The sole remaining professional Thai CS:GO team have decided to take on a new challenge in Riot Game’s first-person shooter.
The lineup has officially stepped back from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive but will remain under ZIGMA’s banner as a part of its VALORANT roster. The move was initially discovered on ESL’s website, where ZIGMA has registered with the same five players for the VCT Thailand Stage 3 Challengers 3 Open Qualifier. The organization announced the news to the public through its Facebook page a few hours later.
(Screengrab via ESL Gaming)
ZIGMA’s existence can be traced back to 2017, with the current core players joining in 2018 under various identities, Team Maple and Maple Club, before being rebranding to ZIGMA.
The Thai squad rose through the ranks in the Asian CS:GO scene in the past two years, particularly after Lucid Dream dissolved in mid-2020, leaving Manutsawat “Reality” Sangphadung and co. as the only surviving Thai team in the Asian tier-one scene. Top finishes at the Asian Legend Challenge League 2020 and ROG Masters Asia-Pacific 2021 are among their accomplishments, as well as various runner-up finishes, most notably in GeForce Cup Pacific and NEX Play From Home.
(Photo courtesy of ROG)
With the move, ZIGMA players will be in the same field as other Thai players that have transitioned to VALORANT, including FULL SENSE’s JohnOlsen and PTC, X10’s foxz, and their former teammate, PPOverdose, who is now playing for Foxy Araikordai.
ALSO READ: A Player Story – Itthirit “foxz” Ngamsaard
Asian CS:GO has been in dire straits over the last year, with a significant amount of pro players moving to Riot’s VALORANT. Paper Rex, Absolute (now ZETA DIVISION), ex-Beyond, and ex-Bren (now South Built Esports) are among some of the other top teams who have successfully transitioned their complete roster from CS:GO to VALORANT and handled the transition well.
ZIGMA’s roster are as follows:
- 🇹🇭 Patiphan “CigaretteS” Posri
- 🇹🇭 Tuchpong “JUSTCAUSE” Pongthanadechakit
- 🇹🇭 Manutsawat “Reality” Sangphadung
- 🇹🇭 Kritthee “Geniuss” Sawatmuang
- 🇹🇭 Warittorn “RoLEX” Kalanukarn
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