After a rocky last few months, DRX are firmly back on the international VALORANT stage and have become the first team to make it out of the group stage at Champions in Los Angeles.
The team has just come off its worst international finish since 2021 after exiting Masters Tokyo in seventh-eighth place last month, a big disappointment for a squad that has long been known as one of the best in Asia. Today though, the players look rejuvenated and ready to get back to their highest level of play at Champions.
DRX has played two VALORANT games so far in L.A. and they were both highly contested battles against some of the best lineups from across the Americas and EMEA region. Though doubts were cast over DRX’s condition, they won both games 2-1 over LOUD and NAVI to breeze straight through the group stage.
DRX have always been known as masters of the group stage, but this time they’ve made it out of the group that has been dubbed this year’s “Group of Death” flawlessly. The team now has eight full days in Los Angeles to prepare for their next matchup as every other team continues to fight it out in groups.
Undeniably important in the team’s last two games has been their in-game leader, Kim “stax” Gu-taek. Though all of the players on DRX are incredibly young, with none over the age of 23, stax is truly a veteran in the pro VALORANT scene. After fears of burnout and worries about his ability to successfully guide his team through tough situations, DRX has clearly come up with a solution that not only improves their play as a team but also allows their in-game leader to shine individually.
DRX’s controller player Kim “MaKo” Myeong-gwan previously said in an interview on the broadcast that the team has been calling more together, being more active in their communication as a team during each round.
Despite MaKo’s comments, coach Pyeon “termi” Seon-ho was still adamant their core communication structure hasn’t changed.
“Stax is still an in-game leader of the team,” termi said in the post-match press conference. “He is giving out the main calls and main orders. What the players meant is that they are more actively giving details and comms that will be helpful for the team.”
Either way, this change seems to be helping their individual skills shine more.
Against their match against NAVI, stax top-fragged playing Skye on the first map of Bind despite DRX playing an aggressive double-duelist composition. He also had a whopping 41 percent headshot percentage on that map. Similarly to when the team played against LOUD, he was contributing in all facets of gameplay.
Though stax admitted there has been a difference in communication, he said it hasn’t particularly affected his stress levels overall.
“I can’t tell a big difference personally,” stax said. “But having them chip in with the calls makes things more comfortable for us, and things flow better.”
DRX have also been showing their versatility and hours of practice, with their most flexible player Goo “Rb” Sang-min even choosing to lock in Yoru on Bind against NAVI. In addition, DRX went 13-15 and 14-12 on Lotus over the last two days, a map that used to be their perma-ban. The only other time they’ve played it was in the VCT Pacific grand final against Paper Rex, where they lost 13-3.
The improvements are visible for the Korean VALORANT team, and they hope it doesn’t stop here, as Champions has been their goal all year long.
