According to sources close to
Sheep Esports, Koki
"gyen" Nakamura has reached a verbal agreement with
RIDDLE ORDER for the upcoming 2026
VALORANT season. The Japanese player established himself in 2025 as one of the young prospects to watch on the VCT Pacific circuit with
DetonatioN FocusMe, whom he joined as a Controller. Under the DFM banner, he played the entirety of VCT 2025: Pacific Kickoff and Stage 1, a challenging group phase that ended without a single series win against Global Esports, DRX, Gen.G, Paper Rex and BOOM Esports.
The team’s trajectory improved in Stage 2, where gyen was consistently fielded in Controller roles and delivered several notable performances. DetonatioN FocusMe secured wins over ZETA DIVISION, TALON and BOOM Esports in the group stage before falling to Paper Rex and T1, and were eventually eliminated in the playoffs by Nongshim RedForce. At just 19 years old, gyen thus closes out his first full season in a partnered league with a substantial number of maps played against the top teams in the Pacific region.
For RIDDLE ORDER, the arrival of gyen would come on the heels of a particularly significant 2025 campaign on the Japanese scene. The organisation finished at the top of the circuit points standings across the three splits of
VALORANT Challengers Japan 2025, earning qualification for the Season Finals held at the
Keio Arena in Tokyo, where they reached the final, won 3–1 against FENNEL, claimed the national title and secured Japan’s sole slot for VCT Ascension Pacific 2025.
It was the team’s second consecutive appearance at
Ascension Pacific, after placing 4th in 2024, although this time they were unable to progress past the group stage. Those two runs have already given RIDDLE ORDER meaningful exposure to international competition. In this context, integrating gyen, coming off a full VCT Pacific season with DFM, fits into the continuity of an ambitious project: capitalising on a domestic championship and back-to-back Ascension appearances to build, in 2026, a roster capable of genuinely contending for promotion to the VCT Pacific league.
