American cyber athlete Alan «Shakezullah» Hardeman has announced that he is retiring from Team Triumph, where he served as an in-game leader for over a year. The twenty-three year old has achieved a 0.98 rating as a varsity player. In doing so, he has repeatedly had to build synergy in the «lineup from scratch» after players left for other teams or switched to Valorant.
In 2020, Shakezullah had a big impact on the careers of young players Paitin «junior» Johnson and Michael «Grim» Vince. Both cyber athletes later praised his ability to coordinate players and noted that he played a big role in their professional development before one of them had the opportunity to move to FURIA and the other – to Liquid. During the period when Shakezullah played with this roster, the team managed to reach the finals of ESEA MDL Season 33 and qualify for the ESL Pro League.
After the lineup change, Triumph has not been able to reach the same level and has been showing average results in recent tournaments. With Hardeman's departure, the fate of the team remains unclear, as finding a new in-game leader will be difficult. To make matters worse, shortly after Shakezullah announced his decision, two other players – Ian «motm» Hardy and Brendan «Bwills» Williams announced their intention to leave Triumph.