Brax joins T1 ahead of Valorant release

It was only a matter of time before Esports organisations started looking to prepare for Valorant to drop this summer. Riot seem to be gearing the game towards competitive and with their track record in League of Legends, it could well be a huge success. Therefore, getting a solid set of players together early on will be important to help brands establish themselves in the Valorant scene.

T1 is an international entertainment and sports powerhouse with pro teams in a number of Esports. They are probably most notable for their incredibly successful League of Legends roster, which features global gaming icon, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.

This announcement represents their first ever move into the Tactical FPS genre, and shows an intention to become a dominant force in Valorant. In a Twitter post discussing the news, Braxton “Brax” Pierce commented, “I’m eager to carry my knowledge and understanding of CS over to Valorant as we both loo to build the best team in the world”. Judging by this, it is likely that before too long, further T1 additions will be revealed.

For Brax, this signing comes as a well deserved second chance in the world of Esports. Previously known by the in-game name ‘swag’, he was considered by many to be one of America’s most promising young talents in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. However, following a famous match fixing scandal, he became one of seven players to be permanently banned from Valve events.

His fans believe that he has more than served his time, and are excited too see Brax given this opportunity to return to the limelight. It will certainly be interesting to see how the skills of these ex CS:GO pros transfer over to Valorant, and who become the top players in the game.

Some critics are questioning whether it is still too early for orgs to be getting involved in Valorant. They argue that until it is released there is no guarantee as to how successful it will be and that this constitutes a risky investment.

Personally, I don’t think this is the case at all. We’ve seen it happen in the past, teams who get in there and establish a presence early on have a much better chance of doing well long term. With the resources at Riot’s disposal, and their sterling competitive reputation from League of Legends, it seems highly probable that Valorant will take off.

At the same time, I feel that T1 have gone about this the right way. By bringing in someone like Brax who can function in a broader role as both a content creator and a pro player, they safeguard themselves in the event that competitive Valorant does flop.