Team France qualifies for ENC Valorant with help from alecks and Flaring

Team France punched its ticket to the inaugural Esports Nations Cup Valorant tournament after defeating Norway 13-9 on June 26, securing their spot through the Europe West Qualifier. Behind the scenes, two notable figures in the Valorant ecosystem, Paper Rex coach alecks and former Motiv Esports player Flaring, provided analytical support that helped shape France’s approach.

The ENC 2026 Valorant event carries a $1.5 million prize pool and will feature 32 national teams competing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 8 to November 15.

The brains behind the operation

The French-Singaporean coach alecks has been with Paper Rex since February 2021 and took home the 2023 Coach of the Year award. Rather than stepping into the official head coaching role for Team France, he opted to focus on PRX’s off-season commitments while still contributing analysis work to the national squad.

Flaring, who recently competed with Motiv Esports, rounded out the analytical support. The official head coaching duties fell to Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer. Happy’s role was to stitch together the strategic contributions from alecks and Flaring into a cohesive game plan.

What the ENC format means for Valorant

The Esports Nations Cup is organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation and asks players to represent their countries rather than franchise banners or independent org names.

The rumored lineup for the French national team includes players like kAdavra, CyvOph, Shin, TakaS, and Veqaj, a mix that draws from both domestic talent and the French diaspora competing internationally.

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