T1 Returns to Roots: Korean Organization signs “Sayaplayer” to their roster ahead of 2023 season

Stars Aligning

News first leaked in the first week of October that former The Guard player Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo would be resigning with the storied organization. Having previously played for them in 2021, he would find himself benched before at last realizing his potential on The Guard’s roster, proving why the former Overwatch player was once feared for his Widowmaker.

Reports had also suggested that the Korean organization had been close to signing former DRX player Kim “Lakia” Jong-min. However, with latest reports, that deal has since fallen through. The Korean player who was a key piece to Korea's first super team, Vision Strikers and then Nuturn Gaming, made a name for himself through his proficiency on Sova.

T1 Fighting!

The traditionally Pacific based organization has scrapped their North American players in favor of returning to their roots in Korea. With the announcement of Riot’s 30 partners, it was also revealed that the organization would now be participating in the Pacific arena, as opposed to North America, as they have done since their entry into Riot’s tactical shooter.

T1 announced their bid in 2020 to the shock of long-time fans of the organization with the sensational signing of NA’s prodigal son, Braxton "brax" Pierce, most well known in Counter Strike as the ‘talent that never fully bloomed.’ Braxton would become the first signed Valorant pro in the game’s history.

After that, T1 filled out the rest of their roster with NA superstars such as Austin "crashies" Roberts and Victor “Victor” Wong (who would go on to achieve great success on Optic) and legendary players Keven "AZK" Larivière and Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham.

Despite the stacked roster, T1 would fail to achieve meaningful results, regularly placing top eight. Since then, till May of 2022, T1 would undergo a multitude of roster changes, all with middling results, even with the inclusion of decorated former 100 Thieves IGL Joshua “steel” Nissan.

Once Korean, always Korean

2022 would signal a new beginning for T1. The year began uneventfully, with a string of early losses that would see the roster fall in the NA Stage 1 Open Qualifiers to TSM, in a controversial lower bracket match that ended in a forfeit for the T1 side due to a violation of rules regarding unauthorized communications.

Following that, on the 15th of May, T1 would begin their extensive plan for ascension back up the peak. They would start by acquiring player Son "xeta" Seon-ho and coach Yoon "Autumn" Eu-teum from rivals Cloud 9.

“xeta” had previously been making a name for himself in NA as a premiere Sova player whilst Cloud 9 under “Autumn” was seeing strong results, having achieved 3rd place at the 2022 VCT NA Stage 1 Challengers. Having just fallen shy of qualifying for Masters, it was clear that he could coach a winning roster given time.

Later that month, it was announced that Byeon "Munchkin" Sang-beom had been signed from Crazy Racoons. In August, Joseph "ban" Seungmin Oh from Knights would join as well. Byeon, former IGL for Crazy Racoons, the Japanese Squad that dominated locally in 2021, left his squad to join the hallowed halls of T1. Joseph meanwhile, is a relatively new player to the scene, having played mostly flex for his previous team, Knights.

With this new signing, T1 is close to completing their new roster ahead of the upcoming season and fans eagerly await the inaugural first run for the new squad at the Kickoff tournament in February.

As of now, the T1 roster looks as follows:

• Son "xeta" Seon-ho
• Byeon "Munchkin" Sang-beom
• Joseph "ban" Seungmin Oh
• Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo
• Yoon "Autumn" Eu-teum (Coach)

Image credits: Riot Games Valorant