Team Vitality just announced that its won the VALORANT off-season with the signing of Timofey ‘Chronicle’ Khromov.
“This roster is insane, and I cannot wait to get started,” Chronicle said in a statement on X. “From winning two international trophies to making four Grand Finals this year, it has been an amazing journey.”
Indeed, Chronicle had an impressive run with his former team FNATIC. During his three seasons with the team, Chronicle most recently placed first at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN Sao Paulo, VALORANT Masters Tokyo 2023 and VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 2.
However, 2025 has been a year of close calls. FNATIC has come second at every S-Tier tournament, falling just short of the victory. This includes second-place finishes at VALORANT Masters Toronto, Esports World Cup and VALORANT Champions.
Regarded as one of the best VALORANT players in the scene, Chronicle’s Team Vitality signing has been met with a lot of emotion from the fanbase. While this could be Chronicle’s chance to secure some victories alongside former FNATIC teammate Nikkita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev, some fans felt Team Vitality’s announcement was insensitive to FNATIC and its community.
“Poaching FNATIC players doesn’t make you FNATIC,” said one VALORANT viewer.
Team Vitality Looking to Build Superteam Ahead of 2026 Season
Team Vitality has been actively building a strong team during each off-season, with Chronicle being the most recent player to make the jump. The duo of Derke and Chronicle is especially promising for the team that hasn’t quite gotten the results it wanted this past season.
While Team Vitality started 2025 off strong as the top EMEA team, the team has missed out on big events like Masters Toronto and Champions Paris. Team Vitality’s fans feel the roster is almost there, so adding Chronicle feels like the final step towards finally getting those much-needed W’s.
Here is the full Team Vitality roster now:
- Nikkita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev
- Timofey ‘Chronicle’ Khromov
- Kimmie ‘Kicks’ Laasner
- Blendi ‘KovaQ’ Kovaci
- Felipe ‘Less’ de Loyola Basso
- Saif ‘Sayf’ Jibraeel
- Stefan ‘Sayonara’ Mitcu
Daniel ‘Faded’ Hwang is currently the team’s Head Coach with Aleksy ‘slk’ Lynksov as the Assistant Coach.
While some fans have stated that Chronicle will ‘always be FNATIC,’ others have wished the GOAT good luck on his new path ahead of 2026. This massive move is sure to shake up the EMEA, with many fans wondering what FNATIC’s plans will be after letting go of Chronicle during such a dramatic off-season.
The team has previously stated that it will share its full roster at its OFF//SEASON event.
The post “We’ve already won the off-season”: Team Vitality sign Chronicle ahead of 2026 appeared first on Esports Insider.
