When the draft came for the Swiss stage of Masters Shanghai, the second seed from Americas,
G2 Esports
G2 Esports
North America
Rank #2
icy
Jacob Lange
trent
Trent Cairns
valyn
Jacob Batio
JonahP
Jonah Pulice
leaf
Nathan Orf
, drew the third seed from Pacific,
T1
T1
Korea
Rank #3
stax
Kim Gu-taek (김구택)
Carpe
Lee Jae-hyeok (이재혁)
iZu
Ham Woo-ju (함우주)
xccurate
Kevin Susanto
. This matchup has few connections on the outside, but for at least one player, it means a lot.
G2 versus T1 marks the first battle between old teammates. The core from G2 Esports, consisting of Jacob "valyn" Batio, Jonah "JonahP" Pulice, and Trent "trent" Cairns, used to play alongside T1 duelist Ha "Sayaplayer" Jeong-woo (하정우). They shared some amazing moments, and now they will face off against each other to start Shanghai.
Sayaplayer came into the Valorant scene on T1 but truly exploded into a star duelist on North American team
The Guard
The Guard
Inactive
JonahP
Jonah Pulice
trent
Trent Cairns
neT
Michael Bernet
valyn
Jacob Batio
tex
Ian Botsch
. Alongside valyn, JonahP, trent, and former G2 player Michael "neT"
Bernet, they climbed from open qualification tournaments to the top of their region. When they went to Masters Reykjavík in early 2022, it looked like the region had another contender. Then The Guard lost to tough opposition, struggled regionally, and could not secure a slot in franchising.
Sayaplayer after joining T1 in 2023. (Image via Sayaplayer)
That marked the first change in the core, with Sayaplayer rejoining T1 for their franchised roster. The rest of The Guard roster stuck together, added Ian "tex" Botsch, and won Ascension, earning their chance to compete in tier one. Alas, with The Guard ceasing operations soon after, G2 Esports picked the roster up. The team did make more roster changes since then, but G2 have kept the same core and coach that won them Ascension in 2023.
Even from an entirely different region and time zone, Sayaplayer harbors no ill will towards his former teammates and still follows how they do in their respective competitions.
“I keep in touch with them once in a while through messaging, hearing the major updates through announcements,” Sayaplyer said. “I know what they've been doing, and it is great for them to make it back to an international tournament again.”
Like many others who kept their eyes on the draft for the starting games at Masters Shanghai, the reaction he had to the matchup was one of excitement, both to show how he has grown since previous events and to face off against some familiar foes.
"It was welcoming news for me," Sayaplayer said, "and it will be interesting to see what kind of unique plays they will use when they face off against us. Both G2 and T1 have outstanding players, but when we have momentum, we know we can focus. We both played okay in the regular season, but when we got into playoffs, we were able to show what we could do."
Heading into their respective regional playoffs in Stage 1, neither G2 nor T1 had a great record. G2 got into the Stage 1 playoffs via map differential at 3-3, while T1 made their playoffs with a losing 2-4 record. Alas, both teams upset other rosters that performed better than them in the regular season. G2 had to beat both
Cloud9
Cloud9
North America
Rank #10
Xeppaa
Erick Bach
runi
Dylan Cade
moose
Kaleb Jayne
OXY
Francis Hoang
and
KRÜ Esports
KRÜ Esports
Latin America South
Rank #3
keznit
Angelo Mori
mta
Nicolás González
Shyy
Fabian Usnayo
Melser
Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro
heat
Olavo Marcelo
, while T1 had to beat
Team Secret
Team Secret
Asia-Pacific
Rank #8
invy
Adrian Jiggs Reyes
JessieVash
Jessie Cuyco
Wild0reoo
Brheyanne Christ Reyes
2ge
James Goopio
Jremy
Jeremy Cabrera
and Masters Madrid finalists
Gen.G
Gen.G
Korea
Rank #1
Munchkin
Byeon Sang-beom (변상범)
t3xture
Kim Na-ra (김나라)
Meteor
Kim Tae-O (김태오)
Lakia
Kim Jong-min (김종민)
Karon
Kim Won-tae (김원태)
.
Sayaplayer and T1 rematch against Gen.G in the VCT Pacific 2024 Stage 1 playoffs. (Image via Riot Games)
While Sayaplayer remains dedicated to his first Valorant team, now alongside a new core that he plays as the star duelist, he did say that he would enjoy the idea of going back and reliving those old days on The Guard.
“I know they're great players and I've seen how they've grown across the year,” Sayaplayer said. “Maybe in the future, I'd love to play with them again.”
These two rosters both grew across the year, going from missing out on Madrid to going to Shanghai. Their trajectories led the teams to each other, alongside plenty of other hungry teams competing to be the best.
Sayaplayer knows
FNATIC
FNATIC
Europe
Rank #2
Boaster
Jake Howlett
Chronicle
Timofey Khromov
Alfajer
Emir Ali Beder
and
EDward Gaming
EDward Gaming
China
Rank #1
S1Mon
Hsien Meng-Hsun (谢孟勋)
ZmjjKK
Zheng Yongkang (郑永康)
nobody
Wang Senxu (王森旭)
CHICHOO
Wan Shunzhi (万顺治)
Smoggy
Zhang Zhao (张钊)
are two teams he would love to match up against with his squad, but he knows he has to focus on the first team in the schedule and cut any emotional ties when the barriers drop.
T1 will face off against G2 Esports to start Masters Shanghai.