DRX Promotes Flashback To Its Valorant Roster, Replacing Stax

Earlier this week, the prestigious South Korean organization announced the benching of their in-game leader and long-time member, Kim “stax” Gu-taek. The team is doubling down on developing young prospects by bringing back Cho “Flashback” Min-hyuk to the active roster.

Flashback is an 18-year-old Valorant player who used to play under DRX’s academy team, DRX Prospects. He was given a shot at playing for the main team in October 2023, playing in two tournaments, TEN Valorant Global Invitational and Red Bull Home Ground #4. In these two events, Flashback placed 2nd and 3-4th, respectively.

The young talent got his first “real” opportunity, playing for DRX at the VCT Pacific Kickoff. Unfortunately, the team barely missed qualification to Masters Madrid after losing 0-2 against Gen.G in the Semi-Final. As a result, Flashback was moved to the bench to make way for Kang “BeYN” Ha-bin.

BeYN proved to be a very impactful member for the team, and helped DRX finish 5-0 in the Group Stage. However, they messed up their Playoff run after losing to the two best teams in the region, Paper Rex and Gen.G. This resulted in another 4th place exit, missing another qualification for an international tournament.

With these disappointing results, DRX has removed Stax from the roster and will field Flashback again. The community did not welcome this move with welcoming arms, not because they doubted Flashback’s skills but because the team did not pick up an in-game leader.

It is unclear who will be the team’s new caller. It could be Kim “MaKo” Myeong-gwan, one of the team’s most experienced players, or BeYN, who was previously the captain of the DRX Prospects roster. Having BeYN call wouldn’t be that bad of an idea since two of his teammates, Flashback and Foxy9, used to play together in the academy team. Now, three DRX Prospects members are in the primary roster.

DRX’s new roster will debut in the VCT Pacific Stage 2 event starting June 15. Their first match is scheduled against Team Secret, who has also made roster changes.

The DRX roster is now:

• Yu “BuZz” Byung-chul
• Kim “MaKo” Myeong-gwan
• Jung “Foxy9” Jae-sung
• Kang “BeYN” Ha-bin
• Cho “Flashback” Min-hyuk

DRX currently has 6 Pacific Points, which are required to qualify directly for VCT Champions 2024. There are two teams with more points, Paper Rex and Gen.G, with 10 and 9, respectively. DRX needs to find a deep placement in Stage 2 to secure their invitation to the final tournament of the year.

Will the addition of Flashback solve DRX’s issues, or will the organization receive backlash for benching a fan-favorite player, stax?

Header: DRX