Ex-T1 Korea and Cloud9 Korea players find a home on BearClaw Gaming

BearClaw Gaming are one of the most interesting organizations currently in esports. Led by a 17-year-old CEO, Harley “Reaper” Parks, they currently run a content team in Call of Duty. Today, they’ve announced a high-profile Korean VALORANT division.

BearClaw have signed Kim "Harry" Han-gyu, Choi "10X" Jin-woo, Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul, Jeon "GANA" Hyeong-heon, and Kang "iNTRO" Seung-gyun to their roster. All of these players have played on successful previous rosters, and are coming together to make a team to challenge Korea’s best.

"The players are close friends, so they played together after their teams disbanded. Later, Harley, the CEO of BearClaw, reached out to the players, getting them to where they are now," former Cloud9 Korea head coach and newly announced BearClaw Gaming Director of Operations Yu "Pavane" Hyeon-sang said for THESPIKE.GG.

10X and Harry come over from T1 Korea, where they had a few highlights, including an extremely close second place at the A.W EXTREME MASTERS ASIA INVITATIONAL, but were upset in the first round of First Strike. BuZz previously played with Cloud9 Korea, who were the only team to take a map off DRX in the latter’s dominant First Strike run. iNTRO has been playing in the Japanese scene with Crazy Raccoon, helping them to a somewhat surprising First Strike appearance, and lastly, GANA previously represented TUBEPLE Gaming and comes in as probably the least recognized player.

Going off of roles the players occupied on their old teams, we’re likely to see BuZz take up the primary duelist spot and to see Harry play Cypher or Killjoy. Beyond that, each remaining player has previously functioned in the Sova or Omen role, leaving one to either switch over to duelist or for the team to run an FunPlus Phoenix-type composition with four more supportive agents.

“I’m proud and happy of the team we put together, and this is just the start of a new era in gaming we are about to lead,” Reaper commented for THESPIKE.GG.

"When I was in C9 Korea, the goal was to be the best team in Asia. It won't change. Yeah, this is a new team, so it takes some time to build, but we'll do our best." Pavane added.

Name value alone suggests this roster could contend with some of the best in Korea, likely on the level of a team like TNL Esports behind Vision Strikers. What are your thoughts? How will BearClaw do in the grander scheme of things, and could they contest for a spot at Masters or Champions this year? Let us know your thoughts!

BearClaw Gaming’s roster is:

Choi “10X” Jin-woo Kim “Harry” Han-kyu Yu “BuZz” Byung-chul Jeon “GANA” Hyeong-heon Kang “iNTRO” Seung-gyun