DaZeD enters Valorant with T1, joining former iBP CSGO teammates

Brad Norton
Valorant logo Dazed playing CS

Veteran Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Sam “Dazed” Marine has made his return to active competition, rejoining former iBUYPOWER teammates in Valorant under the T1 banners.

T1’s professional Valorant roster is almost complete. While Braxton ‘brax’ Pierce was announced way back in March as the first official pro player in Riot’s tactical FPS, the roster is still being finalized to this day.

The former core with Austin ‘crashies’ Roberts and Victor ‘food’ Wong didn’t quite work out as the duo moved on to Team Envy. This left roles to fill alongside brax, Keven ‘AZK’ Larivière, and Tyler ‘Skadoodle’ Latham.

Making his entry into competitive Valorant, Dazed was announced as T1’s fourth on October 12. He joins his former iBUYPOWER CS:GO teammates as the majority of the 2013-2015 powerhouse team is now back in action together.

The 31-year-old competitor has a long history in FPS titles. He began competing in CS back in 2008 and played his final pro matches in 2018. From major wins in the biggest events at the time to multiple championship-caliber rosters, he enters Valorant as the most experienced competitor on T1.

Alongside his former iBUYPOWER teammates, they took home multiple trophies and tens of thousands in prizing. However, their run couldn’t have ended in a more controversial way. Both Dazed and AZK were banned from competing in CS:GO for matchfixing in 2015.

While Dazed returned to the scene as an analyst for quite some time and still competed in a handful of online leagues, this will be his first time properly competing alongside his former teammates in roughly six years.

Amidst the roster-building process, T1 hasn’t competed in a Valorant event since August 27. Their entry onto the scene started well with a second-place finish in the T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Showdown.

The original lineup failed to keep the momentum rolling, however, dropping four consecutive Top 12 event finishes before stepping back.

The team is still yet to announce its fifth and final member. However, Skadoodle confirmed that the “lineup is complete.” With a good mix of former teammates and veteran talent now locked in, there’s a good chance the final addition is another familiar face.

Keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks. T1’s fifth member will soon be public as they look to rejoin active competition in the near future.

About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com