GenG Announces the Departure of Meteor, Lakia, and Munchkin

The VCT 2024: Masters Shanghai Champion, Gen.G Esports, has announced the departure of Kim “Meteor” Tae-oh, Kim “Lakia” Jong-nim, and Byun“Munchkin” Sang-beom following the expiry of their contracts.

The Best of Pacific

After a troublesome 2023, Gen.G rebuilt their roster for the VCT 2024 season, retaining only Meteor from the 2023 lineup. The 2024 roster instilled a lot of doubt in the community, with expectations that they would struggle throughout the year.

At the VCT 2024: Pacific Kickoff, the roster started turning heads. After losing a game early in the competition, they made a comeback, won their first trophy and qualified for VCT 2024: Masters Madrid.

At Madrid, Gen.G dominated the competition, reaching the final without dropping a series. Unfortunately, the nerves kicked in for the squad and Sentinels defeated them to win the trophy. Despite finishing 2nd, many considered them the strongest team at the tournament.

The Madrid 2nd place was followed by VCT 2024: Pacific Stage 1 2nd place, but Gen.G bounced back at VCT 2024: Masters Shanghai, becoming the first Pacific team to lift an international trophy.

They also won the following VCT 2024: Pacific Stage 2, but their Champions run was cut short by Sentinels—the same team that had denied them the Madrid title.

Regardless of their disappointing Champions run, Gen.G was easily one of the best, if not the best, teams of 2024. They were an absolute unit and played an exceptional brand of VALORANT that helped them dominate not just Pacific but VCT as a whole.

What is Gen.G thinking?

With the transfer window opening today, the community expected a lot of announcements, but the departure of Meteor, Lakia, and Munchkin caught everyone off guard. The community has openly expressed their shock and disbelief following the announcements.

While it is unclear whether Gen.G decided not to re-sign them or if the players chose to leave, no one expected the Shanghai-winning roster to break up so soon.

On the bright side, Gen.G has retained 4k-demon Kim “t3xture” Na-ra and star rookie Kim “Karon” Won-tae, the two best performers on the roster.

With coaches Solo and HSK still at the helm, the TigerNation can rest assured that they will build a strong roster around these two stars, with the aim of helping Pacific win another trophy.

Featured Image Credits:Christina Oh/Riot Games

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