Four of the former Rare Atom players and the team’s coach have officially joined JD Gaming (JDG) for the upcoming VCT CN League.
CHINA – JD Gaming (JDG) have put together a new roster for the upcoming VCT CN season featuring Rare Atom’s quartet of Park “stew” Young-chan, Ran “Viva” Lifan, Chen “YiHao” Yihao, and Zhuo “MarT1n” Zhengjie. Rounding out the newly-formed lineup is former TOP Esports player Yeung “jkuro” Ho-chun.
Ma “ValAnalysis” Hyun-sung will continue to stand behind the former RA roster as the head coach. Having completed their roster, JD Gaming went on to add one more coach by bringing back a familiar face in the form of Li “Billyo” Xinyu, who also coached the previous JDG roster, in addition to FunPlus Phoenix and Bilibili Gaming in the past.
The only player not making a move from Rare Atom to JDG is in-game leader Chae “yoman” Young-mun from Korea, as per the VCT roster construction rules only one import is allowed for the team, and the organization has chosen to retain stew.
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Rare Atom experienced a rapid rise in rankings, reaching the finals of the China Evolution Series twice in Act I and III where they faced defeat in the final hurdle of both instances over EDward Gaming. The team also participated in the Ascension CN event, compelled to do so as the Rare Atom organization did not receive an invitation to join the partnered ecosystem for the fourth International League in Shanghai.
Despite having one of the best rosters to challenge EDward Gaming’s dominance in the VCT CN League and being considered the overwhelming favorites in Ascension, Rare Atom faced another unexpected setback as they lost to Dragon Ranger Gaming in the temporary promotion decider.
In their pursuit of a VALORANT Masters Madrid qualification, JD Gaming saw an opportunity to bolster their chances by acquiring the Rare Atom roster, leading to the release of JDG’s former roster including Simakov “Vici” Ernest to make room for the new lineup.
stew is becoming a focal point of discussions as the player to watch in the upcoming tier-one league, standing out with a high ceiling of mechanical skill and has frequently been the region’s top performer with the duelist role in recent times. Another player worth keeping an eye on is Ran “Viva” Lifan, who serves as the team’s initiator.
Despite transitioning from Counter-Strike just last season, where he played for the likes of Invictus Gaming and CyberZen, Viva has already established himself as a tier-one caliber player in the new environment.
JD Gaming now field the following team:
- 🇰🇷 Park “stew” Young-chan
- 🇨🇳 Ran “Viva” Lifan
- 🇨🇳 Chen “YiHao” Yihao
- 🇨🇳 Zhuo “MarT1n” Zhengjie
- 🇭🇰 Yeung “jkuro” Ho-chun
- 🇰🇷 Ma “ValAnalysis” Hyun-sung (Head coach)
- 🇨🇳 Li “Billyo” Xinyu (Coach)
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Cover photo courtesy of VALORANT Esports CN
