XERXIA expands VALORANT roster to seven

Thailand-based esports organization XERXIA has announced that it has expanded its VALORANT roster to 7 players by signing ex-Team NKT duo, Tanawat "xZe" Kannark, and Siraphop "siraphop" Honghirun.

XERXIA sign xZe and Siraphop

Tanawat "xZe" Kannark, who played for teams such as FULL SENSE, Intense Gaming, and Team NKT in his career, left Team NKT in early March. xZe has played in several B and C-Tier tournaments with Team NKT. The Thai player most recently finished in 5th place at the VALORANT Challengers 2023: Thailand Split 1 in February.

Siraphop "Siraphop" Honghirun is XERXIA's second signing. Siraphop played for another Thailand-based team, 47Gaming, before teaming up with xZe at Team NKT. He also teamed up with xZe for Team NKT in VALORANT Challengers 2023: Thailand Split 1, finishing in 5th place in the event without advancing to the playoffs.

XERXIA's 2022 performance

Last year, XERXIA advanced to the grand finals of the VCT 2022 - APAC Challengers and, despite losing to Paper Rex in the final, earned a spot in the VCT 2022: Stage 1 Masters - Reykjavík. With 2 losses and 1 win in the group stage in Iceland, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished the tournament in 9-12th place.

Continuing the same story at the VCT 2022 - APAC Challengers 2 in May, XERXIA made it all the way to the grand finals, but as in Stage 1, XERXIA lost to its rival Paper Rex 3:0, finishing the tournament in 2nd place. Still, XERXIA bagged a ticket to the VCT 2022: Stage 2 Masters - Copenhagen. In Denmark, XERXIA lost in the group stage, first to FunPlus Phoenix, the team that would later become the champions of the tournament, and then to Japan Challengers champions NORTHEPTION. With these results, the team returned home with 2 losses, finishing the tournament in 10-12th place.

XERXIA, which qualified for VALORANT Champions 2022 with the circuit points it received in its region, failed to advance to the playoffs with 2 losses in Group C. In Istanbul, they were defeated first by North American rival XSET and then by KRÜ Esports. With these results, XERXIA finished the tournament in 13-16th place.

XERXIA will compete in VALORANT Challengers 2023: Thailand Split 2, which will start on March 29, with the newly-unveiled roster changes.

Current XERXIA lineup:

• Thanachart "Surf" Rungarphajaratsakul
• Warittorn "ROLEX" Kalanukan
• Wattanachok "aLerT" Yingnakorn
• Jirayu "KRX" Samnual
• Eisuke "LBY" Kuraoka
• Tanawat "xZe" Kannark
• Siraphop "siraphop" Honghirun
• Tosapol "TOR" Saekow (Coach)