VALORANT Champions 2023 Sees Positive COVID Test
After a smooth start to VALORANT Champions 2023, the final VCT event of the year has encountered a positive COVID test just as the second day of playoffs was set to begin.
An official announcement from the VALORANT esports team today confirmed that a member of the DRX roster has tested positive for COVID. The player requested the test and although feeling well enough to play, they will compete against Bilibili on LAN from an isolated room in a quarantined area. DRX came out on stage without Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan, indicating he was the player who tested positive.
An update on today’s #VALORANTChampions match between @DRX_VS and @BilibiliGaming. pic.twitter.com/bd8AtICCu5
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) August 17, 2023
DRX Brings Sixth Player for VALORANT Champions 2023
DRX brought a sixth player, Zest, with them for the event and has already won both of their group-stage matches. Zest has been playing in the starting lineup while Foxy9 remained on the bench. Although they have the option to replace MaKo with Foxy9, DRX has decided to compete with one of the world’s top controller players while MaKo competes from quarantine.
Positive COVID Test at VALORANT Champions 2023
With this positive test, Champions 2023 joins the list of international VALORANT events that have seen at least one player test positive for COVID. Prior to this, Masters Tokyo was on track to become the second consecutive event without a positive test. Earlier this year, Fnatic had to compete without Derke for their opening match in LOCK//IN as he was quarantined, but he was able to return in time for them to win the event.
The schedule is subject to change, but DRX is currently scheduled to play against Bilibili today at 2pm CT.
Related: VALORANT Champions 2023, COVID test, DRX, Bilibili