Karon also stays as Gen.G reveal four of their five players for the 2027 VCT season, with the last spot still on trial.
Gen.G have signed duelist Lee “Dambi” Hyuk-kyu from Nongshim RedForce and controller Kim “MaKo” Myeong-gwan from DRX, and kept Kim “Karon” Won-tae, the team revealed on a live stream on t3xture’s SOOP channel, VLR.gg reports. Both signings were first reported by Sheep Esports, Dambi on Tuesday and MaKo on Thursday.
t3xture said the fifth player is on trial and will be revealed later. Nothing was said about who will lead the team in game, a role Gen.G split between Lakia and Efina in 2026.
| Player | Role | 2026 team |
|---|---|---|
 Karon | controller | Gen.G |
| t3xture | duelist | Gen.G |
| Dambi | duelist | Nongshim RedForce |
| MaKo | controller | DRX |
| To be announced | on trial | |
| solo | head coach | Gen.G |
| HSK | coach | Gen.G |
The MVP from Santiago
Dambi arrives after the best year of his career. Nongshim, who came up through Ascension and were not a partner team, won the Pacific Kickoff and then Masters Santiago in March, sweeping Paper Rex 3-0 in the grand final. Dambi was named MVP of the event. Gen.G’s own announcement opens with that title, calling him “Masters Santiago MVP”.
The rest of the season was solid without another trophy: third at the Esports World Cup, second in Pacific Stage 2 and 7th to 8th at Champions in Shanghai.
He also had to adapt. As VLR.gg points out, Dambi was seen as the best Neon player in the world for most of two years, and the Neon nerfs earlier in 2026 hit him and Nongshim hard. The team tried him in other roles before going back to the Neon and Yoru setup they won with in Chile, and he has added Raze and Waylay to his pool depending on the map.
Nongshim missed out on a VCT partner place for 2027 and said goodbye to him on 20 October.
MaKo leaves the DRX family
For MaKo, it is the first time since 2021 that he plays for anyone other than Vision Strikers and DRX. He joined Vision Strikers in May 2021 as a 19-year-old among veterans and stayed when the team became DRX in January 2022. He has played controller throughout, and has both taken on and given up the IGL role along the way.
His record with DRX is long, but it has no international trophy. He played four Champions in a row from 2022 to 2025, finishing third in 2022 and 2025, and four Masters events. His biggest VCT title is the 2025 Pacific Kickoff.
DRX released almost the whole roster in October after losing out on one of Korea’s two partner places, which went to Gen.G and T1. MaKo was among the players on the transfer market from 22 October. Gen.G wrote that he brings “strategic leadership and in-game presence”, but did not say whether he will call.
Karon stays after a lost year
Karon entered the offseason on an expiring contract and is now staying. Gen.G wrote on X that he went “from golden rookie to a formidable veteran” with the team.
He and t3xture are the two players left from the side that won Masters Shanghai in 2024. Since then, Gen.G have slipped. After reaching one VCT international event in 2025, Masters Toronto, they missed every one in 2026:
| Event | Result |
|---|---|
| Pacific Kickoff | 9th to 10th |
| Pacific Stage 1 | 11th to 12th, out in the group |
| EWC Pacific Qualifier | 4th |
| Pacific Stage 2 | 5-0 in the group, 5th to 6th in playoffs |
Lakia left in July, and Efina came in the same month alongside Raxcal. Stage 2 brought a perfect group run before losses to Nongshim and T1 ended the season. Efina and Ash left on 3 November, together with coach peri.
A role puzzle for the Pacific
The four players overlap. Karon and MaKo both play controller, and t3xture and Dambi are both duelists. Karon was tried as a sentinel at the start of 2026, but he has looked best on smokes. VLR.gg counts just two maps on initiators among the four, so the fifth player is most likely an initiator. Raxcal is under contract through 2028, but Gen.G have said nothing about his place.
In Korea, Gen.G and T1 now hold the two partner places, while Nongshim, the reigning Masters champions, go through the open qualifiers. T1 are rebuilding too, after parting with Meteor, Munchkin and DH, and TenZ is lining up a comeback there, according to Sheep Esports. Gen.G have now taken the MVP Nongshim built around and the controller DRX had relied on since 2021.
