flor announces retirement from 2025 VCT season, leaves Apeks

Ava ‘florescent’ Eugene made history when she became the first female pro in the VALORANT Champions Tour. Now, flor is announcing a break for the remainder of the 2025 VCT season.

“I’m going to be taking off the rest of the 2025 VCT season to rest up and recharge,” flor wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I may return to competing again in the future, but that isn’t something I’m putting much thought into right now.”

florescent explained on X that the ‘challenging’ relocation to EMEA for bootcamp right after the Game Changers Championship ‘caught up’ to her, citing a need to rest and feel at home.

She also admitted to dealing with some ‘personal and family emergencies’ since the start of the season, which has also made it difficult to be in Germany.

flor wrote: “My teammates have been very supportive of me during this time but I want them to be able to focus on Split 2 without any interruptions. This was very much my decision and not that of Apeks, our coaching staff, etc.”

During this time, several other VCT teams offered to buy flor’s contract, which Apeks supported for Split 2, hoping this would make her happy and continue competing. However, it seems that flor is determined to take a break from the competitive VALORANT scene altogether.

flor started playing VALORANT at the age of 14 and was signed to an esports team by 15. The now 18-year-old VALORANT pro competed with Misfits Black, Version1 and then Shopify Rebellion in Game Changers, Riot’s female-focused VALORANT circuit. In 2024, Shopify Rebellion took first place at the Game Changers Championship, largely due to flor’s impressive mechanical skills and fast-thinking strategies.

Her talent eventually led to Apeks signing her to compete in the VCT International League, the first woman to ever make that switch. She was then the first woman to compete in the VCT EMEA for the 2025 season, continuing to hold her own against the competition.

According to Apeks, florescent did face some backlash from a small part of the VALORANT community when she joined the roster. However, she was able to ‘silence the doubters’ and prove ‘more than capable’ of competing at that level. The organisation expressed sadness at seeing flor leave, but supported the decision completely.

“Despite working closely with Ava and her agent to find solutions over the past couple months, we’ve come to the mutual conclusion that it’s not right for Ava to continue to play,” Apeks wrote on X. “Sometimes life gets in the way of our competitive goals, and that’s part of the game.

Ava has built strong relationships with our players and staff during the time she’s spent with us. Although we are saddened to see her leave, we hope to see her benefit from this time off, and that we will eventually see her return to competitive VALORANT in the future.”

In response to her departure, the VALORANT esports community has been wishing her well and hoping for flor to return later after she proved she could compete with the best-of-the-best.