T1
T1
Korea
Rank #5
stax
Kim Gu-taek (김구택)
Meteor
Kim Tae-oh (김태오)
BuZz
Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철)
DH
Kang Dong-ho (강동호)
iZu
Ham Woo-ju (함우주)
has promoted
T1 Academy
T1 Academy
Korea
Rank #6
head coach Kim "KDG"
Dong-gun (김동건) as the VCT squad's new head coach.
"Building on his passionate leadership and outstanding guidance that led T1A VALORANT to a winners title in 2025, he will now lead T1 VALORANT," T1 said in its announcement. "Please give your full support to Head Coach 'KDG' as he begins this exciting new chapter with T1 VALORANT."
KDG joined the T1 Academy's coaching booth midway through the year, joining before the team began play in Korea WDG Stage 3. T1A finished third in Stage 1 and Stage 2, but with KDG, saw a near-immediate improvement. The team finished the round robin stage third, as part of a three-way tie of teams that went 5-2. In the playoffs, they captured wins over
Gen.G Global Academy
Gen.G Global Academy
Korea
Rank #17
,
ONSIDE GAMING
ONSIDE GAMING
Korea
Rank #8
, and then back-to-back wins over Pacific Ascension winners
SLT Seongnam
SLT Seongnam
Korea
Rank #4
C1ndeR
Ko Jae-hyuk (고재혁)
Klaus
Kim Min-hyuk (김민혁)
XuNa
Kim Tae-geon (김태건)
oonzmlp
Shin Sang-beom (신상범)
Zexy
Jang Suk-hyun (장석현)
in the upper and grand finals. As an academy team, T1 Academy was ineligible to compete in Ascension, but ended the year atop the Korean Challengers circuit.
Before joining the T1 system, KDG was the head coach of
Gwangju Shadow
Gwangju Shadow
Inactive
Ivy
Park Sung-hyeon (박성현)
Distinct
Francis
Kim Mu-bin (김무빈)
Dambi
Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규)
, leading a star-studded team that included VCT players
UdoTan
,
stew
, and
yoman
. His run with Gwangju Shadow in 2023 was his first in Valorant, but not his first in Esports. KDG started his career as a Starcraft player-turned-coach, followed by a four-year coaching career in Overwatch.
After undergoing a wide-scale rebuild last year and lifting its first VCT trophy as a result, T1's offseason rebuild this year will come in the coaching booth. Since the end of the season, T1 has parted ways with Controller player Sylvan , who spent the last half of the season on the bench, head coach Autumn , and coach Indigo .
T1
T1
Korea
Rank #5
stax
Kim Gu-taek (김구택)
Meteor
Kim Tae-oh (김태오)
BuZz
Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철)
DH
Kang Dong-ho (강동호)
iZu
Ham Woo-ju (함우주)
's full roster is now:
Discord