FENNEL welcome back Daichi “Derialy” Doi from NORTHEPTION while also adding Kento “GON” Hara to the roster on a loan agreement from Crest Gaming Zst.
JAPAN – FENNEL have settled their roster for the upcoming year, securing Kento “GON” Hara on loan from Crest Gaming Zst and reuniting with former player Daichi “Derialy” Doi who spent the last two seasons with NORTHEPTION. As part of the reshuffling, Hiroki “hiroronn” Yanai will take a bench position while reevaluating his options for next season under a new banner.
The Japanese pair, hailing from Crest Gaming Zst and NORTHEPTION, respectively, boosts the team’s firepower as they gear up for their inaugural appearance together in the Red Bull Home Ground Tokyo’s Open Qualifier. Nevertheless, GON will continue to sport the CGZ jersey during the RAGE VALORANT event (September 16-17) and the Tokyo Game Show (September 24).
This recent adjustment in FENNEL’s lineup comes on the heels of a series of team changes, including the departure of coach “mltdwn” and analyst “kir1n” following the season’s end, as well as the exit of in-game leader Cho “JoXJo” Byung-yeon just a month ago.
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GON comes into FENNEL after a great individual year with Crest Gaming Zst, having recently boasted a team-leading 1.06 VLR rating in VCL Japan Split 2, despite primarily playing with Controller agents.
Meanwhile, Derialy is eyeing a new beginning with FENNEL, a team he previously represented during the latter part of the 2021 season. During his first stint with FENNEL, he clinched a fourth-place finish in the VCT Japan Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs and managed to qualify for that year’s Last Chance Qualifier, though they ultimately finished at the bottom. Derialy was also briefly involved with FENNEL’s setup in the early months of 2022, participating in VCT Japan Stage 1, but failing to advance to the main event.
The highlight of Derialy’s career, however, was under the NORTHEPTION flag, where he alongside the team triumphed in the VCT Japan Stage 2 Challengers Playoffs and advanced to VALORANT Masters 2 in Copenhagen. Despite a series of team adjustments in NORTHEPTION throughout 2023, the 20-year-old remained along the way and managed to secure qualifications for main events, each time ending in a 5-6th place finish.
Furthermore, a recent FENNEL video revealed that SyouTa will assume the Duelist role, CLZ will be the team’s sentinel, Xdll will continue in his role as the Initiator, GON will take on the Controller position, and Derialy will operate as the Flex player.
The new FENNEL roster features the following playing five:
- 🇯🇵 Yuto “Xdll” Mizomori
- 🇯🇵 “SyouTa”
- 🇯🇵 “CLZ”
- 🇯🇵 Daichi “Derialy” Doi
- 🇯🇵 Kento “GON” Hara
- 🇺🇦 Ivan “Johnta” Shevtsov (Coach)
- 🇯🇵 Kazuki “Euler” Kubota (Coach)
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Cover photo courtesy of FENNEL
