cNed made a name for himself as someone to keep an eye on.
CNed was signed to BBL Esports, an Istanbul-based organization. His time on the team was brief but it opened the door for him to join nolpenki in late September of 2020. They were a team of European players that, through qualifying for First Strike, quickly became one of the region’s top unsigned rosters.
Experience The Rise of cNed by watching the video above or heading to Upcomer’s YouTube channel.
Watch more Rise and Fall:
The Rise of KRÜ Esports — How South American underdogs made VALORANT gods bleed
The Rise and Fall of TSM VALORANT — From the best to total disaster
The Rise of ‘Arcane’ — How League of Legends took over Netflix
The Rise of s1mple — How the king of CS:GO finally claimed his crown
