Interview with DRX Player Byung-chul "BuZz" Yu

The South Korean super team, DRX, manage a third-place finish at VALORANT Champions 2022 in Istanbul. During that tournament, they were able to beat twice the current champions from FunPlus Phoenix. This was the best result the team has ever had in international tournaments. Ahead of DRX will be a busy season, which they will spend in the Pacific League. We had a great talk with Byung-chul "BuZz" Yu, in which he shared his thoughts on the outcome of Champions 2022, the arrival of a new player to the team, and the Pearl.

ar1essss: At the last VALORANT Champions, you broke the curse of 5th-6th place and finished in third place. You beat the reigning FPX champions twice. How do you rate the team's result?

BuZz: I’m personally glad that we were able to show our fans some improvement. There is a lot more to do, but at least we are heading in the right direction.

ar1essss: You almost performed a miracle in the match against OpTic when you got back from 0:2. What did you lack on the fifth map, Haven?

BuZz: We messed up hard in positioning in A-site. I think if we could have gotten information on A-long much more quickly, then it would have been a different game for us. 

ar1essss: Do you think if you had won that match, you could have beaten LOUD in the finals?

BuZz: Well, LOUD was an amazing team. But when we lost to them, it was a closer match than I thought, especially on Breeze. I think if we had won against OpTic, we could have given them a closer fight.

ar1essss: In the Pacific League you will have teams like ZETA, Gen.G, T1, and Paper Rex as your opponents. Who would you name among your primary opponents?

BuZz: I would consider Paper Rex as a team to challenge us throughout the entire season. Teams like T1 and Gen.G have not yet been together long enough to give us much challenge.

ar1essss: Before the Pacific League, there will be a Kick-Off tournament in Brazil, where 30 teams will play. Do you think it will be good preparation for the season? Or was it better to make a more minor tournament, for example, for 12 or 16 teams?

BuZz: To be honest, I think if we could have had 2 events instead of 1 giant one, it would’ve been better. That being said, I think it would be incredibly fun seeing all 30 teams play in the same arena at the same time.

ar1essss: You have a young talent joining your team, Foxy9, who used to play for Reignite. Why did you bring exactly him into your team?

BuZz: Simple. Foxy9 has the incredible aim and game knowledge. I’m glad to have him on our team.

ar1essss: You won a tournament in Daejon with Foxy9. How would you rate his performance?

BuZz: I think Foxy9 performed incredibly well. It’s still technically the off-season so we are still working on our teamwork and strategies, but there’s only room to grow for us.

ar1essss: You haven't played Pearl in any official matches yet. What do you think of this map, and should we wait for DRX on Pearl?

BuZz: We did prepare Pearl during Champions 2022, but we didn’t get the chance to play it as we banned it if we had the first ban and vice-versa with whoever we were facing. We didn’t get to show it, but we actually had an interesting strategy that we didn’t see any other team use yet. If there’s a chance, who knows, maybe we’ll get to play it during the off-season tournaments.

ar1essss: If you were a VALORANT developer, what would you change right now?

BuZz: I would immediately work on removing the annoying bugs first. The infamous turret bug during XSET .vs FPX is one for sure. There are so many miscellaneous bugs like these that every professional player would know of, and I want to get them fixed ASAP.

ar1essss: Do you have any personal goals that you've set yourself for next season?

BuZz: My answer to this will never change. It’s always to win against all competition, especially international challenges. I would love to win the Kick-off tournament and the most anticipated tournament of the year: Champions 2023.