From grinding together in ranked to facing each other on stage, relationships begin and end at the top tier of Valorant. That is, unless your last name is Susanto, where at least one relationship makes its way back to the dinner table.
Former pro CS:GO player Kevin "
xccurate
" Susanto joined
T1
T1
Korea
Rank #2
stax
Kim Gu-taek (김구택)
Meteor
Kim Tae-O (김태오)
Sylvan
Ko Young-sub (고영섭)
BuZz
Yu Byung-chul (유병철)
iZu
Ham Woo-ju (함우주)
on Sept. 12, 2023, marking the second member of the Susanto family to make it to Valorant's top league. The first just happens to be one of the best players in the world,
Paper Rex
Paper Rex
Asia-Pacific
Rank #1
mindfreak
Aaron Leonhart
Jinggg
Wang Jing Jie
f0rsakeN
Jason Susanto
d4v41
Khalish Rusyaidee
something
Ilya Petrov
's ever-flexible Jason "
f0rsakeN
" Susanto.
Both had their histories in CS:GO before Valorant was released to the public, yet originally, the 25-year-old xccurate was the one to stand out at an international level with his time on TYLOO. He made a name for himself with the AWP, but was never able to reach the same heights after he left TYLOO.
As for the 19-year-old f0rsakeN, he played competitive Counter-Strike because of his older brother, and stuck around the Asia-Pacific CS scene until Valorant's release. Then, he joined Paper Rex, and skyrocketed from a Yoru/Jett main to a key flex player on the second-best team in the world across 2023. Some people questioned his flexibility, but were quick to eat their words as he and his teammates finished Valorant Champions 2023 in second place.
In a way, xccurate brought the Susanto name to light in CS, then f0rsakeN brought it to entirely new fans in Valorant. Both are standout players in their own right, but were never able to play with each other competitively.
That isn't changing yet, but now xccurate will have to face off against f0rsakeN in Valorant, a game that might feel like a home turf advantage for his little brother. The break xccurate took from overall competitive play before joining T1 might leave some fans worried as to his ability, but he was quick to push that aside.
“It feels really great to be back,” xccurate said to VLR, “and during my time off, I found the motivation to play again. I'm glad that T1 gave me this opportunity to prove myself once more to become the best player.”
As for joining a different FPS game's esports scene, despite its similarities to CS:GO, xccurate is aware of his lack of experience in Valorant and his time away from the tournament grind, marking it as his biggest weakness heading into the 2024 season.
“I think the thing that I have to improve on now is just getting the experience,” xccurate said. “I need to play more in offline or online tournaments, because it's been a long time that I haven't played in them. I have confidence in my team, and because I am new to this scene, I know that they can help me grow and give me a lot of feedback to improve myself.”
xccurate with his T1 team in Korea. (Image via T1)
In the 2023-24 offseason, xccurate has quickly proven that his sniper skills from CS have transferred over well. In fact, he did get to face his younger brother for the first time in Valorant in an offseason tournament, at the AfreecaTV Valorant League. While he lost the series, he outfragged his brother while proving in the two other matches that he could be a star player on a very intriguing T1 roster.
But offseason tournaments are very different from the major league. T1 has a chance to face off against Paper Rex early on in 2024, depending on how the Pacific Kickoff event goes. They aren't in the same group, so they'd have to meet each other either in the play-ins or the playoffs. If that doesn't come around in late February, the teams will eventually face off, whether in Stage 1 or Stage 2 of their regional league. Both teams seem to be reaching for greatness, so the matchup likely will have some weight behind it aside from just two bros brawling it out.
When that does eventually come around, xccurate knows exactly what he'll feel, having to compete against his brother for potentially high stakes, and couldn't help himself but make an anime reference.
“If you watch the anime Naruto, it will be like Sasuke vs. Itachi,” xccurate said with a laugh. “But most importantly, I think it will be a great experience for me to play against them. It's going to be very interesting, just because I know that many people are waiting to see that happen.”
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