We had the chance to hear from Jinboong, a new Korean addition to DetonatioN FocusMe who has also been part of the team’s recent impressive OFF//SEASON run, ahead of the VCT Pacific Kickoff.
SOUTH KOREA – Kim “Jinboong” Jin-won sat down with the press before the 2025 VCT Pacific Kickoff to discuss DetonatioN FocusMe’s progress as a new team and their recent achievements. For the past two seasons, DFM have often been associated with struggling at the bottom of the table. However, with the four new players around star player Ibuki “Meiy” Seki who have already proven their mettle by taking down more established names both within and outside the Pacific region, that reputation is likely to change.
The trajectory of DFM seems to be changing for the first time since their debut in 2023, and many are beginning to reconsider where they place the team in their tier lists. The days of DFM being the winless team appear to be behind them, and some, including Clinton “Paperthin” Bader on episode five of YAP2ASIA, are even predicting that DFM could qualify for internationals this year. You can check out that episode here.
We had the chance to hear from Jinboong, a new Korean addition to DetonatioN FocusMe who has also been part of the team’s recent impressive victories over TALON Esports, EDward Gaming, RRQ, Trace Esports, Paper Rex, and LEVIATAN during the OFF//SEASON. The Sentinel player sat down with the press at the VCT Pacific Kickoff Pre-Event Press Conference in Seoul last week.
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To start, Jinboong was pleased with the OFF//SEASON results that DFM had. “How we performed during the OFF//SEASON events actually exceeded our expectations with SSeS on our roster,” he said. Tomonori “SSeeS” Okimura, who replaced youngster Koki “gyen” Nakamura during the VALORANT Radiant Asia Invitational, helped the team to prove many wrong.
About the team’s growth during the OFF//SEASON, Jinboong attributed much of their success to one thing. “I think prioritizing teamwork and the concept of playing as a unit has really allowed us to grow.”
However, despite the Japanese-Korean squad now returning to their main starting five for the VCT Pacific Kickoff, Jinboong still voiced some concerns about integrating the relatively inexperienced gyen into the main roster for the upcoming chaotic season. “With gyen now in the starting five, I think we still need to put in more work on our teamwork. I’m a bit concerned about how we will do with him during the Pacific matches, but we’ve been practicing really hard and developing our skills in a way that lets us play to our strengths. I believe we’re well-prepared and ready to go.”
When another press member asked about the strength of the new team compared to the previous DetonatioN FocusMe roster, which retained only Meiy, Jinboong pointed out that the team now has a perfect balance between the experienced players and the fresh talent emerging from the Japanese VALORANT scene, a much-needed player regeneration that was long overdue in the region.
“I would say the individual caliber, the amount of firepower we each bring, and the creativity that the younger players—who haven’t been playing professionally for long—bring to the table are key factors. Sometimes, the way we play as experienced players can get old, but these new players come up with fresh ideas or things we hadn’t thought of before. So, I think part of our strength lies in creativity.”
VCT Pacific Kickoff begins on January 18th.
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Cover photo courtesy of Jazmin Tabuena/Riot Games
