T1’s CEO Joe Marsh defined in an interview that the group is approaching its future in Valorant the identical approach it did in League of Legends with its youth improvement program, which is the way it discovered Faker within the first place.
T1 scouted Faker and signed him to develop on its B-team within the early 2010s till he grew to become the participant he’s right this moment. The group has expanded its youth academy within the years since, build up younger stars like Zeus and Gumayusi to play across the GOAT.
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In an interview with RTP Area, Marsh defined how T1 plans to convey the identical course of to Valorant after years of its groups failing to stay as much as expectations. The CEO mentioned the staff may have 11 members and have an all-Korean lineup.
“We’ve our esports academy that has like 250 college students now we’ve got half of these college students in Valorant… the very best Valorant participant goes to be somebody that’s not a CS or Overwatch castoff and solely performed Valorant, so we’re making that funding on the youth stage,” he mentioned.
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T1 was one of many first organizations to leap into Valorant and truly signed a North American staff filled with CS castoffs in 2020. Its North American rosters didn’t do a lot within the skilled circuit, and T1’s prospects have appeared significantly better since becoming a member of VCT Pacific with Asian and worldwide rosters.
Sarcastically, T1 continued to signal veteran expertise from different esports within the VCT league period, bringing in former Overwatch stars Carpe, Munchkin, and Sayaplayer together with Counter-Strike veteran xccurate.
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T1 has appeared at three main VCT occasions since transferring away from North America however hasn’t managed to win any {hardware} or earn excessive placements exterior of a third-place end within the 2023 VCT Pacific League.
Marsh mentioned T1 will reveal its Valorant lineup for the 2025 season in October, that means followers will get the prospect to see the group’s new imaginative and prescient earlier than it begins its VCT marketing campaign.
Pulling unknown skills from Valorant solo queue and creating them has been a recipe for fulfillment for some groups throughout 2023 and 2024. Evil Geniuses pulled Demon1 up from obscurity earlier than successful a Champions trophy, and Gen.G scouted Karon for its 2024 roster that took house a Masters title.
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Whether or not T1 will discover and develop the identical stage of expertise stays to be seen, however, based mostly on their League of Legends monitor file, they’ve a shot at discovering the Faker of Valorant.
