Amidst their heartbreaking defeat against Evil Geniuses at the grand finals of Valorant Champions 2023 last Sunday, Paper Rex’s extraordinary performance has successfully sparked interest from Southeast Asian fps gamers to switch and take Valorant’s competitive scene seriously, including former professionals. And Kevin “Xccurate” Susanto, a retired CS:GO pro player, is clearly one of them.
The 29-year-old former professional player recently lauded his younger brother, Jason “f0rsaken” Susanto, for his outstanding performance with the Paper Rex squad at the grand finals of VCT Champions 2023 in Los Angeles and stated that his brother’s achievement has greatly inspired him to return to the competitive shooter scene.
During a live streaming session on his TikTok account, he decided to take the Valorant competition seriously and has high hopes to compete in the upcoming season. Nonetheless, he added that so far he has not decided to take a trial with any esports organisation and is still adapting to the meta in pubs.
“If you ask me, honestly, I missed it. I’ve decided from my heart that I will go pro after this (VCT Champions),” he said. “For teams, I cannot say anything right now, I’m not a pro yet. We’ll see, just wait for my news later. If I’ve signed with teams I will go pro, if not, I’ll grind temporarily. Don’t expect anything much, if I move to Valorant I’ll start from zero.”
This move will undoubtedly be welcomed by professional Valorant teams in SEA that are seeking to restructure their rosters before 2024. After all, the competitive shooter community certainly regarded him as one of the best in Asia during his CS:GO heyday, especially during his stint with Chinese heavyweight Tyloo. During the 2018-2019 season, he and Hansel “BnTeT” Ferdinand were known as the first CS:GO players from Indonesia to compete in majors like Intel Extreme Masters in Shanghai, Toyota Masters in Bangkok and Intel Extreme Masters in Katowice.
Prior to this moment, he was rumored to join his younger brother in Singapore shortly after his retirement in September 2022. The move didn’t happen, however, and he spent his time grinding in competitive mode with fellow Indonesian pros such as Saibani “fl1pzdjer” Rahmad, Aaron “Mindfreak” Leonheart, Gary “Blazek1ng” Dastin, and many more. Based on his recent performance, he is considered a flex player in Valorant, similar to his little brother’s current role.
