An era-defining Overwatch League star in Lee “Carpe” Jae-hyeok is formally shifting on from the sport after a rare and prolonged professional profession, becoming a member of the T1 VALORANT roster for the 2023 season within the VCT Pacific League.
The Philadelphia Fusion, whom Carpe has performed for in all 5 seasons of OWL, bid farewell to the dynamic DPS begin right this moment, as he takes on his “next challenge” of enjoying professional VALORANT for T1, the esports group owned by the identical group that owns the Fusion. Reports of Carpe heading to VALORANT first surfaced on the finish of October, days earlier than Fusion had been eradicated from the 2022 OWL playoffs.
He will join two different OWL veterans on T1 in Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo (previously with Florida Mayhem and The Guard VALORANT) and Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom (previously Seoul Dynasty, Boston Uprising, and Crazy Raccoon VALORANT). All three will play in Asia’s Pacific League, which encompasses a handful of different former OWL large names like Park “Bazzi” Jun-ki on Global Esports and Patiphan “Patiphan” Chaiwong on Talon Esports.
In his farewell video, Carpe mentioned his 5 yr run with the Fusion was “truly precious, unforgettable and honorable,” and mentioned he’ll all the time be “rooting for this team forever.” Up till right this moment’s transfer, Carpe had been one of many longest-standing gamers in all the League, and is the one participant to have performed with a single staff for all 5 seasons.
Per Liquipedia, he gained the Role Star award for DPS gamers in season three, and was the primary OWL participant to attain 4000 complete ultimate blows. Carpe and the Fusion sadly by no means gained the OWL Championship throughout his 5 yr run, however they reached the grand finals of playoffs throughout the inaugural season, and he helped Korea win the Overwatch World Cup in 2018.
Carpe’s official VALORANT debut will probably be on the VCT 2023 Kickoff match in Sao Paulo, Brazil in February.
