Former T1 player rumored to join NRG Valorant roster as sixth man

NRG has reportedly signed a high-achieving 'Initiator Main' as the sixth player on its Valorant team to complete the roster ahead of VCT 2023. American athlete Zander “thwifo” Kim was on the lookout for offers when his former organization, T1, shifted to the VCT Pacific League.

Riot Games rejected a slot for T1 in the VCT Americas League, but the organization managed to grab a place in the partnership program as an APAC team instead.

Thwifo's addition to NRG will fulfill its minimum roster requirements for VCT 2023. The organization has reportedly acquired the former OpTic core, a former FPX athlete, and kept one of its previous athletes on the team.

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NRG may acquire former T1 athlete Thwifo for its Valorant roster ahead of VCT 2023

The popular North American esports team, NRG, fields rosters in several competitive games, including Valorant. However, its former Valorant team didn't show much competency in the erstwhile tournaments. As a result, a rebuild for VCT 2023 was inevitable.

With Thwifo's reported addition, the much-speculated roster of NRG will comprise of:

1. Pujan “FNS” Mehta (OpTic)
2. Victor “Victor” Wong (OpTic)
3. Austin “crashies” Roberts (OpTic)
4. Ardis “Ardiis” Svarenieks (FPX)
5. Sam "s0m" Oh (NRG)
6. Zander “thwifo” Kim (T1)

NRG has also reportedly acquired OpTic Gaming's former head coach, Chet Singh, to lead the roster.

As per VCT 2023's rulebook, a partnered organization can only acquire one athlete who is situated in a different region from that of the organization's league. This is why former T1 players like Thwifo and Steel chose to become free agents and look for league offers in the VCT Americas League.

According to multiple online sources, Thwifo has already found a home with NRG for VCT 2023 as a sixth player. However, NRG is yet to formally introduce its roster to the world.

Thwifo mostly prefers playing Initiator Agents like Fade and KAY/O and has impeccable utility usage skills. However, he has also been noted as a flex player, choosing Agents like Killjoy, Viper, and Cypher for his team when required. This also makes him a perfect fit as a sixth player for NRG.

VCT 2023's rulebook requires teams to have at least six players on their roster and a maximum of ten players. While NRG seems to have completed the minimum requirements for its super team to participate in VCT 2023, an announcement is long due from them.

The VCT 2023 off-season has been extremely eventful, with partnered teams striving to acquire the best athletes for their Valorant rosters. Top esports organizations like NRG, LOUD, Team Liquid, NAVI, T1, RRQ, and more have made it to the partnership program and are looking to reach the competition's prime next year.