With seven teams representing the region, competitors from Korea, Japan, and China come into Brazil with one common goal: to finally give Asia their first trophy.

As LOCK//IN creeps closer to kicking off, here's what each roster from the Far East has to offer heading into the intense single-elimination bracket, where every team will battle it out for glory.

DRX have just one goal left to accomplish on the stage

In their nearly three-year-long tenure of competing in Valorant, DRX DRX Korea Rank #1 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) BuZz Yu Byung-chul (유병철) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) have managed to nearly accomplish it all. Whether it be their 102-match undefeated streak, their unmatched four Challengers titles, or even their long reign as being known as the top team in Asia, the only goal that is yet to be accomplished by the team is to win an international title.

LOCK//IN will be DRX's sixth time on the stage. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

After attending five international LANs, their highest placement is third place off the back of Champions 2022.

Heading into the 2023 season, the only change made by the team was the addition of new ace Jung "Foxy9" Jae-sung (정재성), formerly from REIGNITE REIGNITE Japan Rank #24 C1ndeR Ko Jae-hyuk (고재혁) MeatPieN GeomJeonG Luca , a breakout star imported to the Japanese scene during 2022. As a sixth player, Foxy9 was also fielded in DRX's off-season tournaments in the place of Kim "Zest" Ki-seok (김기석), bringing the team's rookie some light to shine upon.

With their added firepower, all there is left for DRX is to finally win it all with the world against them. Their road to the top begins with their inaugural match against Turkish superstars BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #16 Elite Efe Teber pAura Melih Karaduran Brave Eren Kasırga reazy Kaan Ürpek QutionerX Doğukan Dural .

Gen.G present promise with a new banner, similar faces

The core of modern Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #2 Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Meteor Kim Tae-O (김태오) Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) , formerly known as TNL Esports TNL Esports Inactive TS Yu Tae-seok (유태석) exy Park Geun-cheol (박근철) Jinboong Kim Jin-won (김진원) Meteor Kim Tae-O (김태오) , have always lived in the shadows of their sister team, Vision Strikers Vision Strikers Inactive stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Zest Kim Ki-seok (김기석) BuZz Yu Byung-chul (유병철) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) –now DRX. Consisting of several current Gen.G members such as Yu "TS" Tae-seok (유태석) and Yeom "eKo" Wang-ryong (염왕룡), the team never held a crown to Korea's best, always faltering when it mattered most. As TNL disbanded and the roster's core eventually became Incheon On Sla2ers Incheon On Sla2ers Korea Rank #24 Gravity wezzy VaNish froz XirZz in 2022, their title as second fiddle seemed to live on as they still failed to take over the top spot throughout Challengers Korea.

Now, Gen.G makes their debut in the Korean scene with their coveted spot in the Pacific League. Formerly being a staple in the North American space since the very start, the organization's Western counterpart held consistent results from the very beginning yet missed out on qualifying for a coveted Challengers spot in 2022, locking the team out of the year and leaving the roster to part ways as the season dimmed.

Coming together once more, Kim "Meteor" Tae-O (김태오), eKo, and TS reunite under Gen.G, alongside Lee "k1Ng" Seung-won (이승원), who also played with the latter two players under On Sla2ers. Finishing the roster is Kim "Secret" Ha-jin (김하진), the ex-IGL of DAMWON Gaming DAMWON Gaming Inactive Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) allow Park Sang-wook (박상욱) exy Park Geun-cheol (박근철) Estrella Park Gun (박건) Esperanza Jeong Jin-cheol (정진철) .

Gen.G are no strangers to playing on the stage. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

Their first match in LOCK//IN will be against world champions LOUD LOUD Brazil Rank #1 Quick Gabriel Lima saadhak Matias Delipetro Less Felipe de Loyola tuyz Arthur Andrade cauanzin Cauan Pereira , a test of how well the team will fare against some of the best there is to offer.

T1 make their long-awaited return to Korea

Previously pushing for a spot in the Americas league, T1 T1 Korea Rank #3 Sayaplayer Ha Jeong-woo (하정우) Rossy Daniel Abedrabbo Carpe Lee Jae-hyeok (이재혁) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) xccurate Kevin Susanto ultimately found their home in the Pacific as a representative for Korea, revamping their roster from scratch.

In 2022, T1's North American ambitions were put to a close just as quickly as they began. Beginning with their disqualification against TSM TSM North America Rank #12 seven Johann Hernandez gMd Anthony Guimond sym Tyler Porter POISED Kevin Ngo aproto Alex Protopapas in Stage 1 to their failure to make it out of qualifiers in both stages of Challengers, the team's shortcomings eventually led to numerous changes as the offseason began.

Their roster changes began with the trade of longtime member curry for Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #9 Xeppaa Erick Bach runi Dylan Cade moose Kaleb Jayne vanity Anthony Malaspina OXY Francis Hoang 's xeta and Autumn , followed by the importing of Crazy Raccoon Crazy Raccoon Inactive star Munchkin and the addition of Knights Knights Inactive ' ban in place of pwny . Their final roster changes came after returning to Korea, with their signings of the rejuvenated Sayaplayer and rookie BeomJun , while also bringing over Carpe from the Overwatch League.

North America's revered duelist is returning to Korea. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

The roster had a brief stint in the recent Ludwig x Tarik Invitational, yet lost both of their matches to finish in last. With their ambitious combination of seasoned players, veterans, and rookies alike, T1 will have to take on hometown heroes FURIA FURIA Brazil Rank #8 kon4n Vitor Hugo mwzera Leonardo Serrati havoc Ilan Eloy Khalil Khalil Schmidt nzr Agustin Ibarra in their first LOCK//IN match, who come off the back of their own rebuild.

DetonatioN FocusMe emerge as challengers built from ashes

Following poor results and a failure to make it to both stages of Challengers Playoffs for the Japanese circuit, DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #4 Medusa An Min-cheol (안민철) neth Yusuke Matsuda Meiy Ibuki Seki popogachi Souta Morita Anthem Yoshitaka Enomoto blew up their roster and rebuilt from the ground up, keeping only one original member.

The team chose to keep Seo "Suggest" Jae-young (서재영) as the sole survivor of the rebuild, most well known for his third-place finish in Masters 2: Reykjavik under NUTURN NUTURN Inactive . Joining alongside him are Oshiro "Reita" Ryu, Takemori "takej" Shogo, and Yoshitaka "Anthem" Enomoto, all ex- REJECT REJECT Japan Rank #3 GangPin Chae Jung-moo Akame Yu Gwang-hui (유광희) muto Hals stand-in BRIAN members, who peaked with a top-four finish in Challengers Japan during Stage 2 Playoffs. Tomoki "xnfri" Mariya joins DFM from NORTHEPTION NORTHEPTION Japan Rank #6 YoWamu thiefy Masato Tsujita Pepper Shoki Banjo Esperanza Jeong Jin-cheol (정진철) Wolverine Cho Hyun-tae (조현태) , who were the Japanese representative in Masters: Copenhagen. Park "Seoldam" Sang-min (박상민), the infamous Korean Jett, will also make his return to competitive play following his previous pivot towards being a streamer.

New team, new chances. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

DFM most recently participated in the Riot Games ONE Invitational, where they went 0-3 in a showmatch-style tournament against other partnership teams. Now, as the team heads into LOCK//IN, they'll be playing with it all on the line; their starting match will be against EMEA's Giants Gaming Giants Gaming Inactive Redgar Igor Vlasov Fit1nho Adolfo Gallego nukkye Žygimantas Chmieliauskas hoody Aaro Peltokangas Cloud Kirill Nehozhin .

ZETA DIVISION need no major changes to continue their Japanese monopoly

An emotional, successful year for Japanese superstars ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #7 Laz Ushida Koji yuran Yushin Hato hiroronn Hiroki Yanai Dep Yuma Hashimoto SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe in 2022 brought out the best performance that Japan had ever seen on the international stage, jumping all the way from a group stage exit at Masters: Berlin to third place in Reykjavik. Although the latter half of the year didn't give ZETA the same success as in Reykjavik, they've geared up for São Paulo with minimal changes in mind.

High spirits have always been a theme for ZETA. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

Whereas teams all around were building from scratch, ZETA DIVISION have uniquely decided to stand their ground as a Japanese monolingual team, while also bearing no major changes to their roster. Their only addition to the team was the reunion of their former acclaimed Brimstone specialist Takebayashi "barce" Ryo as a sixth player. In the Gwangju Esports Series, ZETA showed mixed results in the four-team event, finishing in third place.

Heading into 2023, their first test against fate as they return to the international stage will be against LATAM's revered and rebuilt Leviatán Leviatán Latin America South Rank #1 tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena Mazino Roberto Rivas aspas Erick Santos C0M Corbin Lee , showing the world whether or not Japan's top roster can still take on the revamped teams that surround them.

China's crown jewel gets a second chance to shine bright

Fan favorites EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) Muggle Tang Shijun (唐时俊) CHICHOO Wan Shunji (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) Haodong Guo Haodong (郭浩东) made their first mark on the scene following their flawless East Asia LCQ run to qualify for Istanbul. Despite the high expectations set for the team following their qualification, Champions was an unprecedented step above the competition–with their run ending in groups.

China's premier roster is back once more. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

Following Istanbul, the organization altered the roster by releasing inaugural member Qu "Life" Donghao (瞿东豪) and promoting substitute Zhang "Smoggy" Zhao (张钊) to the starting five. Yet, the Chinese powerhouse performed below their standards when they finished as the runner-ups for two consecutive tournaments.

With the invitation of two Chinese representatives into LOCK//IN, EDward Gaming have been given a second chance to show what they're truly made of. Their first match will be against North American titans 100 Thieves 100 Thieves North America Rank #8 bang Sean Bezerra Cryocells Matthew Panganiban eeiu Daniel Vucenovic Boostio Kelden Pupello Asuna Peter Mazuryk , marking the beginning of EDG's second chance at life.

FunPlus Phoenix – Reinvigorated with the Chinese spirit

Despite a successful year for the European FPX roster, including their heist of the Copenhagen trophy, the organization ultimately parted ways with the team amidst their failure to make it into the international leagues.

FPX's magnum opus. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

The departure of the Western team relinquished FPX to the confines of the Chinese scene with their academy roster, FunPlus Phoenix ZHUQUE FunPlus Phoenix ZHUQUE Inactive AAAAY Zhang Yang (张杨) suyjing Wang Sicheng (王斯澄) BerLIN Zhang Bolin (張柏霖) YuChEn He Cai (何财) Yuicaw Huang Yung-chieh (黃湧傑) nizhaoTZH Tang Zehao (唐哲昊) . The team's local presence culminated at the end of 2022 with their victory in the FGC Invitational 2022: Epilogue, defeating EDward Gaming in the finals. Just two weeks later, ZHUQUE was promoted to the main FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix China Rank #3 Autumn Kale Dunne Life Qu Donghao (瞿东豪) AAAAY Zhang Yang (张杨) BerLIN Zhang Bolin (張柏霖) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) ZiXuan Liu Junwei (刘俊伟) roster.

With the announcement of Chinese representation being fielded for LOCK//IN, FPX were invited as one of two for the region. Now, they're tasked with living up to the same success as their European counterparts the years prior, with FPX being the first title-winning team to go international from two different regions. Their first match will be against French superteam Karmine Corp Karmine Corp Europe Rank #8 MAGNUM Martin Penkov tomaszy Tomás Machado N4RRATE Marshall Massey marteen Martin Pátek sh1n Ryad Ensaad , bringing the new Chinese talent into the limelight.

Through trials and tribulations, East Asia has proved that they have what it takes to find success on the international stage in the past. Yet, it's never translated into a title for the region—only reaching a peak of third place multiple times, a feat previously accomplished by NUTURN, ZETA DIVISION, and DRX.

Now, with more experience than ever, it is their time to finally prove that Asia can rise to the top.