Mandatory go international with a new five for the reshaped VCT EMEA

French organization Mandatory announced its Valorant roster for the 2027 season on October 29, 2026: starxo (in-game leader), MiniBoo (Duelist), Veqaj (Flex), runneR (Sentinel) and Kicks (Controller), with Larsson as head coach and SKAZZ as assistant coach. The team starts its season in the European qualifier playoffs for the 2027 VCT EMEA Kickoff.

The club announced the lineup under the line "Nouveau format, nouvelles règles" ("New format, new rules") and the slogan "Built to break the game".

Who is on Mandatory's 2027 Valorant roster?

• starxo (Patryk Kopczyński, Poland): in-game leader and captain

• MiniBoo (Dominykas Lukaševičius, Lithuania): Duelist, joins from Team Liquid

• Kicks (Kimmie Laasner, Estonia): Controller, joins from Team Liquid

• Veqaj (Sylvain Pattyn, France): Flex, joins from FNATIC

• runneR (Emil Trajkovski, North Macedonia): Sentinel

• Larsson: head coach

• SKAZZ: assistant coach

A mostly international lineup

The five players come from five countries, and Veqaj is the only French player in the lineup. Three of them come from VCT EMEA partner teams. MiniBoo joined Team Liquid from Team Heretics for 2026 and later stepped out of the lineup at his own request before Stage 2. Kicks, who played two seasons with Team Vitality before moving to Liquid's academy, took his place on the main roster. Veqaj played the 2026 season as FNATIC's Flex after a spell with Gentle Mates.

What RIB's data says about the roles

Across the maps stored in the RIB database, four of the five players arrive in roles they already know:

• Kicks played Omen on 26 of his 35 maps and a Controller on 33 of them (Omen, Harbor, Astra).

• MiniBoo played Neon on all 17 of his maps, with 213 ACS and a 1.10 K/D.

• starxo played Fade or Sova on 41 of 43 maps. Mandatory's graphic lists him only as in-game leader, so he could fill the Initiator slot, but the team has not confirmed it.

• Veqaj played Viper on 6 of 7 maps, which is too few to judge his form.

runneR is the exception. Mandatory lists him as the Sentinel, but he played Raze or Jett on 32 of his 44 stored maps and Chamber on only 2. He has the best opening-duel record on the roster, with 154 first kills against 131 first deaths. In a Sentinel role he would take far fewer of those duels, so his output on Killjoy- or Cypher-style agents is the main open question for this lineup.

How Mandatory's 2026 season ended

Mandatory's 2026 season ended at the Challengers 2026: EMEA Last Chance Qualifier. They beat Barça eSports 2-1 in the playoffs and were then eliminated 0-2 by Eintracht Frankfurt on July 11. Eintracht Frankfurt has also been invited to the 2027 European qualifier playoffs, so the two teams could meet again.

How Mandatory qualify for VCT EMEA 2027

Riot Games changed the 2027 VCT EMEA format after criticism from the community. Eight organizations hold partner status for 2027-2028. Four more spots in the Kickoff go through regional qualifiers: two from Europe and two from MENA and Türkiye. The European qualifier works like this:

1. Open Qualifiers start on November 5 and send 8 teams to the playoffs. The full field must be set by November 15.

2. The European playoffs have 16 teams: the 8 from the Open Qualifiers and 8 invited teams, including Mandatory, Joblife, Eintracht Frankfurt, NAVI, UCAM Esports and MIR.

3. The playoffs run from November 25 to December 5. The top two teams qualify for the 2027 VCT EMEA Kickoff.

Frequently asked questions

When does Mandatory's new roster play its first official match?

The roster's first official event is the European qualifier playoffs for VCT EMEA 2027, which start on November 25, 2026.

Who coaches Mandatory in 2027?

Larsson is head coach and SKAZZ is assistant coach.

Is Mandatory a VCT partner team?

No. Mandatory is not among the eight VCT EMEA partner teams and must qualify for the Kickoff through the European qualifier.

Full player stats and match history are on Mandatory's team page on rib.gg.