With less than a month left before the official start of the 2024 VALORANT Champions tour, players and teams are solidifying final arrangements before their opening matches at each region’s Kickoff tournament.
One star VALORANT player who was left without a starting roster spot until recently was Goo “Rb” Sang-min, formerly of VCT Pacific’s 2023 runner-up team DRX. Rb, who has proven himself to be one of the most flexible players in the world—locking in a wider variety of agents than anyone else in 2023—will move on from not only Korea but VCT Pacific as a whole. Rb will make his 2024 debut with Titan Esports Club, one of VCT China’s teams, the org announced today.
DRX has built itself up as the undisputed best team from Korea in VALORANT, with consistent international appearances and top-place finishes at major events. But after keeping its roster mostly consistent since 2021, the organization decided to shake things up by moving both Rb and Kim “Zest” Gi-seok to the bench in December.
While Zest has entered free agency, Rb has now signed a contract with Titan Esports Club, a team that will make its debut this year in the new VCT China league.
Most of the VCT China teams are largely unknown outside of China and Asia-Pacific, aside from a few notable exceptions like Edward Gaming. Titan Esports is a club that has proven itself within China’s top-10 teams, recently defeating Bilibili Gaming—another Chinese squad that has made an international VCT appearance—twice.
Titan Esports has a highly versatile roster, which may offer the perfect opportunity for Rb’s huge skill set to shine. While Li “QiuYe” Runtao has been Titan’s primary sentinel player for the latter half of 2023, he actually also flexes onto the duelist role. With Rb’s primary agent being Killjoy, his presence could open up new opportunities for QiuYe to lock in Raze and even Iso.
Rb isn’t the first Korean VALORANT player to make the transition over to China as the game continues to boom in popularity in the country. Former Gen.G players Ko “Sylvan” Young-sub and Yong “eKo” Wang-ryong both played in the VCT China circuit in late 2023 after the main VCT season ended, joining tier-two team TOP Esports. The only other Korean player who will now play in VCT China is Park “stew” Yong-chan of JD Gaming.
With the loss of Rb and Zest, DRX has continued to pull from its deep prospect pool and will show a new roster that will be left to pick up the pieces from the absence of Rb’s ability to play any agent at any time.
