More than half of T1’s VALORANT roster has been switched out after a swift elimination from Group B in VCT 2023 Champions. Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom, Joseph “ban” Seungmin Oh, and Kang “iNTRO” Seung-gyun have been put on the sidelines in favor of three new players.
Kevin “xccurate” Susanto, Lee “k1Ng” Seung-won, and Ham “iZu” Woo-ju have taken their place on T1’s starting lineup today, Sept. 12. T1’s overhaul comes as a result of multiple failed top-tier events, with the squad failing to get out of the Round of 16 in LOCK//IN São Paulo 2023, and bombing the Group stages of both Champions and Masters Tokyo earlier this year.
This collection of bold moves includes introducing one of Indonesia’s most prominent CS:GO veterans into South Korea’s No. 3-ranked VALORANT team. But it looks like k1Ng is T1’s most tenured pickup from the bunch.
K1Ng has been a part of multiple big-name teams in the South Korean region. The Killjoy and Cypher main previously donned the Gen.G and DRX jerseys within the last two years and looks to push T1 back on course.
Xccurate, on the other hand, floated through the CS:GO scene for years. The esports veteran dabbled in both scenes from 2021 to 2022, ultimately ending up on T1’s VALORANT squad on Sept. 11, 2023.
The former CS:GO pro officially retired from the scene on Sept. 13, 2022, after being a part of some of the biggest rosters that the Asian scene had to offer, with TyLoo being the most noteworthy squad.
T1’s last pickup iZu has been teamless for the last three months. The duelist main previously played for Jadeite, with notable placings at Challengers League Japan: Split 2 in June this year, narrowly missing out on VCT Pacific: Ascension in the process.
With any luck, this roster will be able to push T1 beyond their previous underwhelming placings this year.
