Global Esports Sign AYRIN

According to recent reports, Indian esports organization Global Esports has signed former XSET Valorant pro player Jordan “AYRIN” He. The 26-year-old Canadian Valorant player will travel across the globe to compete in the Pacific League after XSET got denied partnership as an organization for the 2023 Valorant season.

AYRIN is a 26-year-old Valorant player who competed in CrossFire before transitioning to Riot Games’ FPS title in 2020. He started his Valorant career in April 2020 with Echo 8, with who he competed in some lesser events and has achieved reasonable success.

In July 2020, AYRIN left the team and competed under Pretty Boyz’s banner, helping the team win a couple of lesser events, including EVOlution Open – North America and Nerd Street Gamers – Monthly October. Due to the team’s success, the entire Pretty Boyz roster got picked up by XSET, who was forming its inaugural Valorant squad.

With XSET, AYRIN has achieved a lot, but the beginnings were difficult, as XSET failed to achieve much by the end of the year, crashing out of NSG Tournament – Qualifier and First Strike North America – NSG Tournament in ninth-16tth and 13th-16th place.

However, with the new season, XSET slowly got back on their feet, kicking off the new year with a title from NSG x Complexity Invitational. Shortly after, XSET made it through VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Challengers 1 – Qualifier in fifth-eighth and then added two fourth-place finishes at VCT 2021: North America Stage 1 Challengers 1 and Challengers 2.

By the end of the year, XSET would remain a competitive team despite failing to win a single title. Nevertheless, XSET left their mark with runner-up finishes at VCT 2021: North America Stage 2 Challengers 1 and VCT 2021: North America Stage 3 Challengers 1.

In 2022, XSET continued with strong showings, and they even qualified for VCT 2022: Stage 2 Masters – Copenhagen and the season-culminating VALORANT Champions 2022. But, unfortunately, the team couldn’t reach for the stars as they finished the two events in seventh-eighth and fifth-sixth place.

XSET might have failed to win any notable tournaments since it first entered the Valorant esports scene, the team has established itself as one of the top squads in the region.

Notably, they were the second-best NA team at VALORANT Champions 2022, where they placed fifth-sixth. Much of XSET’s success in 2022 was thanks to AYRIN, who has proven himself as one of the best players on the roster, and a very effective Astra, Viper, and Killjoy player.

However, despite his individual performances and the team’s success, AYRIN’s journey with XSET has come to an end, but not in a way many expected.

XSET would have likely proceeded into the next Valorant season with the same roster, but the organization did not secure the partnership deal with Riot Games. Reportedly, XSET made it fare in the partnership application process but was eventually cut off, effectively forcing XSET to pull the plug on its Valorant division.

As a result, Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban, Brendan “BcJ” Jensen, and Zachary “zekken” Patrone have already parted ways with the organization. That left XSET with AYRIN and Rory “dephh” Jackson as the only active players on the roster, the number going down to just one now.

According to recent reports, AYRIN has already found a new home at an Indian esports team, Global Esports. Even though Global Esports haven’t achieved nearly as much as XSET over its two-year existence, they have, unlike XSET, secured a sport in the partnered league for the 2023 Valorant season.

The team will compete in the Pacific Valorant league alongside other big names from the region, including Gen.G, T1, DRX, ZETA Division, Paper Rex, Talon Esports, and Team Secret. It’s currently unclear who AYRIN will replace at Global Esports, but it is possible that the Indian squad will proceed with seven players.

Alternatively, Global Esports might want to look to completely rebuild its roster, bringing in new players from the EU and NA regions, as there are many free agents due to Riot Games’ strict partnership selection process.