100 Thieves to bench Boostio before VCT Americas Stage 2 start

100 Thieves is apparently looking to shake things up for its Valorant roster by benching Kelden “Boostio” Pupello, arguably the team’s biggest name, before the start of the team’s upcoming VCT Americas Stage 2 run.

100 Thieves’ Valorant roster is currently having a tough time finding success at the game’s highest level, where the squad has been unable to secure any significant wins of late. It was defeated by EDward Gaming at the Esports World Cup and is set to take on more fierce competition in the VCT Americas Stage 2. 100 Thieves is shaking things up to try and end the cycle of disappointment for the team’s fans.

On July 18, VCT Roster Tracker revealed that 100 Thieves is benching Boostio before its first VCT Americas Stage 2 match. Valorant insider Purist corroborated the claim and stated that a Valorant player from QoR is joining 100 Thieves to replace Boostio.

Kess in, Boostio out for 100T roster in VCT Americas Stage 2

According to reports, 100 Thieves has signed Drew “Kess” Lee to its Valorant roster while Boostio has been moved to the inactive roster before the team’s first VCT Americas Stage 2 match against NRG.

In a tweet, Purist shared that their sources confirmed 100 Thieves has signed Kess, and the former QoR player will be present during the July 20 match against NRG. VCT Roster Tracker also confirmed the roster move. The X account also said Boostio was supposed to be present during the 100 Thieves VCTA press conference, but the team’s coach, Anthony “Zikz” Gray, filled in for him following this move being decided.

Twitter/X

Kess may take over as the team’s IGL after Boostio is benched, but he plays as an initiator. It’s possible that 100 Thieves may bring Kess to the roster but replace Boostio’s leadership role with someone else already on the team. Boostio plays the sentinel role, so it would be surprising for the team to replace his role directly with Kess.

100 Thieves removing Boostio from the active roster won’t surprise many of the team’s dedicated fans. The player’s performance has been consistently weak in recent history. Boostio ended 2023 as one of the best IGLs in the world and then joined 100 Thieves in 2024. But the player has been unable to maintain his previous level of success. The Valorant pro had a 0.45 rating at the 2025 Valorant Esports World Cup. His weak rating and performance on such a stage and against top competition led fans to speculate that 100 Thieves would remove him from the active roster.

Many of those fans have reacted positively to the news of Boostio being benched, and some even asked for more changes to the organization’s pro Valorant roster. They believe 100 Thieves also needs to work on its coaching staff. Zikz has generally performed well, but some of the fans followers think the team needs to change up its tactics and gameplay with even bigger changes.

UPDATE: 100 Thieves has made official its decision to bench Boostie and bring on Kess as his replacement.