FURIA fe Becomes First Full CS2 Roster to Switch to VALORANT

A Historic First in Competitive FPS

FURIA fe has officially become the first full female CS2 roster to transition to VALORANT as a complete unit, the South American organization announced on August 17. The squad, rebranded as FURIA VAL Inclusive, will compete in Riot Games’ VCT Game Changers circuit, Riot’s competitive ecosystem designed for women and marginalized genders in VALORANT esports.

The five-player lineup heading into VALORANT is Karina “kaahSENSEI” Takahashi, Izabella “izaa” Galle, Gabriela “gabs” Freindorfer, Bruna “bizinha” Marvila, and Lucia “lulitenz” Dubra. They bring with them a track record that took years to build.

Six Years, One Title, Then a Sudden Ceiling

FURIA fe spent six years establishing itself as one of the most dominant teams in the South American women’s CS2 scene. The roster collected multiple regional titles and made it to three ESL Impact League Finals before finally winning the whole thing in Season 7 at DreamHack Dallas in May 2025. That championship, as it turned out, may have been the last major peak available to them.

The ESL Impact circuit, the primary competitive outlet for women’s CS2 at the highest level, was placed on indefinite hold at the end of 2025. ESL cited an unsustainable economic model as reported in the announcement. Several organizations followed by parting ways with their women’s rosters entirely, sharply narrowing the field of competition available to the players who remained.

For FURIA fe, a team that had just won a championship, the path forward in CS2 had effectively closed.

FURIA’s Statement and FalleN’s Reaction

In their announcement, FURIA leaned into optimism. “We came, we saw, and we conquered in Counter-Strike. New scene, same strength,” the org said, describing the move as an exploration of a new arena with “the same claw as always.”

The reaction from inside the CS2 community was more complicated. Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, one of the most celebrated figures in Brazilian Counter-Strike history, responded to the news on social media. He did not hide his frustration.

“It’s a sad snapshot of the failure/lack of interest from both us viewers and Valve/tournaments in making an effort to find alternatives so that the ecosystem could function,” FalleN said, according to his post on August 17. He acknowledged the players are moving to a “more vibrant scene” in VALORANT, and added that he found the transition genuinely interesting to watch. “I think it’s a great story and, to be totally honest, I’m curious to see how they’ll” perform, he wrote.

The sentiment captures the friction well. A team that won a championship in one game is now having to seek opportunity in another, not because they burned out or lost, but because the structural support around women’s CS2 collapsed underneath them.

What VCT Game Changers Offers

VCT Game Changers has, by most accounts, provided a more stable competitive home for women and marginalized gender players in the FPS space. Riot has maintained and expanded the circuit across multiple regions, giving it a consistency that ESL Impact ultimately could not sustain.

FURIA VAL Inclusive will be entering a circuit where visibility and investment have held relatively steady, a meaningful contrast to what they were leaving behind. Whether their CS2 pedigree translates into VALORANT success remains genuinely unknown. The two games share a tactical DNA, but the mechanics, agents, and meta are distinct enough that the learning curve will be real.

What is already clear is that FURIA fe’s move forces an honest conversation about what happens to women’s professional CS2 when institutional support evaporates. A championship-winning roster, six years deep in one game, had to find a new home. FalleN is not wrong that something failed. FURIA fe is just doing what competitors do when the path runs out: they find another one.