Kenneth “koosta” Suen is moving from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to Valorant, Gen.G has announced.
Koosta is the fifth member to join the Gen.G Valorant team, and this move completes Gen.G’s Valorant roster ahead of the Valorant Champion’s Tour. He replaces Kevin “PLAYER1” Champagne.
Fans quickly took to Twitter to express their support, though a few also expressed disappointment to see the player departing CSGO. Koosta entered the CSGO scene in 2014 with Tempo Gaming and has played for big-name teams including Team Liquid and Cloud9. He was picked up by Gen.G late in 2019 and now joins Gen.G’s Valorant roster as they try to climb the ranks of the game’s top tier. Gen.G hasn’t quite been able to break into that rank just yet, and with this roster change they hope to become a contender ahead of the Challenger series in the Valorant Champions Tour.Â
Gen.G hasn’t done great in Valorant so far. They placed in the top four at the JBL Quantum Cup and came in fourth place at the FaZe Clan Invitational, but haven’t been able to breach the top three. The new roster gives fans hope that the team might be able to place higher in the coming tournament, which is set to start on January 27.Â
The Gen.G roster now consists of Anthony “gMd” Guimond, Danny “huynh” Huynh, Michael “MkaeL” DeLuca, and Shawn “Shawn” O’Riley along with koosta. It makes sense that koosta would take PLAYER1’s Sentinel role, and fans are hoping that his long history in CSGO will provide a sense of leadership for newer players on the team.Â
You know and love him from our CS:GO team, but now it’s time to #ChangeTheGame
Everyone welcome(back) @koosta as the 5th member of #GenGVAL to complete the team!
????: https://t.co/pgpX9Zm22v pic.twitter.com/OihqbkH6T9
— Gen.G Esports (@GenG) January 21, 2021
There have been plenty of successful transfers from the other esports games to Valorant, but there have also been some growing pains among players who have made the switch. FaZe Clan player and former Overwatch pro BabyBay told WIN.gg in an interview that coming from another game right away stunted him compared to other players who had the chance to grind Valorant from the beginning. Whether Gen.G can gear koosta up in time for the upcoming tournament will be up to its players and coaches.Â
Fans can watch the team perform in the Valorant Challengers open qualifiers beginning on January 27.
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