T1 carpe steps down from competitive play

T1 announced the departure of Lee "Carpe" Jae-hyeok as the player officially steps down from professional play.

The 28 years old player has decided it’s time to move on from esports, at least for the time being. Carpe started his career back in 2018 in Overwatch, where he used to play for Philadelphia Fusion. Then in 2022 he started his VALORANT journey with T1.

Carpe’s VALORANT career deserves credit

Carpe first made his name in Overwatch, playing for FaZe Clan and Philadelphia Fusion, and winning the Overwatch World Cup with South Korea in 2018. He switched to VALORANT in 2022, joining T1 as the organization brought its VALORANT operations back to Korea, and quickly settled into the Initiator role alongside fellow former Overwatch players Byeon "Munchkin" Sang-beom and Ha "Sayaplayer" Jung-woo.

T1’s debut VALORANT season with that lineup ended in a third place finish in the Pacific, which earned the team spots at VCT 2023 - Masters Tokyo and VCT 2023 - Champions. Both international runs ended in group stage exits, pushing T1 toward a roster change.

The next version of the team brought in Daniel "Rossy" Abedrabbo, Kevin "xccurate" Susanto, and rookie Ham "iZu" Woo-joo, while carpe stayed in the starting lineup for VCT 2024 - Pacific Stage 1 and VCT 2024 - Masters Shanghai. He later lost his place to Kim "stax" Gu-taek, but returned for the final two regular season matches. Even so, T1 didn't manage to qualify for VCT 2024 - Champions 2024.

T1 then shifted back to a full Korean roster, adding Ko "Sylvan" Young-sub, Kim "Meteor" Tae-O, and Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul, with carpe moving into a sixth man role. Sylvan initially took over the Controller role, before carpe entered the lineup after the opening games. He also played the team’s first match at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Bangkok 2025, before Sylvan took back the role as T1 went on to win the whole thing.

Despite spending much of his later time with T1 on the bench, carpe’s contributions to the team should not be understated. His (temporary?) retirement closes the book on a strong cross-title career, with South Korea’s mandatory military service seemingly playing a part in his decision.

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