London-based organization Tundra Esports will expand into competitive Valorant with the signing of the YONK lineup, multiple sources told Dexerto.
YONK is a newly created international roster headlined by Swedish duo Yacine ‘Yacine’ Laghmari and Malkolm ‘Bonkar’ Rench, who decided to create a new team after leaving Guild Esports at the end of 2021.
Vilius ‘Krea6on’ Malinauskas and Ouali ‘m4china’ Manset, formerly of Alliance and Vitality respectively, are two other well-known Valorant names on the YONK roster, which is rounded out by Nichlas ‘Nille’ Busk — a former CS:GO pro who played for some of the best Danish teams during the early years of the game, including Anexis, Western Wolves, and Copenhagen Wolves.
Yacine and Bonkar created YONK after leaving Guild
YONK took part in the first open qualifier for VCT Europe Stage 1 Challengers, reaching the Round of 16 before losing to CGN Esports. The team survived the first day of the second open bracket and have been pitted against Balkan Stars in the last-64 stage.
The signing of the YONK roster will mark Tundra’s expansion into a new esports title. Formed in 2019, the London-based organization is mostly known for its Dota 2 lineup, which won ESL One Fall in August 2021. The players recently committed their future to Tundra until 2024 in what was described as “one of the longest standing contracts in Dota 2”.
YONK Valorant roster:
- Malkolm ‘Bonkar’ Rench
- Yacine ‘Yacine’ Laghmari
- Vilius ‘Krea6on’ Malinauskas
- Ouali ‘m4china’ Manset
- Nichlas ‘Nille’ Busk
- Salah ‘Salah’ Barakat (coach)
- Joe ‘Strong’ Edwards (assistant coach)
Jakub ‘frs’ Czapran also contributed to this story.
