Former CrossFire pro Xlele joins Trace Esports

Former CrossFire athlete Zhao ‘Xlele’ Yanbo has joined VALORANT team Trace Esports, making the switch from one FPS scene to another.

The Chinese esports organisation confirmed the transfer today via Weibo, explaining that ‘[Xlele] is like a silently growing root system, waiting only for a storm that belongs to him to hit.’

According to Trace Esports’ post, Xlele was signed after several trial games where he proved his ‘unique combat performance’ and ‘extraordinary edge and toughness.’ This is the first VALORANT esports roster that Xlele has been officially part of, bringing his mechanical prowess to VCT China.

Prior to his transition to VALORANT, the player exclusively competed in CrossFire, another tactical first-person shooter.

Developed by Smilegate Entertainment, the game was first released in Korea in 2007. One year later, CrossFire was published in China by game conglomerate Tencent and has since become one of the country’s most popular FPS titles.  

Xlele‘s competitive CrossFire career began in 2021 and has led to multiple successful runs at tier-two and tier-three tournaments. His biggest achievement so far was winning the Breaking Waves Cup in 2023. Xlele last played for Chinese organisation KINGZERO-eSports before retiring from professional play in April last year.

While it appears that Xlele is making a return to esports with a new game, it remains uncertain if the player will be starting for Trace in the near future. Trace already has a full active roster and even signed Zhang ‘midi’ Jiajun as a fifth player less than one month ago.

As the organisation failed to qualify for the upcoming Masters Toronto event, Trace now has until July 3rd to build its starting roster for VCT China Stage 2.

Meanwhile, Xlele is not the first athlete to transition from CrossFire to VALORANT. Fellow Chinese player Li ‘Lsn’ Sinan competed for several CrossFire teams, including All Gamers, for over a decade before joining AG’s VALORANT roster ahead of VCT China Kickoff.