How XigN became the last hope of South Korean CS

Five years after his last appearance at an Asian Minor, the former MVP PK player still dreams of featuring at a Major.

No man is an island, but there are those who, often by circumstances beyond their control, are in relative isolation. And few in the Counter-Strike scene are better examples of that than Hyun-Pyo "⁠XigN⁠" Lee.

His country, South Korea, is widely regarded as the mecca of esports, home to global icons such as Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, Jang "Moon" Jae-ho and Lee "Flash" Young Ho. There, television channels began broadcasting esports competitions in the early 2000s, and "esports player" often ranks high among South Korean students' most popular future jobs, coming as high as fifth in a 2020 survey by the Education Ministry.

XigN knows all that, but almost ten years into his career and months away from turning 28, he is still fighting for his share of the spotlight.

South Korea, while never a Counter-Strike superpower, appeared regularly on the CS 1.6 world stage in the second half of the 2000s, when teams like project_kr, Lunatic-hai and e-STRO (who would later become WeMade FOX) wrestled with the best. By that point, however, the impressive flow of talent had dwindled to a trickle as Counter-Strike had lost a lot of popularity in the country since becoming a paid game.

"Back then in South Korean culture, people were negative about buying games with money," XigN explained to HLTV. "Many players left for other online games that you didn't need to pay to play.

"So when e-STRO and WeMade FOX were tier 1 teams in the world, CS was already dead in South Korea."

XigN began to make headlines in 2015, when his m0nster squad was picked up by MVP, who named former e-STRO and WeMade FOX star Seon-Ho "⁠termi⁠" Pyeon the coach and provided the team with a gaming house. "And as termi joins our squad as a coach, we assume that we will be able to prove better and bring back the glory that former Korean CS team have achieved," team manager and assistant coach Eun "SunBi" Jang said at the time.

But that turned out to be nothing more than wishful thinking. Despite some noteworthy results at regional events, MVP Project didn't stand much of a chance against the best teams in the world. The Korean outfit won only one of its five games (against Asian rival TYLOO) across the two StarSeries season events it played in 2016 and 2017.

In July 2017, MVP shut down the Project team, with XigN transitioning to MVP PK, the organization's other squad (named in homage to project_kr), months later. There, he reunited with coach termi and linked up with two other members of South Korea's golden generation, Keun-Chul "⁠solo⁠" Kang and Min-Soo "⁠glow⁠" Kim.

2018 was a learning year for MVP PK, who got to play at IEM Sydney and the ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals and pulled off a major upset when it knocked Virtus.pro out of the ZOTAC Cup Masters in the quarter-finals.

The Korean team sought to make their mark in 2019 but failed to reach either Major — even wasting three chances to qualify for Berlin after losing to TYLOO in the Asia Minor and to North and INTZ in the Minor Play-In —, while their appearances at IEM Sydney and ESL One Cologne once again came with middling results.

Weeks after the Minor, XigN cut ties with MVP and started his own team alongside solo, but they couldn't find an organization.

And then VALORANT came along. The release of Riot Games' tactical FPS, and with it the promise of a stable year-round circuit featuring South Korea's biggest esports organizations, was the final nail in the coffin for the country's CS scene. Many top players, eager to get their foot in the door early and capitalize on their years of experience, immediately made the switch. In April 2020, MVP PK's entire squad left CS and began to focus on the new game.

That decision proved to be the right one for many as South Korea has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in VALORANT. In June, a Gen.G team coached by solo and Hae-Sung "⁠HSK⁠" Kim and featuring Jong-Min "⁠Lakia⁠" Kim won VCT Masters in Shanghai and reached the final in Madrid.

Still, XigN insisted he never thought about making the switch.

"When VALORANT was released, people and organizations kept asking me to switch," he said. "There were some real-life things going on, but the main reason was that I wanted to play CS as much as I could. I don't know, I think I really love CS (laughs).

"But I like to watch and play VALORANT as well, especially when Korean teams like Gen.G, DRX and T1 are playing. It makes me happy to see them doing well competitively on the world stage."

With the Korean scene effectively dead, XigN expanded his horizons and went international. Brief spells with BTRG and NG were followed by a three-year stint on NKT, but there wasn't much to write home about except a couple of small titles in Mongolia in 2023. There was not even a single RMR appearance during that period.

"To be honest, I haven't been able to focus on CS for most of my career," he explained. "Most of the teams that I played for didn't pay my salary and prize on time. Some teams still owe me money.

"I didn't have money problems, though, because they eventually paid. But, you know, when you don't receive your salary and prize money time on time, it's really hard to focus on the game. These things gave me a lot of stress. Well, It is what it is."

In July, three months after playing his final game for NKT, XigN took up the IGL role for a new international project, Alter Ego, as one of the team's headline names along with Hansel "⁠BnTeT⁠" Ferdinand.

On its official debut, the team reached the semi-finals of the Asian qualifier for the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, losing to eventual winners Rare Atom. And then, without much surprise, it went undefeated in the Asian RMR qualifiers, sending XigN to his first Major-qualifying event on LAN since 2019.

"The biggest difference is the organization," XigN said of Alter Ego. "As I said, we had some problems that prevented us from focusing on CS. Now, Alter Ego is supporting us really well. I really appreciate them.

"It's a shame we haven't had enough time. I believe that if our team had more time, we could go much further. But it's okay. I’ll do my best until the end."

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BnTeT: "I think that I'm still capable of playing internationally"

Alter Ego bootcamped in Poland to get ready for the RMR. The team's scrim results were "pretty good," according to XigN, but everyone will have to perform heroically to offset an unkind opening matchup against 11th-ranked The MongolZ, who come into the event on the back of a title-winning run at the Thunderpick World Championship.

"Everyone knows The MongolZ are a strong team," XigN notes. "They have done huge things as an Asian team and for Asian CS. I respect what they have done, but we aren't afraid of them.

"We are not going to be preparing something special for them. We'll just focus on ourselves. And we trust our game play."

Date	Matches
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 Asia RMR
11/11/2024	The MongolZ 09:00 Alter Ego	Match

The first day of the Asia RMR could well end with Alter Ego staring elimination in the face, but XigN is optimistic about his team's chances in Shanghai. "Of course our goal is to qualify for the Major," he said. "And I believe we can do it."

XigN's career path has been filled with twists and turns, and he finds himself carrying on his shoulders what was once a great CS nation. Yet he balks at the suggestion that his journey has been lonely. "I'm glad I can keep playing CS," he said.

As the Asia RMR begins, XigN has his sights on making history as the first South Korean to play at a Counter-Strike Major. He knows this could be his final chance as he will soon start his compulsory military duties. He will still be able to play and watch CS after work and he wants to continue his career after he finishes his service, but he doesn't know what he will find.

"In Asia, CS is practically dead except for Mongolia and China," he explained. "I could do something completely different from esports after this, or I could come back, but it might not be CS. But if there's a competitive team with good players and a place for me, then yes, I would like to return to CS."

That's why this Asia RMR is so important to him. Reaching the Major would give him something tangible to show for all the hard work and the sacrifices he has made over the years.

"My career goal is to reach the Major," he said. "If I make the Major, I think I can rest for a while without any worries during my military service.

"If I get my own sticker, I will be very happy. I want to make South Korean CS players proud. And they would remember me forever. That’s the highest honor I could receive."