Gen.G sign Lakia back for the final push of the season

In a truly unexpected move, Gen.G Esports have announced the return of their former Initiator Kim "Lakia" Jong-min back into the roster. Lakia played with Gen.G throughout the entire 2024 season, where he helped guide the team to a historic season and three trophies, including finding international glory at VCT 2024 - Masters Shanghai.

Despite the team's success, Gen.G made the decision to part ways with the player at the end of the year after a disappointing run at VALORANT Champions 2024. Now, almost a full year later, the Lakia of VALORANT returns to the fold as Gen.G look to close out the VCT 2025 Season strong.

Lakia's Role in Gen.G's Final Push

For the time being, it remains unclear exactly whether Lakia will come in as a type of sixth player on the roster or if he's coming in to replace another name right off the bat.

During his entire run with Gen.G in 2024, Lakia was the team's dedicated Initiator and an experienced Sova player. This would suggest that the player most likely to be replaced by Lakia is Ha "Ash" Hyun-cheol, the team's current Initiator. At present, Gen.G top Group Alpha at the VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Pacific Stage 2, where Ash has been putting up a 1.07 rating, 196.8 ACS, and 127.6 ADR so far. Not exactly the worst of stats by any means.

It's worth remembering that during Lakia's last tournament with Gen.G, VALORANT Champions 2024, the player's stats left much to be desired — 0.59 rating, 118.3 ACS, and 79.5 ADR. Admittedly, though, the tournament proved to be a tough run for the team as a whole after being eliminated in the Group Stage having played just 7 maps.

It's also entirely possible, however, that Lakia's return could be Gen.G's way of preparing for what may well turn out to be a tumultuous off season for the team. After all, Kim "t3xture" Na-ra, Kim "Karon" Won-tae, and Byeon "Munchkin" Sang-beom's contracts with Gen.G all expire at the end of this year.

Stepping Up in Time

Gen.G's run throughout the VCT 2025 Season has been far from terrible. After missing the first international event of the year at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Bangkok 2025, the team went on to show they have what it takes to go toe-to-toe with the world's best at both VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025 and the Esports World Cup 2025.

Despite remaining one of the most dangerous teams in VALORANT, though, Gen.G are yet to lift a single trophy this year. Now, the team will be hoping for the addition of Lakia to prove enough for Paris to see Gen.G come away with the biggest trophy in the game: VALORANT Champions. First, though, the squad will want to focus on ironing out their issues at home as they close out the remainder of Stage 2 in the Pacific in style.

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Featured Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games