The TEN VALORANT Asia Invitational is set to begin this weekend, with three of the four participating teams debuting new starting lineups.
SOUTH KOREA – The OFF//SEASON is back in Busan this year with the TEN VALORANT Asia Invitational 2024, taking place this weekend on October 26-27. The event will feature four teams: VCT Pacific contenders Gen.G, DRX, and Talon Esports, along with FunPlus Phoenix representing VCT CN.
Held at the Busan Esports Arena this weekend, the TEN VALORANT Asia Invitational will kick off with a best-of-one single round-robin group stage.
The six matches on the first day, beginning at 1 PM SGT (GMT+8), will determine each team’s starting position for the king-of-the-hill format playoffs. The group winner advances directly to the grand final, the runner-up enters the semi-final, and the bottom two teams will begin in the quarter-final.
ALSO READ: Gen.G round out roster with Foxy9 from DRX
Gen.G enters the tournament as the highest-ranked team and the favorites on paper, but the recent additions of Chae “yoman” Young-mun and Jung “Foxy9” Jae-sung add a layer of uncertainty to their lineup.
The situation is similar for DRX, who have retained only Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan and Cho “Flashback” Min-hyuk. The arrivals of Korean prospects Song “HYUNMIN” Hyun-min and No “free1ng” Ha-jun create significant potential for the team, but they will be relying on academy player Na “Athan” Ha-jun (formerly known as Leviathan) as their fifth instead of a permanent member. It will be intriguing to see how DRX adapts their strategy in Busan.
Talon Esports will stick with the same starting five they used at VALORANT Champions Seoul and the recent Red Bull Home Ground APAC Play-In, while FunPlus Phoenix have announced that Liu “Zixuan” Junwei will be standing in for the team after Liang “Lysoar” Youhao’s move to Wolves Esports. Zixuan formerly played for FunPlus Phoenix’s sister team ZHUQUE in 2021 and had a short stint with the main team in March this year, though he did not participate in any official matches. More recently, he competed in VCT Ascension CN with Chosen Clique Gaming, ultimately finishing in third place.
Below you can find the complete schedule for the TEN VALORANT Asia Invitational:
For more insights on the Asian VALORANT scene and upcoming content like this, be sure to like and follow VALO2ASIA on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
Cover photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
