34-year-old Ex-CSGO and Valorant skilled James “hazed” Cobb has introduced his retirement from professional play
Former Counter-Strike: Supply, World Offensive, and Valorant skilled James “hazed” Cobb has introduced his retirement on X (previously Twitter). The 34-year-old’s most up-to-date journey was with TSM’s Valorant group, which just lately disbanded its roster.
Been MIA for some time however I suppose i ought to make clear publicly for anybody who cares:
Im performed taking part in professionally.
I dont remorse a second of it. From 2004 to now, i met so many individuals and made some fantastic reminiscences. Because of everybody who was part of the journey. ♥️
— hazed (@hazedCS) November 5, 2023
Within the announcement, hazed put out a transparent assertion, saying, “I’m performed taking part in professionally,” additionally including, “I don’t remorse a second of it. From 2004 to now, I met so many individuals and made some fantastic reminiscences. Because of everybody who was part of the journey.”
The North American had an extended and illustrious profession in esports, spanning practically 20 years within the skilled gaming world. Along with his taking part in profession, he additionally had temporary stints as a coach and labored as an analyst expertise.
hazed’s Counter-Strike Profession
James began his profession early in the course of the Supply days, taking part in for groups like Double Scope Gang and eMazing Gaming within the early 2010s. His World Offensive profession started in 2014, and hazed is principally recognized for his time with Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), a workforce he performed with in 5 CSGO majors in 2015 and 2016.
Even with such a very long time within the Esports scene, hazed couldn’t win any S-tier LAN or Main, and his solely trophies got here from a number of B-tier occasions and the 2015 CEVO Season 6 Skilled.
In 2017, he labored as a coach for OpTic Gaming and in addition tried his luck as an analyst expertise in the identical yr. Earlier than quitting CS in 2020, he spent virtually two years with North American squad Mythic.
Switching to Valorant
Hazed was in search of a contemporary begin, and a brand new tactical shooter was simply across the nook. Proper after the sport’s launch, James turned one of many first skilled gamers of the FPS title with a workforce known as mouseSpaz, a corporation he was beforehand a part of in his CSGO profession.
He shortly acquired prominence in Valorant’s North American scene after becoming a member of TSM’s aspiring new workforce alongside skills like Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik and Matthew “Wardell” Yu. As an in-game chief with a wealth of expertise, he helped TSM win 2021’s Challengers 2 within the first yr of Valorant’s official Esports launch. Nevertheless, that was sadly the peak of his profession, as TSM didn’t safe the prospect to attend any S-tier occasion.
After leaving TSM in November 2021, hazed joined NRG’s core as an IGL and spent practically a yr with them earlier than getting benched in September 2022. Then he returned to TSM in December 2022, solely to depart after two months.
Though hazed’s profession in Counter-Strike and Valorant wasn’t as fruitful as most of the legendary gamers we have now witnessed over time, his dedication to the craft was commendable.