The prodigy, Braxton Pierce — known as swag on Counter-Strike, or more recently Brax on his networks — has joined the prestigious Korean T1 team. He's their first Valorant player and historically the first tactical FPS player of the organisation. The three-time League of Legends World Champion team starts creating an Esport team even before the game is released — to get a head start. If Korea isn't present on Counter-Strike, one thing is now sure: they won't miss Valorant!
swag — as he was called in his younger years — was very talented on Counter-Strike and considered by many as the rising star of the American scene. Now 23 years old, he has been banned from the CS:GO professional scene since January 16, 2015 — he was 18 years old at the time. He's part of this very closed list of seven players — handpicked for their misdeeds — banned for life by Valve.
A few months before his ban, in August 2014, he lost with his team in what is now known as the North American match fixing scandal. iBUYPOWER — who was the favorite for his upcoming match — conceded a surprising 16-4 that day. That's all it took for Valve to conduct his investigation and prove the players' willingness to knowingly lose this match after betting on their own defeat.
A few years after a definitive ban from Valve majors, Swag has decided to retire from CS:GO to try his luck on Valorant. Riot Games FPS — previously called Project A — could offer a second wind to Swag's career.
More recently, Brax has been one of the first talents to position himself and announce his will to be part of the Esport scene on Valorant — certainly because he finally hasn't much attachment to Counter-Strike anymore.
T1 makes a choice which isn't necessarily the one of security with this recruitment. We know that Brax may have made bad choices in the past and that he may have (or may still be) impetuous. There is in this recruitment the choice of a real face to highlight.
On Twitter, Brax is very clear in his plan. He's coming to dominate the game. For T1 as for him, the ambition is to "build the best team in the world". The player and streamer may choose between being a banned prodigy, a hothead, or an outsider.
Since its introduction in October 2019, Valorant aims to be a direct competitor to Valve's indestructible FPS, Counter Strike: Global Offensive. After several leaks and the embargo being removed yesterday, let's take a look at the already apparent similarities between the two games.
