BuZz makes history as the only player to qualify for all six VALORANT Champions

With his recent qualification for VALORANT Champions Shanghai on September 4, Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul became the only player in the history of Riot’s FPS to have qualified for every World Championship since the game’s launch, meaning he will be there for the sixth edition. An achievement he has obviously accomplished with the help of his teammates every time, representing three different organizations over the years, from Vision Strikers, an iconic name from VALORANT’s early competitive scene, to DRX and now T1 for the last two.

In an interview with Japanese outlet E-Sports_GG just after qualifying following a win over VARREL, BuZz reflected on this achievement. For the South Korean player, “it feels a little strange” to hold this record, and his first words were actually dedicated to the teammates he has had throughout his career, saying, “I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to the teammates I’ve fought alongside in the past and my current teammates.” Still, he does not consider qualifying this many times particularly impressive, citing League of Legends star Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok: “Since a certain player on a certain team has won six times, I’m not sure if qualifying for six Champions tournaments is really that impressive.”

In the same interview with the Japanese outlet, BuZz also looked back on T1’s year. Qualifying through the points system as the fourth seed from VCT Pacific, the South Korean organization had to fight until the very end to secure its spot at Champions. In one of his answers, T1’s Duelist remained realistic, pointing out that “we haven’t won either the Pacific trophy or the Masters trophy,” a title that is still missing from his own trophy cabinet, and that “it’s extremely important to focus on the next match and ensure I can lift my first-ever Pacific trophy.” A title and trophy that ultimately slipped away from him, as Global Esports defeated T1 3-1 in the Lower Bracket Final on September 5.

Already on the podium at Kickoff, T1 still failed to claim the VCT Pacific Championship title in 2026, four years after the launch of this format. Qualifying as the second seed, the South Korean organization nevertheless traveled to Santiago for the first VALORANT Masters of the season, with little success. In Chile, BuZz and his teammates were unable to find their rhythm, being eliminated in the Swiss Stage after losses to Team Liquid and G2 Esports, while two of their regional partner teams, Paper Rex and Nongshim RedForce, met in the grand final.

In Stage 2, T1 failed to secure a spot at Masters London, losing to Paper Rex in the Lower Bracket Semifinal and falling just short of the podium. The disappointment was followed shortly after by a failure to qualify for the Esports World Cup, even though the points accumulated throughout the season were already significant. Ultimately, T1 finished third in Group Omega in Stage 2, behind VARREL and Paper Rex, but managed to make it through the play-ins, albeit not without difficulty.

After defeating Full Sense, the South Korean organization then lost to Nongshim in the first qualification match before bouncing back and qualifying through the lower bracket with a win over DetonatioN FocusMe. Starting the playoffs in the lower bracket, T1 went on to secure two wins against two Korean teams, DRX and then Gen.G Esports, before defeating VARREL, securing its qualification to Shanghai on points and BuZz’s sixth Champions appearance.