With less than two weeks until the start of Pacific Kickoff, DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #5 Medusa An Min-cheol (안민철) neth Yusuke Matsuda Meiy Ibuki Seki SSeeS Tomonori Okimura Anthem Yoshitaka Enomoto have made last minute changes, releasing Cho "JoXJo" Byung-yeon (조병연), Seo "Suggest" Jae-young (서재영), and Kohei "XrayN" Shimaki while bringing in An "Medusa" Min-cheol (안민철), NorthernLights , and Moon "Astell" Ji-won (문지원) as player, coach, and head coach respectively.

Suggest was the one of the oldest active member of DetonatioN FocusMe leading up until his release, having joined in 2021 a month after current coach (then player) Melofovia . Alongside DetonatioN, Suggest saw only two appearances in the 2022 edition of Challengers Japan, before being the only player retained from the old roster as the organization was accepted into the Pacific League, where they finished with a 0-11 record throughout the 2023 season.

XrayN was brought in as a head coach ahead of the 2023 Pacific LCQ, previously known as a former Counter-Strike player and online personality, with DetonatioN FocusMe being his first proper foray into Valorant esports.

JoxJo had only joined DetonatioN in the offseason as part of their rebuild, having played with FENNEL FENNEL Japan Rank #1 GON CLZ RIA SyouTa Xdll Yuto Mizomori Derialy Daichi Doi throughout the 2023 Challengers Japan season, missing out on their opportunity of qualifying to Ascension after losing to eventual victors SCARZ SCARZ Japan Rank #18 MrTenzouEz Lumo Maxim Demianovskikh Yoshiii John Yoshiharu Kawakami in Split 2 Playoffs.

The rebuild roster only participated in one offseason event, Riot Games One where they fell 0-3 against the likes of Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #5 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky Zyppan Pontus Eek SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin ardiis Ardis Svarenieks , ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #7 Laz Ushida Koji yuran Yushin Hato hiroronn Hiroki Yanai Dep Yuma Hashimoto SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe , and BLEED BLEED Asia-Pacific Rank #10 sScary Nutchapon Matarat Zest Kim Ki-seok (김기석) Retla Jorell Teo Deryeon Derrick Yee yay Jaccob Whiteaker .

medusa champs 2021 image Medusa looks to bring the Raccoons back to victory under a different banner. (Photo: Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

The addition of Medusa, Astell, and NorthernLights also mark the reunification of the 2023 Crazy Raccoon Crazy Raccoon Inactive core after Yusuke "neth" Matsuda, Ibuki "Meiy" Seki, and Souta "popogachi" Morita joined earlier in November as part of the rebuild. Throughout 2023, Crazy Raccoon maintained their presence as one of Japan's top Challengers teams, but eventually missing out on Ascension after a loss to FENNEL in the Split 2 Playoffs.

Revitalized for Kickoff, DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #5 Medusa An Min-cheol (안민철) neth Yusuke Matsuda Meiy Ibuki Seki SSeeS Tomonori Okimura Anthem Yoshitaka Enomoto is now: