As confirmed by the team, initiator player Kim “Lakia” Jong-min has rejoined Gen.G. The 24-year-old returns having been teamless since leaving the Korean organisation at the end of last year.
Lakia signs for Gen.G
Announced by the team today, Lakia has signed for Gen.G while the organisation is competing in the VCT Pacific Stage 2 group stage. His prior stint with the side saw them crowned Pacific Kickoff and Masters Shanghai champions last year.
The team’s statement welcomed the Korean back to the team, urging fans to ‘join us in cheering for Gen.G VALORANT’s golden journey, now reunited with Lakia’.
Lakia reshared the news in a post on X, saying that he doesn’t know ‘what will happen’, but he’ll do his best with the team. Ahead of his joining, Gen.G already had an established five-player roster, and so it’s currently unclear as to how exactly he’ll fit into the lineup.
Lakia’s 2025 absence
Despite the success of their 2024 lineup, Gen.G saw much of its roster enter free agency before rebuilding for 2025. Though the likes of Munchkin and Foxy9 eventually re-sign, Lakia was eventually left teamless ahead of the current season.
Despite the player then announcing he was looking for a team last October, he later posted that he would be taking a break for healing/treatment in November.
In June of this year, Lakia provided an update on what was revealed to have been a wrist issue, explaining that he was ‘fully healed, now stronger & more confident’ than before. His LFT post said that he was open to tryouts in the hopes of joining a Pacific team and offered his services as an IGL ‘if-needed’, adding that he has in-game fluency in both Korean and English.
There’s some thought that his signing could be in anticipation of Gen.G losing their current in-game leader Munchkin to Korean military service after this season. Barring exemption, the 27-year-old would be expected to begin mandatory service before his 28th birthday on March 27th of next year.
Gen.G in transition
With the side still searching for its first trophy of the year, Lakia could become the 8th player to appear for Gen.G in 2025. Despite having shown glimpses of world-class VALORANT, inconsistency and a tendency to crumble in some key matches has seen ongoing turnover within the roster.
Yeoman was the first casualty, leaving in March after a third-place Kickoff run. Suggest joined the same month, but has already departed the team after only appearing twice during Stage 1.
