katsumi departs from GC, to pursue qualifying for mixed-roster Challengers

One of the best NA GC competitor, katsumi, revealed her decision to step away from the Game Changers scene, expressing intent to concentrate on securing a spot in the 2024 Challengers tournament with an unnamed mixed-gender team.

katsumi leaves VALORANT GC

In an X post, katsumi downplayed the situation, stating, "It’s not something I want to make a big deal of, but I’m not going to be playing in Game Changers moving forward, and I have no plans to return at this time. I am going to continue competing, but I am changing course away from GC," she affirmed, "I’ve always seen Game Changers as a temporary step and not an end goal. I’ve maintained through my entire career that if I ever believed I wasn’t capable of becoming a top player outside of GC - I would quit competing entirely and move on to something else in my life.”

Acknowledging the complexity of her ambitions, katsumi noted that her path as a competitor might not be as straightforward as moving directly from a GC team to a challengers/franchised team. She expressed gratitude for her two years in Game Changers, describing it as a secure and stable space to explore competition. However, she felt the need to step out of her comfort zone to truly challenge herself. While unsure if she felt "ready", she welcomed the challenge wholeheartedly.

katsumi gained prominence in the North American Game Changers circuit during her tenure with the former Cloud9 White. She clinched seven regional championships and made her LAN debut at the GC World Championship last year. Following Cloud9's announcement of disbanding its Game Changers roster in December, katsumi and fellow C9 White teammate Bob "Bob" Tran joined XSET Purple.

In her new role as in-game leader, katsumi and her team secured third place in the first NA Game Changers series of the year but failed to progress beyond the lower bracket in the second series. XSET and katsumi opted out of series three as most of their teammates joined other teams in September.

Katsumi, together with her former Cloud9 White coach Reid "x0tek" Johnson, Jason "JSUNG" Sung, Danny "HUYNH" Huynh, and PapiCantaloupe, have decided to pursue qualifying for Challengers 2024, promising an exciting new chapter in her professional adventure.