The announcement of Kim “glow” Min-soo retiring from competitive play was a big shock to the fans of Valorant. The esports veteran brought the Korean Vision Strikers team to be a formidable force in the region. An unbeaten run of 100+ victorious series straight is a record that will likely stand for a very long time in Valorant’s history books.

Run It Back was honored to get the chance to find out more about the beginnings of glow‘s journey in esports as a professional player, what he thinks his biggest esports achievements are, and whether we will see him once again in esports in the future.

glow on his Career in Esports and Great Success with Vision Strikers

Run It Back: What motivated you to start your career in esports and how were your beginnings?

glow: When I was little, I started playing Counter-Strike and took it seriously almost from the get-go, looking at replays of talented players. I started to dream about becoming a professional esports player and I even slept less to work on my game. Eventually, I finally got a call from Lunatic-hai. I came to Seoul back then with high hopes and ambition, but the professional gaming life was not exactly as how I thought it would be. Back then, aside from StarCraft: Brood War teams, other games’ professional teams did not have such luxurious lifestyle. However, I looked at my hyungs (older teammates) and dreamt of winning the world title together and worked with the environment we had.

You had a long run in esports overall, starting off with Counter-Strike, CS:GO, and finally Valorant. Was it difficult to makes the transition to a different game every couple of years?

glow: When I transitioned from Counter-Strike to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, there wasn’t much that changed. The game’s engine was practically the only thing that was updated so it wasn’t too difficult. However, transitioning from CS:GO to VALORANT was a bit harder because I had to learn more aspects of the game like abilities and each agent’s specialties.

Why did you decide to leave professional play at this very moment?

glow: Like I mentioned in the announcement video, when Vision Strikers was first formed, the team, aside from myself, had limited experience and I thought I could help by leading the team in-game. Right now, I believe that my former teammates have gained ample professional experience at this point. So, when a younger player with better talent than me joins the team, I believe that Vision Strikers will not have any team to fear in the world.

What would you say are your top 3 moments in your career?

glow: This one is easy. First is winning the VALRORANT FIRST STRIKE KOREA Championship. Second is winning the VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 1 Korea Regional Masters. And finally, the third is leading the team to a 100+ series wins without a single loss.

I believe that these three moments are the zenith of my career.

About that incredible achievement. What does it take to get 100 series wins in a row?

glow: When we played our first series [in Valorant], we did not think about recording 100+ wins without recording a single loss.

When we started winning convincingly throughout various tournaments, we thought of ourselves as one of the best teams in the game and had gained a lot of confidence. Confidence that said “we could beat any team in the world”. Even when we were behind on certain games or in unfavorable situations, this confidence boosted our mental game and I believe that this was the cornerstone of our unprecedented match record.

*Questions and answers may have been altered slightly for clarity and brevity.*

And just like that, Vision Strikers stand with four members. Four members that have absorbed the knowledge that glow brought to the table. Despite failing to qualify for the upcoming Masters Reykjavik event, Vision Strikers are guaranteed to bounce back in the future. This time, however, that will have to be done without the 33-year-old veteran, glow.

We thank glow for his time and contribution to the esports world. Run It Back wishes the esports veteran all the best of luck in his future endeavours. Hopefully, we will see glow shine once more, this time behind the scenes in esports.

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