DRX signs former FEARX player Hermes to replace Flashback

DRX DRX Korea Unranked Hermes Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) has signed former FEARX FEARX Korea Unranked Felix Park Hyeon-ho (박현호) empty Lee Won-bin (이원빈) player Ahn "Hermes" Byeong-wook (안병욱) to round out its roster ahead of the 2026 season.

The signing comes shortly after Flashback announced his retirement from competitive Valorant.

Hermes has been on a handful of well-known Korean squads, playing for HolyMolly HolyMolly Inactive Harry Kim Han-kyu (김한규) 10X Choi Jin-woo (최진우) Hermes Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱) alongside Jinboong , F4Q F4Q Inactive Hermes Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱) Estrella Park Gun (박건) fiveK Yoo Sung-min (유성민) GOLD Geum Chang-wan (금창완) with BeYN and Estrella , Maru Gaming Maru Gaming Inactive Xenus Lee Kyung-ho (이경호) mir Hwang Mir (황미르) with Persia , Dplus Esports Dplus Esports Korea Unranked Kally Kim Dong-wook (김동욱) Ramgi Woo Jyun-huk (우준혁) shu Yoon Si-hoo (윤시후) JaXe Shin Jae-young (신재영) CabezA No Gun-hyung (노건형) with free1ng , and fOu Clan fOu Clan Inactive . On DRX, Hermes will link back up with BeYN and free1ng.

In the four-team Road to Ascension tournament, which saw the best Korean non-academy teams face off for the country's lone Ascension slot, BFX and Hermes finished second only to the eventually ascended SLT Seongnam SLT Seongnam Korea Unranked .

Flashback, who primarily played the Sentinel role for most of his early time with DRX, transitioned into the Duelist role towards the end of 2025, playing Yoru and teaming up with Duelist player HYUNMIN , who was on Waylay, to form the two-man "mosquito comp". The comp boosted DRX to its joint-best-ever finish in an international event, with a third-place finish at Champions Paris. Hermes is expected to be a like-for-like replacement for Flashback, as he played the Duelist and Sentinel roles towards the end of his time with BFX.

With its roster size quickly restored to five, DRX will take to the stage at Pacific Kickoff in just over two weeks, awaiting the winning team between ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Unranked Absol Kazuki Fujinoki SyouTa Shota Aoki SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe eKo Yeom Wang-ryong (염왕룡) Xdll Yuto Mizomori and FULL SENSE FULL SENSE Asia-Pacific Unranked Leviathan Thanyathon Nakmee Killua Tanate Teerasawad thyy Anupong Preamsak primmie Papaphat Sriprapha JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam .

DRX DRX Korea Unranked Hermes Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) 's full roster is now:

Kim "MaKo" Myeong-gwan (김명관)
Kim "Flicker" Tae-hee (김태희)
Ahn "Hermes" Byeong-wook (안병욱)
No "free1ng" Ha-jun (노하준)
Song "HYUNMIN" Hyun-min (송현민)
Kang "BeYN" Ha-bin (강하빈)
Pyeon "termi" Seon-ho (편선호) (Head coach)
Kim "glow" Min-soo (김민수) (Coach)
Kwon "Argency" Soon-woo (권순우) (Coach)

yeah you're right. the pacific region has only become stronger in the last 2 years and with 3 teams now that have WON international tournaments before DRX, i see them getting pushed out of that top 3 top 4 position in pacific for the first time since the start of franchising. PRX is obviously going to be better - invy was the best thing that ever came out of TS and now he is on a team that supports his high impact playstyle. T1 is a sleeper pick for best in the region this year imo, and I think this will be the year where they consistently prove themselves as the best korean team of the year. you can never count GENG out when they have a very strong core around texture and karon, and lakia can give them some structure that was lost with munchkin's departure. imo, the ex talon roster on full sense will finally show up as that consistent top team in the region, pushing DRX out of that top 4 spot in pacific. But like I said, DRX will gatekeep the international tournament spots - if you beat DRX, you have a very good shot of making it to the international tournaments, and i expect them to be fighting for that last slot at every stage in 2026.