Disguised Disguised Asia-Pacific Rank #11 Vera Rodman Yap STYRON Tidus Goh crazyguy Ngô Công Anh Deryeon Derrick Yee wayne Wayne Chang ended the VCT 2023 season as a struggling tier two team in the North American Challengers scene. The roster changes throughout the year took a toll on the team as the intrigue the organization built by joining the Challengers scene diminished. Now, one year later, Disguised is competing in Ascension Pacific for the chance at a spot in franchising, leading the pack in organizations owned by content creators.

Disguised owner and popular streamer Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang decided to take his earnings and start an esports team with a roster in Valorant. While other esports owners have kept their privacy and supported their teams from a short distance, Toast was more involved, from speaking on the financial realities of operations to watch-partying games with other content creators.

Disguised Toast photo Disguised Toast, wearing his 2024 Disguised hoodie. (Image via Disguised)

In 2023, Toast decided to start the Valorant team locally in North America. The original roster had evident talent, but frequent roster changes caused issues as the season progressed. Even the big-name pickup of yay didn't help as the team ended their campaign with an 11-match losing streak. The team was relegated from the Challengers league, leaving their future muddled.

Toast eventually parted ways with the old roster and moved Disguised to Challengers Malaysia/Singapore for 2024. Disguised then officially became a partner team with BLEED BLEED Asia-Pacific Rank #21 to mutually grow both teams' communities on a larger scale, while also offering some connections to regional talent.

Disguised started strong in Malaysia/Singapore and made savvy moves to stay a contending regional team across both Splits. It could've hurt the team much like their problems in 2023, but the timing of the situation worked out better the second time around.

“Our attempts to solve issues with our first team was with roster changes, for a multitude of reasons,” Disguised Toast said to VLR.gg. “We had to do it to our APAC team this year as well, between Splits 1 and 2, but the NA team's changes were more often. We've seen it work before, like when Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #20 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le swapped in Demon1 and BcJ mid-season and won Champions, but we've also seen it fail. Those changes in both years were the most prevalent growing pains.”

Moving from NA to Malaysia/Singapore was a prudent financial decision. Base salaries were cheaper in Malaysia/Singapore, leading to less spent costs while the team earned more in competition.

“We're spending less overall than last year, and looking back, it felt like I didn't need to jump in financially at that high of a bar that early on,” Toast said. “We're still in the red overall, but with these changes, there have been months we've broke even. The goal is to be somewhat sustainable in Challengers, and if we win Ascension and make it to tier one, we can entirely self-fund.”

Disguised 2024 split 1 roster The Split 1 team for Disguised in 2024. (Image via Disguised)

With a set goal in mind, Toast was excited about the new version of Disguised. After deliberation, Disguised chose head coach alexRr , just missing out on Fnatic coach Elmapuddy and Leviatán coach Itopata respectively. Ascension Pacific winner Juicy signed soon after, as he couldn't join any franchised team until he turned 18. The roster formed with a newly updated core of local talent led by JayH and bryce , and to start the year, Toast had a talented squad with high hopes.

“I was expecting us to win the region and make Ascension,” Toast said. “I know there are a ton of cracked aimers in the region, but I also saw an opportunity to join a region where we would be considered a bigger org in comparison to our stature in NA, which also allowed us to get bigger name players more easily. I think we met our expectations, and at this point, I'm just happy we're making it to Ascension.”

While three players were swapped mid-season, both Juicy and wayne were the two players who stuck around for the whole 2024 season. The team took time to adjust in the Split 2 regular season, and solid coaching allowed Disguised to hit their stride in playoffs and win the Split 2 playoffs.

Disguised manage a big comeback to secure their grand finals spot.

Toast watched as his team fought for a 12-4 comeback on Bind and a reverse sweep against ELEVATE and former Disguised player Riza . Thankfully the end was favorably anti-climactic, as his team swept the grand finals to earn their Ascension slot. Heading into the tournament, Juicy has the chance to be a back-to-back Ascension winner. While his age had prevented him from joining a franchised team in 2024, his experience proved key for Disguised, especially in the team's victorious playoff run.

“Juicy has been a good stable presence for the team,” Toast said. “He's been through it all, and this season, he and Vera were competing and top-fragging as two star duelists. During playoffs though, you can see how his experience kicked in, and he had his best form of the season when it mattered the most. That calmed the entire team down, knowing that he can lock in when he needs to.”

When he secured the Ascension slot, Toast felt relief. The expectations of winning the region were met, especially after the mid-season changes. Now, the team will compete in Indonesia for their chance at promotion to VCT Pacific, with Toast just hoping for a good show and a run lasting longer than a few games.

Disguised winning Ascension could mark a storybook ending for the Malaysia/Singapore Challengers league, as it will shift alongside other tier-two regions to form the Southeast Asia region starting in 2025. Yet, for Toast, this win can also finish the ultimate organizational climb from cursed to contenders.