South Asian Valorant teams face another nightmare day in the office as their struggle against the SEA teams continues in the Zotac Cup. South Asia's last hopes Velocity Gaming and Enigma Gaming were both knocked out of the Zotac Cup after losing against Full Sense and Nigma Galaxy respectively in the Lower Bracket Round 2 Tie.
Velocity Gaming, Enigma Gaming, Reckoning Esports, and Team Expolit qualified for the Valorant Zotac cup and represented the South Asian region in the competition. However, all four teams failed to deliver their best against the top teams of SEA and were eventually eliminated from the competition.
With the Valorant Conquerors Championship 2022 set to commence within just a few days, it is an alarming sign for all South Asian teams. The top two teams from the competition will represent the region in the Valorant Champions Tour APAC Split-1 Playoffs where they may face these top SEA teams once again. South Asian teams need to work on multiple things to perform better in the competition.
Note: This article is purely subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion.
Top 5 things to work on for South Asian Valorant teams ahead of the APAC Split-1 Playoffs:
1) More strategic play
Valorant's Zotac Cup has been a reality check for South Asian teams as the tournament pointed out how much better the SEA teams are strategically. To compete against those teams, South Asian teams need to come up with some new strategies ahead of the APAC Split-1 Playoffs.
South Asian teams are becoming much more predictable at times and SEA teams are taking advantage of the situation. With improved strategic gameplay, South Asian teams can surely challenge the teams from SEA.
2) Winning Pistol rounds
Winning the first two rounds of each half is an important factor in the game when it comes to building momentum. South Asian teams seem to be lacking in this part as well.
Losing the first two rounds of each half eventually put the teams in a disadvantageous position. Teams need to polish themselves a little bit to perform better in Pistol rounds.
3) Ability usage
The combination of agents' abilities and gunplay sets Valorant apart from the rest. Players need to be on point with both ability usage and gunplay to perform better in this game.
SEA teams focus more on ability usage to outclass their opponents. South Asian teams can take note of this and could try to improve in this area.
4) Eco-round Conversion
South Asian teams need to improve their eco-round decision making and try to convert more on these semi-buy rounds. An effective eco or semi-buy round (rounds where players save their creds for a full-buy the next round) will help teams in the next rounds as well by damaging the opponent's economy.
SEA teams are more effective in these eco-rounds and hence receive extra-advantages in the game which is something South Asian teams can focus on.
5) Communication
On the surface it seems that teams are lacking communication among themselves in-game. Sorting out these communication issues will help South Asian teams make better decisions in the heat of the moment which could turn rounds.
South Asian teams competing in the upcoming APAC Split-1 Playoffs have an arduous journey ahead, but its not something that they can't overcome.