In 2020, the Absolute roster, one of the country's most successful CS:GO rosters in its history, transitioned over to Valorant and played under the name
Absolute JUPITER
Absolute JUPITER
Inactive
makiba
Miyamoto Akatsuki
Laz
Ushida Koji
crow
Maruoka Tomoaki
barce
Takebayashi Ryo
takej
Takemori Shogo
Reita
Oshiro Ryu
with the five-man core of Ushida "Laz"
Koji, Maruoka "crow"
Tomoaki, Oshiro "Reita"
Ryu, Takebayashi "barce"
Ryo, and Takemori "takej"
Shogo.
They entered the new game with the goal of becoming the region's top stars, and it didn't take long for them cement themselves as just that. Their dominance would be proven as Absolute JUPITER won First Strike: Japan, showcasing what Japan had in store early on in Valorant's esports scene.
However, they weren't the only ones who had eyes on becoming Japan's best.
Crazy Raccoon
Crazy Raccoon
Inactive
, another rising team with a Japanese/Korean roster, rose through Challengers 1 and proved to be Absolute JUPITER's equal. Handing them a loss in Masters 1: Japan finals and in the Challengers 2 playoffs finals, Crazy Raccoon booked their ticket to Masters: Reykjavik, leaving the full Japanese team in the dust.
On the international stage, Japan was primarily represented by Crazy Raccoon, who qualified for all three international tournaments in 2021. With the addition of a second Japanese slot at Masters: Berlin, Crazy Raccoon was given a lifeline since Absolute JUPITER – by then known as
ZETA DIVISION
ZETA DIVISION
Japan
Rank #2
Dep
Yuma Hashimoto
SugarZ3ro
Shota Watanabe
CLZ
Hikaru Mizutani
SyouTa
Shota Aoki
Xdll
Yuto Mizomori
– came out as the first seed of the region after winning Challengers 3 playoffs.
"Japan had two slots in Masters 3, so I felt like I had to win to not waste the slots," said crow.
There, ZETA completed a feat that Japan hadn't done in their past international appearance: win a map. They did so against
KRÜ Esports
KRÜ Esports
Latin America South
Rank #3
keznit
Angelo Mori
mta
Nicolás González
Shyy
Fabian Usnayo
, another mainstay in international competition, but Crazy Raccoon took the next step by winning Japan's first-ever match against
Liberty
Liberty
Inactive
guuih
Guilherme Mariano
pepa
Matheus Colleto
duhT
Eduardo Teixeira
Zanatsu
Carlos Eduardo
tockers
Gabriel Claumann
.
Despite those successes, neither Japanese team made it out of groups, but crow and ZETA DIVISION felt the brunt of Japan's underperformance at Berlin.
"I was really frustrated that we could not win one match," crow said.
Laz (centered) and ZETA DIVISION's first appearance on the global stage was a disappointing one. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
Despite the disappointing group-stage elimination, ZETA DIVISION still had a chance to qualify for Champions. However, they declined APAC LCQ in order to restructure for 2022.
NORTHEPTION
NORTHEPTION
Japan
Rank #18
took their place and had a stellar performance, finishing second behind eventual Champions representative
FULL SENSE
FULL SENSE
Asia-Pacific
Rank #4
JohnOlsen
Chanawin Nakchain
Leviathan
Thanyathon Nakmee
aLerT
Wattanachok Yingnakorn
Potter
Sutthichai Promsrikaew
Sushiboys
Panyawat Subsiriroj
.
On December 1, ZETA DIVISION announced they had offloaded barce to content creation, and split with Reita and takej, who went to
REJECT
REJECT
Japan
Rank #8
JaXe
BNN
take
IceBear
. Changes were due, as the old core had faltered to keep up with the times.
According to crow, the original Absolute roster had some difficulties with roles as a result of being a team built for CS:GO rather than Valorant. But offseason roster changes gave them an opportunity to remedy that.
In their stead, ZETA signed former NORTHEPTION stars Shota "SugarZ3ro" Watanabe and Tenta "TENNN" Asai, along with Yuma "Dep" Hashimoto from REJECT. Fans of the team were optimistic that this would be the combination of players to launch ZETA to the next level.
"The new members have an aggressive playing style," crow said. "Me and Laz, as core members, are conscious of letting them play spontaneously so that we can take advantage of that."
With a new arsenal at the ready, ZETA DIVISION was ready to take Japan by storm with hopes to qualify for the first international tournament of 2022.
Unlike most regions where the top teams were given byes into the group stage, Stage 1 Challengers: Japan had teams participate in two sets of open qualifiers. The Japanese "superteam" breezed through from open qualifiers all the way to the grand finals, only dropping three maps along the way, two of which were from Crazy Raccoon.
Ultimately it was who ZETA DIVISION dealt the first blow in the 2022 edition of the rivalry between Japan's titans, as they secured their ticket to Reykjavik after defeating Crazy Raccoon 3-1. Like a well-oiled machine, everyone on ZETA was on the same page.
"Overall, we had good chemistry because we were all in the same mindset of improvisation during the game," said crow. "In particular, Dep and I had many opportunities to communicate, such as doing a lot of duo rank matchmaking and sharing a room during boot camp, which affected how we worked together in the tournament."
After nearly seven months of international absence, ZETA DIVISION is ready to take on the world. For Laz and crow, Masters: Reykjavik is a new opportunity but also a chance for redemption.
"I am happy to be here for the first time because I missed the competition in Iceland last year," crow said. "I am here to take revenge for our poor result in Berlin last time."
ZETA DIVISION have a long road ahead of them in Group A, as they have to overcome two teams who qualified for Champions last year,
DRX
DRX
Korea
Rank #7
Flashback
Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁)
MaKo
Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관)
Athan
Na Ha-jun (나하준)
freeing
No Ha-jun (노하준)
HYUNMIN
Song Hyun-min (송현민)
and
FNATIC
FNATIC
Europe
Rank #2
Sayonara
Ștefan Mîtcu
stand-in
Boaster
Jake Howlett
kaajak
Kajetan Haremski
Chronicle
Timofey Khromov
Alfajer
Emir Ali Beder
, as well as a new challenger in
Ninjas In Pyjamas
Ninjas In Pyjamas
Inactive
. The Japanese superteam's first match is against the Korean titans DRX, as both teams look to best their Asian counterpart and get off to a strong start.
A lot of doubts surround ZETA DIVISION and Japan as a whole. Some believe that Japan has regressed or stayed stagnant, while others believe this iteration of ZETA is the strongest entrant Japan has sent to the world stage so far, and believe the team to have upset potential.
Regardless of opinion, ZETA DIVISION's performance will be a stepping stone for Japanese Valorant and could show, as crow hopes, that this minor region can go toe-to-toe against the world's best.
"We want to prove that the level of the Japanese region has improved."
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