Eternal Fire release Valorant's Spear as CS2 side storms to Stake Ranked title

Eternal Fire have told Spear he is free to explore other opportunities, closing out a year-long stint with the organisation's Valorant roster, according to VLR.gg.

The outlet's report gave no further detail on the departure, including any indication of where Spear might move next.

The news arrived the day after a much brighter update from Eternal Fire's other roster, with Dust2.us reporting that the organisation's Counter-Strike 2 side had won the Stake Ranked Episode 5 event in Spain.

That title lifts the PGL Major Singapore qualification hopes of former NA players Gareth "MisteM" Ries and Vladyslav "Kvem" Korol, who now sit at an 89 per cent chance of reaching the Major per HLTV's projections, as cited by Dust2.us.

Jesper "Udknud" Larsen said that figure still depends on how HOTU and 100 Thieves perform at their own ongoing LAN events.

It is Eternal Fire's second LAN trophy in a matter of weeks, following their win at DraculaN Season 7 the previous week.

The Stake Ranked run did not start smoothly, with a 2-1 opening loss to MIBR on 27 October sending the side into the lower bracket.

They needed a full three maps just to see off a Nemesis line-up fielding two stand-ins before finding their form.

From there Eternal Fire strung together wins over BIG without dropping a map, a tighter 2-1 result against Astralis, and a clean revenge sweep of MIBR to reach the grand final.

That final pitted them against Fnatic across five maps, and it began badly for the Turkish side.

Eternal Fire were beaten 13-8 on Anubis before being routed 13-2 on Ancient, leaving them on the brink of elimination.

They clawed back with a narrow 13-9 win on Cache and an even tighter 13-11 finish on Dust2 to level the series at two maps apiece.

A strong 9-3 start on the CT side of Mirage carried Eternal Fire to a 13-8 finish on the decider, completing the reverse sweep and the title.

The CS2 result, reported by Dust2.us, landed just a day before VLR.gg confirmed the separate Valorant roster change involving Spear.