After a career spanning two decades, Kang "solo" Geun-chul (강근철) has announced his retirement from esports.

solo
@solo_VLRT
Hello.
I am finish my professional player at NUTURN from CS, CS: GO, to Valorant about 20 years.
There were many difficult times, and I will retire with all the happy moments and good memories.
I would like thanks to the fans who have supported, believed me for a long time.

solo spent several years at the top of CS 1.6 and CS:GO in South Korea, representing names like WeMade FOX and MVP PK. He then transitioned to Valorant with NUTURN NUTURN Inactive , the only team he ever played for in this journey.

After coming second in the VCT Korea Stage 1: Masters, losing 3-2 to 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) , solo and his men went into Stage 2 in storming fashion. The team got revenge on Vision Strikers and, later, beat 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) to reach Masters Reykjavik. There, NUTURN won against Sharks Esports Sharks Esports Inactive gaabxx Gabriel Carli prozin Wallacy Sales KILLDREAM João Ferreira Addicted Eduardo Torres and Version1 Version1 Inactive in their first two matches, but lost to Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #1 TenZ Tyson Ngo Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid Sacy Gustavo Rossi and FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 Leo Leo Jannesson Derke Nikita Sirmitev Boaster Jake Howlett Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder to finish third in Valorant's first international LAN.

NUTURN's luck quickly ran out. In VCT's Stage 3, the team lost to DAMWON in the quarterfinals of Challengers, cutting their run short. In the LCQ, solo's squad was knocked down to the lower bracket by the eventual winners FULL SENSE FULL SENSE Asia-Pacific Rank #3 JohnOlsen Chanawin Nakchain PTC Kititkawin Rattanasukol Leviathan Thanyathon Nakmee foxz Itthirit Ngamsaard Sushiboys Panyawat Subsiriroj , but couldn't complete a lower bracket run. NUTURN was eliminated, once more, by DAMWON, ending their 2021 VCT campaign early.

solo later hinted towards his future on Twitter, saying he's on the "path of player to coach." He has not settled on a team to coach.

solo's exit was met with reactions from many names in and out of the Valorant community, among them Fnatic players Jake "Boaster" Howlett and Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev, and well as former teammate and current Cloud9 Blue player Son "xeta" Seon-ho (손선호). CS:GO figures like Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski, Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas, and Dmitry "hooch" Bogdanov all reacted to solo's retirement.

NUTURN is undergoing significant end-of-year changes, as solo is the third player to leave the roster. Earlier this month, the organization announced the departures of Park "allow" Sang-wook (박상욱) and Seo "Suggest" Jae-young (서재영).

NUTURN NUTURN Inactive are now reduced to:

  • Jung "peri" Bum-ki (정범기)
  • Yoon "hyeoni" Hyun-seok
  • Jeong "Jaemin" Jae-min (정재민) (Head coach)