DRX Flashback: "As long as DRX wants me, I will want to stay with DRX my entire career."

DRX had few expectations going into VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions. While there were always question marks regarding their capacity to piece it all together and maintain their yearly tradition of a 5th- or 6th-place finish, many were uncertain if this year would follow suit.

While 2025 was a strong start for DRX, primarily due to their win at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Pacific Kickoff, the rest of the year saw DRX drop down the Pacific Rankings. In the VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Pacific Stage 1, they finished in fourth place and missed out on qualification for VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025.

That was only compounded during the VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Pacific Stage 2 when they were eliminated in 5th-6th place domestically and only managed to make it to Champions because of the points they accumulated throughout the year. So when they entered a group alongside NRG, EDward Gaming, and Team Liquid, expectations were low.

However, DRX quickly proved that when it comes to the international group stages, no team can match their consistency. They asserted themselves as a top team in the group stage by qualifying for playoffs alongside NRG. They then proved themselves even further by maintaining their success against Americas first seed G2 Esports to make it back to 5th-6th. That ultimately translated into VALORANT Champions Paris becoming one of their best international showings yet, as they broke their 5th-6th place curse by defeating MIBR to make it to the final four.

Step by step, DRX has established itself as a top team in the world once again. However, reaching this point was a significant accomplishment that required considerable effort. For DRX duelist Cho "Flashback" Min-hyuk, the journey to the top four is one that took a lot of mental work and confidence-building throughout his time with DRX.

Dealing with confidence issues

DRX found themselves with early leads across multiple games throughout VAORANT Champions Paris before finding themselves with map losses at the very end. One of the biggest things that resulted in these losses was the team’s overall loss of identity in these key moments on stage.

“Our team is a very aggressive team, but I think overall, we become passive when we lose or are nervous,” Flashback said. “I thought that we were very nervous on stage when we started to play more passively.”

This was something that deeply affected Flashback throughout the tournament and has been a working point for himself all throughout 2025.

“Overall, I just lack confidence sometimes,” Flashback admitted. “That’s something I’ve been really working on throughout 2025.”

Throughout the interview, Flashback was critical of his own skill as a VALORANT player. While he always maintained his confidence mechanically, he acknowledged the parts he struggled with came from a firm identity of who he was as a player.

“I lack skill in some parts of my game, and I’m on my way to discovering who I am as a player,” Flashback said. “I’m in that stage of development where I’m trying to figure out what agents I’m comfortable with. I’m not that good compared to the top players who are in the tournament. I’m just trying my best to improve and reach that level.”

He remembered coming into practice every day with so much confidence in his own abilities. He highlighted how in practice, he felt there “wasn’t a duel that he couldn’t win” before highlighting his struggles to translate that to the stage.

“The part I’m trying to work on the most is bringing my performance in scrims to the stage,” Flashback said. “When I’m on stage, I don’t feel like I perform as good as I do in scrims so I’m just trying my best to play how I do in scrims.”

A home with DRX

One of the things that has helped Flashback build his confidence has been the long-term leadership at DRX in Kim "MaKo" Myeong-kwan and Pyeon "termi" Seon-ho. While he states he still deals with those confidence issues, he highlighted just how much these two help him constantly.

“In moments where it shows I am lacking confidence, MaKo and termi are there to boost me up and hype me up every single time,” Flashback said. “That’s the reason I’m able to perform well on the international stage.”

DRX is the only home Flashback has known in VALORANT. He began his VALORANT journey in mid-2023 as a 17-year-old trainee for DRX Prospects, where he spent years developing into the player he is today. Now, he is a mainstay of the main DRX team at his second VALORANT Champions.

That mutual loyalty between an organization and a player is one that can be difficult to find in esports. It is the reason why Flashback’s biggest drive as a player is to find success for DRX.

“DRX is the only home I’ve known ever since becoming a pro VALORANT player, so that gives me so much love for the team, and it makes me try my best every time,” Flashback said. “As long as DRX needs me, I will want to stay with DRX for my entire career.”

DRX will move forward into the VALORANT Champions Paris Lower Bracket, where they will take on Paper Rex for a spot in the top three. That match will take place on October 3, 2025.