Through a brief “LFT” tweet, garnetS is now on the hunt for a new home after spending the 2023 season with Talon Esports.
THAILAND – Apiwat “garnetS” Apiraksukumal took to Twitter to announce in a brief statement that he has been allowed to explore options in other teams, indicating that his tenure with Talon Esports may be coming to an end following a season that saw the roster struggle to live up to expectations.
Although Talon Esports has not yet issued a statement regarding the matter, garnetS remains registered as a Reserve Player in the VCT Global Contract Database, alongside three other players who are still with the team.
garnetS has been a part of Talon Esports since October 2022 and was starting for the team at VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo where they finished the intense single-elimination tournament in a surprising 5th to 8th position, beating the likes of MIBR, Evil Geniuses, and coming close to taking down DRX.
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However, the Thai side then struggled to replicate the promising form they had shown earlier in the year and ran into turbulent times in the inaugural VCT Pacific League season in Seoul, finishing near the bottom in ninth place, just above DetonatioN FocusMe, and were ousted by Gen.G in the first round of the LCQ.
As the 2023 VCT season has concluded, Talon Esports are undergoing a restructuring phase, marked by the exits of Itthirit “foxz” Ngamsaard, Panyawat “sushiboys” Subsiriroj, coach Yuttanagorn “Zeus” Kaewkongyai, and potentially garnetS.
The organization’s CEO and Co-Founder Sean Zhang has previously confirmed that while the team will transition to a roster that communicates primarily in English and will include international players, their primary operational focus will still be in Thailand.
“A lot of the boys, Thai boys that have already been with us either have fluent English or have learned very quickly in this period of time. We feel like this will help with performance as we bring in more of an international squad to mix with some of our core Thai boys.
With the view of adding these players to our squad. We are taking a very measured approach. We are a little bit slower than everyone else, I do apologize to all our fans. But the objective and the time that we are taking is to make sure that we are building a squad that can be super competitive. Not only in 2024 but into the future as well.”
It is anticipated that Talon Esports will release details on their new roster, which will attend ESL Clash of Nations in Bangkok, Thailand, taking place from November 24-26 which is in two weeks’ time.
Talon Esports are now just:
- 🇹🇭 Thanamethk “Crws” Mahatthananuyut
- 🇹🇭 Patiphan “Patiphan” Chaiwong
- 🇹🇭 Jittana “JitboyS” Nokngam
- 🇺🇸 Aaron “b0i” Thao (Coach)
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Cover photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
