Autimatic Moves to Valorant; Joins T1
By Zach Snoddy
Today it was announced that premier Counter Strike: Global Offensive player Timothy "autimatic" Ta is set to join T1's Valorant team. This means that autimatic will be stepping back from CS: GO and joining many other former players in migrating to Valorant. He joins T1 after they bought out his contract with Gen.G Esports.
Let's get to work.
— T1 (@T1) February 4, 2021
Welcome @autimaticTV to T1 VALORANT! pic.twitter.com/dOLZBLJbXB
Autimatic to Join T1
Autimatic is not only switching teams by joining T1 but also switching games as he embarks on a new career in Valorant. Autimatic has been one of the best American CS: GO players of the past several years. He is best known for his three-year stint on Cloud9 where he helped them win five A-Tier and S-Tier tournaments, including ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2019.
Autimatic had previously been a member of compLexity Gaming and Team SoloMid, but made himself a household name in CS: GO with Cloud9. He began as a rifler with the team before switching to AWPer after Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham's retirement. Autimatic received a number of accolades while playing for Cloud9, including being named MVP of the ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals by HLTV.
Autimatic moved to Gen.G Esports at the end of 2019 after it acquired Cloud9's core CS: GO roster. He helped lead them to a victory at DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down offline tournaments. Gen.G continued to compete in online events and started off strong but posted a string of lackluster results to close out the year.
I'm genuinely going to miss working and interacting with everyone within the organization. You guys showed an insane amount of support since day 1 and the culture of the organization pushed me everyday. Thank you for everything https://t.co/vzyVcD7RW6
— Timothy Ta (@autimaticTV) February 4, 2021
By joining T1, autimatic becomes the latest player to move from CS: GO in pursuit of competing in Valorant. Including autimatic, T1's Valorant roster is made up of five former CS: GO players and one former Overwatch player. In fact, autimatic will be reunited with his former Cloud9 teammate Skadoodle on T1.
CS: GO and Valorant feature very similar gameplay, with the primary difference being that Valorant includes specialized characters known as Agents. While the Counter-Strike series is one of the foundational names in esports, Valorant saw its official release just last June. As Valorant becomes solidified in esports, many more CS: GO players might be enticed to switch games.