In VARREL, xnfri will be reuniting with former NORTHEPTION teammate Kohei “BlackWiz” Mikami, with whom he qualified for VALORANT Masters Copenhagen together.
JAPAN – VARREL have revealed the signing of Tomoki “xnfri” Moriya from DetonatioN FocusMe.
The 24-year-old will take over the position previously held by his ex-DFM teammate, Ryumon “Reita” Oshiro, who was briefly loaned to VARREL for the Red Bull Home Ground Tokyo Open Qualifier.
In VARREL, xnfri will be reuniting with former NORTHEPTION teammate Kohei “BlackWiz” Mikami, with whom he won the 2022 VCT Japan Stage 2 Challengers and qualified for VALORANT Masters Copenhagen together before making his way to DFM at the end of the year. In addition, he was also no stranger to Lim “L0B” Byung-gun, having teamed up under AVALON Gaming and FAV Gaming in the early days of his VALORANT career.
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“He was given a very demanding position, playing multiple roles, but he overcame it with his own efforts and his versatility and made up for the team’s shortcomings, the official statement by DetonatioN FocusMe reads.
“He was a popular player with many fans not only in Japan but also overseas, as he had a high level of language skills and actively responded to interviews by foreign media. We thank him for his past efforts and wish him the best in his new position.”
With the move, xnfri calls an end to a year of service to DetonatioN FocusMe, during which the team struggled to secure a single series victory in 11 matches in São Paulo for VCT LOCK//IN, as well as in Seoul for the VCT Pacific League and its LCQ. The losing streak extends to 14 if their performance in the Riot Games ONE Pro Invitational during 2022 OFF//SEASON is taken into account.
He now finds his way back to the tier-two circuit that is Challengers League Japan, where he will look to prove that 2023 does not accurately reflect his individual level.
Expressing his feelings on Twitter, xnfri shared, “Thank you for your support over the past year. I am filled with gratitude for the valuable experiences I have gained through the International League. I regret that I couldn’t achieve good results, but I believe it was a year of growth, and I want to firmly move on to the next. Please continue to support DFM in the future!”
With xnfri’s addition, the Japanese-Korean side now have:
- 🇰🇷 Jung “Bangnan” Min-u
- 🇰🇷 Lim “L0B” Byung-gun
- 🇯🇵 Jyousuke “zepher” Matsuda
- 🇯🇵 Kohei “BlackWiz” Mikami
- 🇯🇵 Tomoki “xnfri” Moriya
- 🏴 Cullan “PirateFlag” Smith (Head coach)
- 🇯🇵 “Kiehll” (Coach)
- 🇯🇵 “Karu” (Coach)
- 🇯🇵 “Hubuki” (Analyst)
- 🇯🇵 “Eriii” (Analyst)
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Cover photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
