DRX bench Stax ahead of VCT Pacific Split 2

After a disappointing conclusion to VCT 2024 Pacific Split 1, DRX has decided to part ways with IGL Kim “stax” Gu-taek. The move marks the end of an era in Korean VALORANT.

DRX and stax - a retrospect:

The stax and DRX - Vision Strikers partnership spans for almost four years. The former CS:GO professional transitioned to VALORANT along with his teammates Rb, glow, k1ng and coach termi.

Together with Zest, the team dominated Korea as Vision striker, creating history after a 102-match winning streak.

The team’s first loss came at the qualifying event for Masters Reykjavik 2021, where they lost to Nuturn, who represented Korea at the first International event.

Vision strikers later dominated the Korea region for the next two years, winning every region-locked event in Korea. The Vision Striker squad was acquired by DRX.

Internationally, the squad dominated the earlier stages of competition but struggled to secure a strong placement.

In 2022, DRX under the leadership of stax secured third place at VALORANT Champions. The strong results and the DRX secured the VCT Partnership heading into 2023.

Part of the Pacific League, DRX dominated the regular season, but were defeated by their rivals Paper Rex in the finals to lose the VCT Pacific title.

After the loss, DRX struggled to maintain their form, finishing 7th-8th at the following Masters Tokyo and 5th-6th at VALORANT Champions 2023.

While the results can be considered satisfactory, for a team of DRX’s caliber, they definitely weren’t. So, going into 2023, DRX made their first set of changes since 2021, parting ways with Zest and Rb to make way for foxy9 and Flashback.

Unfortunately, the struggles only got worse, as they bailed out of Kickoff missing Madrid and then VCT 2024 Pacific Split 1 Playoffs missing Shanghai. This was the first time the team missed two international events in a row, underlining the necessity for a change.

With stax’s benching, the DRX squad currently is as follows:

• Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul
• Kim "MaKo" Myeong-gwan
• Jung "Foxy9" Jae-sung 
• Kang "BeYN" Ha-bin 
• Cho "Flashback" Min-hyuk (Inactive)
• Kim "Stax" Gu-taek (Inactive)
• Pyeon "termi" Seon-ho (Head coach)

The replacement for stax is not announced yet. The IGL is currently inactive and the organization has allowed him to explore offers.

Stax thanked his teammates and fans for the support they showed him throughout his journey, hoping for continued support for the next chapter in his journey.

Follow Stax on X (prev. Twitter) for updates on his journey. Follow DRX_VS on X for latest updates on the VALORANT Squad.

You can also follow the latest updates on Strafe.

Featured Image Credits:Riot Games // VCT Pacific