thwifo, from XSET to T1

It was recently announced that the player Brax was leaving the competitive team of T1 to become a full-time content creator . With one player gone, the organisation had to find a replacement. Now it's a done deal, as Zander Kim aka thwifo, comes to take the vacant position.

From Fortnite to Valorant

Zander Kim is a former professional player of Fortnite who played at Ghost Gaming. His desire to take a break from the battle royale didn't fall on deaf ears. In an interview with VLR.gg, the player explains that his transition between the two games was seamless, via a former contact at Ghost Gaming who also works for XSET.

I had an old connection with Ghost (Gaming) when I was in Fortnite. My (former) manager Jacob hit me up as I was starting to try out Valorant and he was like, "Yo, you wanna try and join XSET Valorant? We'll make you the captain." And I was like, "Alright, I'm down."

thwifo

The player switched to Valorant by signing with the organisation, but really started his adventure with the team Pretty Boyz. The captain had to build THE roster that the organisation would accept to recruit. After several months of testing and changes, the Pretty Boyz won the Nerd Street Gamers – Monthly October 2020 and the EVOlution Open North America. XSET was then quick to make the team official.

Under the XSET banner, thwifo won the NSGxComplexity Invitational. The roster also struggled throughout the VCT, finishing 4th in Challengers 1 and 2 NA during Phase 1 and 7/8th in the Masters NA. Then, in Phase 2, they finished second in Challengers 1 NA after a loss against 100 Thieves. Finally, a similar scenario occurred in Phase 3, when XSET lost to Sentinels in Challengers 1.

With these insufficient results, the team didn't manage to qualify for the Valorant Champions, or even the LCQ NA. After this difficult first year, the organisation decided to part ways with thwifo, who was benched in early July. The player did not remain inactive, however, and was rented to ANBOX for a few matches. This transitional period is now over, as thwifo is joining another team.

Thwifo joins the organisation T1

With ex-player Brax, T1 had signed the first professional contract on Valorant, even before the game was released. The organisation had made it its mission to reveal the "Faker" of Valorant, but to no avail. Their North American roster had failed to rise to the top and even saw the Valorant Champions pass them by. Changes were therefore needed to ensure their future on the FPS.

Thwifo is thus a player with a profile that is more than interesting for the organisation. He has specialised in the role of Sentinel, notably with Cypher. In the current roster, Curry already plays this Agent, but at a lower level than Thwifo. But most importantly, Curry is the only one to play Skye, an Agent who has become almost indispensable in the current meta. Thanks to the newcomer, he can now focus on Skye when necessary.

Unlike some players who are only involved with one Agent, Thwifo is versatile. He is also capable of playing Killjoy or Sage and can also play as a Controller thanks to Breach if needed. The team will therefore have to train to integrate his skills and consider new compositions, but will undoubtedly come back stronger!

Although the team will not be participating in the Valorant Champions, the organisation intends to prove itself during the next season, and thus return to the forefront of the competition, just like its League of Legends team!