Late roster change spells the end of legendary VALORANT roster
The writing was on the wall for a while. The South Korean esports organisation DRX has formalised the end of the legendary core of Vision Strikers.
12th Dec 2023 17:20
Image via Riot Games
Late roster change spells the end of legendary VALORANT roster
The writing was on the wall for a while. The South Korean esports organisation DRX has formalised the end of the legendary core of Vision Strikers.
12th Dec 2023 17:20
Image via Riot Games
All good things come to an end, although the greats a little longer. DRX has announced the removal of both Goo "Rb" Sang-min and Kim "Zest" Gi-seok from its active roster, ending the era of Vision Strikers.
It was a roster of players that have been playing together since the start of the competitive VALORANT scene in 2020.
Substitute player Jung "Foxy9" Jae-sung and former DRX Prosepts' Cho "Flashback" Min-hyuk have been promoted to the active roster in their stead.
The end of an era
For over three years, the core of this roster was the team that popped to mind for fans around the globe whenever South Korean or even Asian VALORANT was brought up.
Known for their lethal coordination, the squad that formed out of the former CS team MVP PK made a name for themselves in the early stages of the scene, winning almost all of the domestic competitions for their first year. On an international stage, the team failed to find top spots but remained a feared opponent.
In early 2022, the team transferred to the South Korean esports organisation DRX and made changes to its starting roster. The team even picked up steam, dominating domestically but also finishing in a strong third place, losing only to OpTic in the knockout stages.
During 2023's LOCK//IN event, they once again finished on the podium. In VCT Pacific, DRX had to concede second place to Paper Rex. Throughout the second half of 2023, their performances started to dwindle, which presumably led to these changes.
Homegrown talent
Both players who will be assuming the spaces left by Rb and Zest are talents that were developed under the organisation. Foxy9 had been a substitute player for the roster since late 2022, getting several opportunities to show off his talents throughout the year.
Flashback joins from the organisation's own academy team DRX Prospects. For a couple of events, the team had played in this constellation, most recently during Red Bull Homegrounds in November - showing some promise against international teams.
More impressively, the team took back-to-back wins against domestic rival T1 in October with the lineup during the Ten Global Invitational. While the announcement arrives relatively late during the offseason, the extensive trial period illustrates that the writing was on the wall for Zest and Rb, who are remaining on DRX as restricted free agents.
About The Author
Sascha Heinisch
Sascha "Yiska" Heinisch is a Senior Esports Journalist at GGRecon. He's been creating content in esports for over 10 years, starting with Warcraft 3.
