EXCLUSIVE: Global Esports’ FrosT opens up on TALON’s exit, a chaotic move to GE, and VCT 2026 goals

Esports Insider sat down with TALON’s former head coach Hector ‘FrosT’ Rosario, who has recently joined Indian esports organisation Global Esports for VCT 2026. 

The veteran coach explained in detail about the chaos that unfolded during the Off//Season surrounding the future of TALON’s entire roster, as well as how he ultimately moved to GE. 

Prior to joining Global Esports, FrosT revealed that he had organisations “even bigger than Sentinels” on board to replace TALON in VCT Pacific; however, the proposals were turned down by Riot Games. In addition to this, he also expressed his disappointment with Riot’s decision to bring in FULL SENSE.

The head coach also spoke about the current GE roster he is working with, concerns over the limited practice time, VCT 2026 goals, and the current meta.

Check out the full interview below.

Editor’s note: For confidentiality purposes, some team names have been redacted from this interview. 

Esports Insider: First of all, we want to talk to you about you joining Global Esports after your contract with TALON was not renewed. How was that period for you? How did you end up with GE, and did you receive any other offers at the time?

FrosT: Yeah, it was kind of crazy because I had suspicions that things weren’t going well at TALON, and I pretty much felt that my time there was over after the Japan and Stage 2 Playoffs was probably my last game. By the end of August or early September, I was already fielding offers from Asia, America, and EMEA.

I then had what I’d call an exit meeting with my General Manager and Thanamethk ‘Crws’ Mahatthananuyut. During that meeting, we decided to try and run it back one more time. Because of that, I went back to some of the organisations that were interested in signing me and told them I’d probably be going back to TALON.

Shortly after, I heard whispers of Riot potentially hitting TALON with a sanction because of a former player, Peter ‘Governor’ No, because of the payments that were not received. That’s when I realised, “Oh, this is the problem.” So, I went back to some of the organisations I’d previously spoken to, including Global Esports, and explained that something serious was happening, asking if they were still interested. Some said yes, others had already moved on.

We then got the heads up from both people at Riot, and Crws ended up having a meeting with the head of the Pacific. At that point, it became clear that there was much bigger stuff going on.

After that, Crws and I had discussions with TALON’s management, and they were transparent about some of the stuff that was happening. That’s when we realised there was a chance that TALON might not even be in the league. When that happened, I started reaching out to other organisations I’d built relationships with over the years, trying to find a replacement that could come in if needed.

Crws and the rest of the boys wanted to keep everyone together. So I went forward with that plan. I got good advice from some people at G2 Esports about their situation and how they handled it when they had to get involved. I kind of copied the playbook and used it with my guys. That was basically what happened. I did my best to follow the playbook.

We even engineered a backdoor conversation with Riot and tried to keep everybody together. But, let’s just say Riot had other plans and decided to do everything contrary to what I feel is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do, given that franchising is up at the end of this competitive year.

When we figured out that Riot was kind of going to let everybody hang out to dry, I went back to Dr Rushindra Sinha [Co-founder and CEO of Global Esports] and explained the situation. He basically said, “Listen, I can maybe give you until November 1st, but I can’t go past that.” Also, just so you know, we’d been dealing with this since the middle of September all the way to November 1st.

ESI: And the season finished in August.

FrosT: Right and I wasn’t officially on Global Esports until November 1st. On November 4th, there was a possibility that Riot would let one of the orgs back in or end up acquiescing and allowing us to go with our plan. So there was even a timeline where I’d have to make a really impossible choice on November 4th.

Then they gave TALON another two-week extension, and the whole situation was cooked.

They knew there were issues, and I wasn’t asking to get in the middle of the TALON–Riot negotiation about whether they stay or not. I just wanted a contingency plan. If their plan was to kick out TALON, we have a backup, we have an org, we keep the slot, and everything goes fine.

The organisation we brought in knew it was a one-year contract. They just wanted to show Riot that they could do a good job so that in the next round of applications they could say, “Hey, look how well we did when we took over TALON.” That was what happened.

I’m still not sure what Riot thought about our technical proposal, but given what they did and how they handled this situation, it would have been much better to listen to us in the first place and follow the protocol they had already set with The Guard.

Also, if you don’t think TALON is good enough, that’s fine. But there’s no way you thought FULL SENSE was, when you passed on them in franchising in the first place. Riot’s own evaluation said FULL SENSE wasn’t good enough.

And the organisations I brought were arguably bigger than most organisations in VALORANT. I don’t want to take names, but some of the organisations I had were bigger than even a team like Sentinels.

ESI: Did Riot provide any reasoning for rejecting your proposals?

FrosT: No, they didn’t. They kept moving the goalposts. They kept saying, “Oh, we want APAC teams only,” which to me is really weird given the fact that it’s a one-year lease. It’s not like you’re dealing with this team for three more years.

Okay, fine, you want an APAC team? I even got [redacted] ready to take the TALON players, and the organisation said, “Fine, for a one-year lease, it’s okay.”

Also, [redacted] was the biggest one we were thinking about. They’re bigger than Sentinels. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bigger in VALORANT, but in the grand scheme of esports, they are bigger.

So there’s no way you can look at me in good faith and say, “Oh, the organisation you brought wasn’t at TALON’s calibre.” It’s like, bro, what are we talking about?

But whatever the reason, it doesn’t make sense to me because it’s not like FULL SENSE is better for VALORANT, or even, I would argue, Thai VALORANT. 

Their best IGL on the roster is a coach now because the organisation has to field some of their young players, when in reality, the first thing they did was change the roster. Their whole Tier 2 team is basically gone now, and it didn’t make sense. It really didn’t.

ESI: In a recent interview, you mentioned that TALON was not your first choice and that you joined them because you were running out of money. Can you share a bit about that? 

FrosT: So I was actually trying to go to Fnatic, and I thought I had a pretty good in. I even had great recommendations and I’ve known Patrik ‘Carn’ Sättermon and some of the guys there for a really long time, but it didn’t work out. They ended up going with Chris ‘Elmapuddy’ Tebbit.

There were a few other organisations I spoke to as well, and yeah, it didn’t go my way. Even at TALON, I wasn’t their first choice either. But at the end of the day, it worked out, I guess.

ESI: When it came to Global Esports, was it your first choice?

FrosT: No, this off-season, no. I really wanted to go back to the Americas because I was trying to team up with Andrej ‘babybay‘ Francisty. Me and babybay had an opportunity in North America, and we’re probably going to talk about it later.

But the roster we could’ve put together in North America compared to the roster that ended up being on the team we were planning on going to, I don’t think you can really compare them. I think we’re going to gauge both our success and their success and probably  discuss it later down the road.

Me and babybay really tried to get on the same team this year. That was the number one goal.

ESI: Would babybay have joined as a coach or as a player?

FrosT: No, he was definitely going to play. 

ESI: It’s pretty impressive that he still has so much energy and strong mechanical skills even after staying inactive for such a long time.

FrosT: Yeah, I mean, he shouldn’t have been out of the league. I think this is what happens a lot here. It’s kind of ridiculous. He should have had a spot in the league, same as Xavier ‘xavi8k’ Juan. Kale ‘autumn’ Dunne should have been picked up by a number of EMEA teams, Pacific teams especially. Some EMEA teams wanted him this year, but I don’t think he was as highly sought after as I thought he should have been.

ESI: Regarding the current Global Esports roster, was it put together by you?

FrosT: Yeah, we have a General Manager, Minseong ‘UnknowN’ Kim, who coordinated a lot of the contractual stuff and negotiated a lot of the deals. But in terms of the players themselves, yeah, it started with me. Even autumn has said that working with me was one of the biggest reasons why he’s here, same with Patrick ‘PatMen‘ Mendoza and xavi8k. But obviously management had to clear it, negotiate the deals, the salary conversations had to work out, and everything had to fall under budget.

ESI: We’ll definitely come back to PatMen, as it was one of the most surprising moves of the VCT Pacific Off//Season. But for now, could you elaborate on why you believe this roster is better than all the GE’s previous line-ups? What sets it apart, and what goals do you have in mind with this team?

FrosT: I think this is for sure the best roster they’ve had. I know people might think, “Oh, they also had I ‘monyet’ Nugraha and Kim ‘t3xture’ Na-ra,” but I’m still pretty sure if you compare that roster to this one, it doesn’t really compare. So, that’s what makes it unique. It’s the last year of franchising, but yet this is the best roster they’ve put together.

I think position by position, this is probably also one of the best rosters in the Pacific. I can think of a few that, in theory, could shape up to be stronger than us on paper, with Paper Rex being one of them.

My expectation, obviously, is bare minimum. We are going to make it to the playoffs this year for sure. I’ve reached the playoffs every season. Last year TALON’s roster, with Governor and Joseph ‘ban’ Oh, was nowhere near as strong as the one I have today, we placed top four in Kickoff.

But if we [Global Esports] get a better placement, top three, means we qualify for Masters Santiago. So I would say my personal goal is to win Champions, but the roster goal is to qualify for it.

ESI: Speaking specifically about PatMen, he had a very strong 2025 VCT season and he must have had multiple offers. How did you guys manage to lock him down?

FrosT: The timing of his previous organisation deciding to make all these changes made it really difficult for him. It’s true that he could have ended up in different places, but I think he was really committed to joining xavi8k. Roster strength was probably another factor, and I was probably a part of the line-up too. He had other opportunities, but when he narrowed things down, there was probably no contest. He wasn’t going to do better than this roster in the short amount of time he had in the offseason.

ESI: There are six players on the roster at the moment. How are you planning to rotate them?

FrosT: No plan. Nope. It’s a five-man roster. Derrick ‘Deryeon’ Yee fought for his spot; he wasn’t able to get it. But in case of an emergency, he’ll fit right in. 

ESI: You mentioned that the team didn’t have much time to practice together and that there were no Off//Season events left to participate in. Do you think this will affect your on-stage performance?

FrosT: I am slightly concerned about the lack of practice. For instance, our first scrim together was December 6th. Think about that, right? Sometimes I’m not sure whether we’re really ready. We win a lot of our scrims, but because of the timeline, if we’re winning on a particular map consistently, we move on to the next map.

Over time, it’s hard to gauge whether you’re actually good, because you’re never playing the same team on the same map, so you can’t see adjustments they have made. You’re kind of rolling the dice and assuming scrim performance will match stage performance.

Some of the mistakes we make when I do VOD review are indicative of a lack of chemistry. Sometimes in one round, three people think three different things, and you can hear it in the comms. So yeah, it’s a big concern. But overall, I still think we’re strong enough to beat anyone on any day.

Even though people think we’ll lose to VARREL because they’re the favourites, I don’t necessarily think that roster is better, especially having watched their games. I feel good about our chances to qualify and about what we’re doing with comms and how our veto looks.

ESI: Who takes the final in-game calls?

FrosT: Savva ‘Kr1stal’ Fedorov and PatMen help mid-round, but for the most part, xavi8k is the IGL. Given that he’s only been doing this for a month with this team, I think he’s doing a fine job. There are things he can improve, especially if our goal is to make Champs, but given the time we’ve had, I’m pretty happy with the results. He’s really solid.

ESI: In VCT Pacific and China especially, we have seen organisations work with scrim partners. Did Global Esports have anyone to help with preparation?

FrosT: No and hence, not having an Academy team has been really hard for me. At TALON, I used the Academy team a lot over the last few years. It’s something we’re trying to work through, but it’s been difficult.

It’s also hard because of scrim availability. For instance, we have a Korean team we play, which limits the amount of teams we can scrim because of what happened in the Pacific in the past. Chinese teams were on break, and it’s hard to know if you’re actually good when the teams you’re scrimming aren’t at the same calibre as your tier-one opponents.

ESI: As a coach, what challenges do you think VCT teams will face with the current agent balancing, Breeze changes, and the release of the new pistol?

FrosT: I think a lot of teams are going to struggle. Similar to last year, some of the best teams may not actually be able to perform at that level because of the changes. For example, Breeze is very different and we only started practising it recently. They changed the map, so you can’t run old strategies.

The new pistol is interesting, Francis ‘OXY’ Hoang said after the Americas Day 1 that the Bandit is as strong as a Guardian on pistol rounds, which could cause a big meta shift. The new map pool is weird, Abyss is in, and Veto — first off, stupid name for an agent given that map veto exists — is very strong.

I don’t think you’re going to see the best VALORANT early on, especially in the Pacific. Even if we come out as the first seed and reach the playoffs, I’m not sure I’d believe we’re the best team because so much changed so quickly. A map and a pistol coming in 12 days before competition is really tough.

But overall, franchising is hard and unforgiving. If you don’t perform, it doesn’t matter how good you think your roster is.

ESI: It’s a positive step that Riot is rewarding consistency through Championship Points and now, with the introduction of a triple-elimination bracket.

FrosT: I would like to get on my soapbox about that. People think the current structure is rewarding consistency, but I disagree. That’s not true. TALON placed fourth in Kickoff last year, sixth in Stage 1 with three rookies, third in Stage 2 playoffs and we didn’t go to Champions. DRX won Kickoff and were a point away from missing Champs. 

T1 won a Major and barely made it by one point in a tie break and we beat them twice. The system doesn’t reward consistency the way people think it does. If you average out our placements in the 2025 season, we basically placed fourth on average and certainly we deserved to be at every event.

ESI: So, according to you, should an average performance across events be taken into consideration?

FrosT: For sure, Split 1 playoffs shouldn’t mean more than Split 2 playoffs. It’s very weird that there’s also a Champions slot awarded for that. But in general, it’s their system, they get to do what they want. I just don’t think it actually rewards the consistency that they think it does.

ESI: Talking to Esports Insider, babybay mentioned that there could be a situation at Kickoff where a team might lose the Upper, Middle, and Lower Finals. What are your thoughts on that scenario?

FrosT: Yeah, that will happen. I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen. That’s three best-of-fives. Unfortunately, that’s just the way the system is. I don’t think it’s right or wrong. I will say, though, that three losses is a really interesting and different way to do it, so I’m all for it.

I think I’m going to like this system more than the previous ones. It’s kind of a weird Swiss-system-ish format. I’m excited to try it, but yes, one team could get screwed in that way, and that’s okay.

However, the reason I think they’re at such a disadvantage is because they have to play three meaningful best-of-fives back-to-back-to-back. That’s a lot of study. Also, that’s a lot of information people can dig into and get a really good idea of the team and their strategies. That’s going to be very hard on the coaching staff, for sure.