The Masters Bangkok MVP is a free agent as T1 keep only stax, BuZz and iZu from the side that gave them their best Champions finish.
T1 have parted ways with Kim “Meteor” Tae-oh, Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom and Kang “DH” Dong-ho, along with head coach Kim “KDG” Dong-gun and assistant coach Lee “CheongGak” Il-ho, the organisation announced on X early on Monday. Meteor leaves as a free agent now that his contract has run out, and Kim “stax” Gu-taek, Yu “BuZz” Byeong-cheol and Ham “iZu” Woo-ju are the only players left from the 2026 team.
T1 posted five farewells in five minutes, one for each departure. The first went to the player who won them a Masters trophy:
It was an absolute honor to walk alongside one of the finest players in Pacific, sharing the ambition to conquer both the region and the world.
Munchkin answered on X about four hours later. “T1 truly was the best organization I could have asked for,” he wrote.
Meteor’s two Masters titles
Meteor’s exit had been coming. On 22 October, the 26-year-old announced that he was looking for a team in Korea, Japan or China, with T1’s permission to explore his options.
He leaves after two seasons and one of the best trophy records in the Pacific. Meteor made his professional debut with TNL Esports in 2021 and reached Masters Copenhagen in 2022 with the Japanese side NORTHEPTION. At Gen.G he won Masters Shanghai in 2024, the first international trophy for a VCT Pacific team.
T1 signed him for 2025, and he won again at the first attempt. T1 finished second at Pacific Kickoff and then won Masters Bangkok, coming from 1-2 down to beat G2 Esports 3-2 in the grand final. Meteor was named MVP of the event.
T13-2
G2Masters Bangkok 2025 grand final: Lotus 5-13, Haven 13-9, Abyss 11-13, Split 15-13, Pearl 16-14
His numbers at T1’s two biggest events tell the story of the two seasons: a +29 K-D in Bangkok, close to even in Shanghai.
| Event | Maps | K-D | ADR | KAST | ACS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Bangkok 2025 | 21 | 366-337 | 152.8 | 71% | 230 |
| Champions Shanghai 2026 | 15 | 238-229 | 133.8 | 69% | 205 |
Across his whole career, VLR.gg has him at 8,436 kills and 7,577 deaths in 10,580 rounds. Jett is his most played agent with 132 maps, ahead of Killjoy on 104, which fits a player who has spent his T1 years as a Sentinel and secondary Duelist.
Before his contract ran out, Meteor had already said goodbye to the fans after the Champions exit on 11 October. “I am grateful to all the fans who cried and laughed with me over the past year,” he wrote.
Two seasons that never matched Bangkok
T1 never got back to the level of that March. In 2025 they finished seventh to eighth in Pacific Stage 1 and missed Masters Toronto, then reached Champions Paris on points as the region’s third seed and went out in the group stage.
Munchkin returned for 2026. He had played for T1 from 2022 to 2023 before two years at Gen.G next to Meteor, and he started the season as in-game leader and Controller. T1 were second at Pacific Kickoff again but went out in the Swiss stage of Masters Santiago, and fourth place in Stage 1 left them short of Masters London.
That was when DH came back. The academy player had been promoted to the main roster in May 2025 and sent back to T1 Academy in November. He came in for the benched stax, but after four group stage matches in Stage 2 stax was back as IGL on Controller, with Munchkin moving to a secondary calling role.
| Year | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Pacific Kickoff | 2nd |
| 2025 | Masters Bangkok | 1st |
| 2025 | Pacific Stage 1 | 7th to 8th |
| 2025 | Pacific Stage 2 | 4th |
| 2025 | Champions Paris | 9th to 12th |
| 2026 | Pacific Kickoff | 2nd |
| 2026 | Masters Santiago | 9th to 10th |
| 2026 | Pacific Stage 1 | 4th |
| 2026 | Pacific Stage 2 | 3rd |
| 2026 | Champions Shanghai | 5th to 6th |
Third place in Stage 2 sent T1 to Champions Shanghai on points as Pacific’s fourth seed. There they reached the playoffs for the first time, beat Paper Rex 2-1 in the lower bracket and went out against G2 on 11 October. The fifth to sixth place made them the best Pacific team at the event.
T11-2G2Champions Shanghai 2026 lower bracket: Lotus 11-13, Abyss 13-10, Ascent 6-13Munchkin wrote after that loss that the team had known its problems since Santiago. “This could be my last season, but nothing is decided yet,” he added. DH has also announced that he is looking for a team in Korea, Japan or China.
A new coach for the third year running
KDG became head coach a year ago, when Autumn left for EDward Gaming. The former Overwatch coach came from T1 Academy and had earlier been head coach at Gwangju Shadow. T1 credited him with reaching “our first Champions Playoffs in franchise history”.
CheongGak had the longest history with the team. He was on T1’s staff in 2023 and briefly in 2024, went to Wolves Esports later that year and returned for the rebuild that turned T1 into an all-Korean roster.
T1 in 2027
The roster T1 take into the off-season:
Kim “stax” Gu-taek (IGL)- Yu “BuZz” Byeong-cheol
- Ham “iZu” Woo-ju
stax has played both Controller and Initiator, BuZz is the main Duelist and iZu can flex, so T1 can sign for almost any role. The bigger search is for a head coach, the third in three years, for a team that has still not won a Pacific title.
The seat itself is safe. Riot confirmed in October that T1 stay in VCT Pacific as a partner team for 2027 and 2028. They are not the only Pacific side starting over: Paper Rex let Jinggg go on Saturday.
T1 have not named replacements, and no credible report has linked Meteor to a new team yet.
