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Benkai Joins Global Esports Valorant as Lightningfast Steps Up: What’s in Store for the SA Org’s Future?

Adnan Juzar Kachwala
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An image of Benkai in a Paper Rex Jersey

Former Paper Rex IGL Benkai has signed onto Global Esports Valorant as the SA Org trades Monyet for him. In addition, they are bringing up fan favorite player, Lightningfast onto the main roster as preparations for VCT 2024 are underway.

When Global Esports was announced as one of the partnered teams for the VCT Pacific Region, the whole Indian Subcontinent celebrated. However, their performance in the VCT 2023 season was underwhelming despite their good roster. They are looking to rebuild and ensure that they do not make the same mistakes again for the 2024 season.

They started off well by signing Benedict “Benkai” Tan and retaining Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury at the start of their roster overhaul. Let us take a look at what the South Asian Organization has in store for their millions of fans in the region starting with the signing of Benkai.

Contents

  • Global Esports Valorant Sign Former Paper Rex IGL Benkai and Retain Lightningfast for their VCT 2024 Roster
  • Paper Rex’s Performance Under Benkai
  • Lightningfast’s Previous Seasons
  • How Will These Two Players Help Global Esports in VCT 2024?

Global Esports Valorant Sign Former Paper Rex IGL Benkai and Retain Lightningfast for their VCT 2024 Roster

Global Esports has had an underwhelming year, to say the least in VCT 2023. They were knocked out in the first match of VCT Lock In when they played against Team Vitality. In the Pacific League, their win-loss record was 3-6 which disappointed a lot of SA fans. Still, they pulled off some upsets beating Gen.G and Talon Esports.

The losses weren’t GE’s biggest problem, as they were always close in terms of winning matches as most of the time, they could go to map three despite losing the first map. However, capitalizing on their round leads and converting those leads into victory was the major issue. Their star players underperformed in some matches and the communication got weak during rough times.

That is why, they could not last against popular teams like Paper Rex, DRX, T1, and Zeta Division. However, the VCT 2024 season is starting to look better with the signing of Benkai. Let us see who he is and why he made Paper Rex what they are today; one of the best teams in the world.

Paper Rex’s Performance Under Benkai

Paper Rex has thrived under the leadership of Benkai and has been set up for success in the future. Aside from his walkouts, Benkai’s IGLing ability and strategies were perfect for a chaotic team like Paper Rex built for aggression and holding the W key. The one thing Global Esports was lacking in the 2023 season was proper aggressive execution and capitalizing on space creation.

This is where Benkai can help Global Esports a lot. He has tons of experience in IGLing chaotic teams and executing despite the chaos and pressure. In addition, due to his IGLing capabilities Paper Rex has won most of its Challenger events, came in 4th place at Masters 1: Reykjavik, and 2nd place at Masters 2: Copenhagen. Despite Benkai’s showboating and entertaining nature, his IGLing capability is second to none and will benefit Global Esports a lot.

However, there is another player that has been on the sidelines for too long. Global Esports did not fully utilize his capability in the 2023 season despite fans’ appeal. Let us take a look at the history of Lightningfast.

Lightningfast’s Previous Seasons


Lightningfast’s Agent pool is pretty diverse; from Viper to Cypher and from Raze to Reyna. He is a pretty diverse player and can easily be a flex player for Global Esports. However, due to lots of close calls and a losing streak in VCT 2023, Lightningfast didn’t receive an opportunity to showcase his skills. In fact, even as a substitute, he played just two matches in the VCT 2023 Season on the International Stage.

However, in the past, Lightningfast’s capabilities and flex roles made it the best in South Asia. That might be the reason why the team was offered a partner role in the VCT Pacific League. Global Esports had a chance to use Lightningfast in the Pacific LCQ this year but did not and they suffered a loss at the hands of Rex Regum Qeon. This forced them onto the sidelines and out of the LCQ tournament.

Lightningfast previously has played A to B Tier tournaments and led his team to victory with his flex playing skills. However, he has not gotten a chance to represent his team on the international stage as much for the past few seasons. Now that is moving up in the team, we will see what the future holds for him.

How Will These Two Players Help Global Esports in VCT 2024?

Global Esports’s international matches have been underwhelming, to say the least. The team in 2023 was built up to be a gathering of players from all over the world. However, it did not live up to its expectations. There were complications both in and out of the game for the team. In all fairness, the team and the organization are still young but they need to improve their chemistry and execution.

Now that the 2023 Season is over there are months left before any international matches, they will have time to build their roster and solve problems together. With Lightningfast’s passion and Benkai’s experience, the team is sure to come up with something better for the next season. The rest of the squad is yet to be revealed but we suspect Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar will be on the team.

The announcement for the rest of the players hasn’t happened yet at the time of writing but we suspect it is going to be an epic roster regardless. Global Esports has a lot of potential should they prepare better and have confidence in themselves. Now that they have Benkai who has had international experience, they should be able to bounce back in the 2024 season.

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About the author

Adnan Juzar Kachwala

Adnan Juzar Kachwala

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Adnan Kachwala is a Gaming Journalist working as a Content Writer at The SportsRush. Adnan started covering Valorant when he watched Shroud dominate public matches with his aim. He wanted to write about Call of Duty ever since his first Nuclear in Black Ops II. He has an expertise in FPS games like Call of Duty and Valorant and has been covering them along with other games for more than two years. He has written more than 600 articles on both of those games along with other popular AAA titles. He has a Mass Media Degree with a Specialization in Journalism. Adnan has an expertise writing listicles related to Gaming and reviewing newer releases. When he is not making content, you can find him reading books, creating videos and watching Valorant Esports on Twitch.

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