100 Thieves captain and clutch god Spencer “Hiko” Martin is retiring from professional VALORANT play and will continue as a content creator under the 100T banner, the organization announced.
When considering the face of VALORANT since the game was announced in 2020, Hiko is one of the first players to come to mind. On top of his many in-game accomplishments, he became the de facto VALORANT Twitch streamer early in the game's lifecycle.
Moreover, his opinions and theories held massive weight among the community. If he spoke on any topic relating to Valorant, it spread like wildfire. His influence on the development of 100 Thieves, and VALORANT's meteoric rise as an esport cannot be understated.
In fact, Hiko was the first player 100 Thieves signed as they announced the formation of a Valorant roster in June 2020. He became an integral part of the organization and helped build the brand to new heights.
"Hiko has been a monumental piece to our VALORANT program”
The History of Hiko
Hiko was revered in CS:GO for his intelligence as an in-game leader and ability to clutch out unwinnable situations. His resume heading into Valorant was incredibly impressive while playing under Cloud9, Team Liquid and other big name organizations. He has competed in esports since 2011 and has been to 11 majors between Valorant and Counter-strike. In short order, Hiko proved himself as an elite tactical FPS player.
In Valorant, Hiko not only won the first major event in North American First Strike, but finished third at Masters 2 in Berlin. Over the course of his career, he finished with a 184 ACS rating in 4000+ rounds, mostly on Sova, and 100 Thieves will miss his inquisitive, experienced mind moving forward.
What's next for 100 Thieves and Hiko?
As reported by George Geddes and Max Purest of DotEsports, 100 Thieves are centering the rebuild around Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk and Sean "bang" Bezerra. The Hiko announcement marks a shift in philosophy for 100 Thieves and a new era driven by ridiculous mechanical talent.
Furthermore, the reports state that Brenden "stellar" McGrath will be the one to fill Hiko's shoes as in-game caller. The team is going younger and starting fresh.
However, Ethan "Ethan" Arnold is still employed and there's been no official word on his status with the team. Either way, 100 Thieves are set to make more wholesale changes with newly appointed General Manager, Daniel "ddk" Kapadia. The team is looking to reset after a lackluster start to the 2022 season.
As for Hiko, his friendly face will continue to stream on his personal twitch channel for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, this means more companion streams in the future with one of the brightest minds in esports.
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