DRX announces the benching of long-time member stax
Famous South Korean team DRX has just announced that their long-standing player stax has been benched. stax has been with the organization since the conception of its Valorant roster. The player joined the organization in January of 2022 along with other vital players such as Rb, MaKo, and BuZz.
The current DRX roster featured stax along with BuZz, MaKo, Foxy9, and BeYN. Now, perhaps a different player will have to fill in the space left by stax.
DRX decides to bench stax allowing him to search for other opportunities
Now that the benching has been officially announced, stax has gone from being an active roster member to a restricted free agent. This means that he is still signed to the organization but can look for opportunities elsewhere.
The unprecedented move came suddenly as Valorant Masters Shanghai is still underway. The team was not able to qualify for the Masters event in spite of winning most of their matches during VCT Pacific Stage 1.
Kim "stax" Gu-taek put up an impressive performance for most matches playing as Kay/O, Sova, and Skye primarily. The initiator has been with the team since 2022, enduring numerous trials and tribulations through many losses.
DRX is yet to win at a Masters or Champions event so far. The team also could not qualify for Masters Shanghai while their counterparts in Gen.G, Paper Rex, and T1 made it.
The future of the team's Valorant roster looks uncertain for the time being. The move was unexpected for many because stax has been the center of several of the team's effective plays. As a Sentinel, his grip on the utility has always been exceptional.
During the VCT Pacific Stage 1, he was one of the highest-fragging players on the team as he battled against Gen.G, a team that would eventually make it to VCT Masters Shanghai.
In the match, stax collected 40 kills playing as Kay/O as well as Breach. The player is yet to announce what teams he's considering after his departure from DRX. With his skill set, it's possible that he's already received offers from other teams.