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The upcoming Red Bull Campus Clutch 'World Finals' will host 2022's best-performing collegiate Valorant teams in a highly competitive five-day playoff series. At São Paulo, Brazil, the final phase of the long-running tournament will begin on December 13, and conclude on December 17 with a grand final event.
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Team Villainous [the Red Bull Campus Clutch India Finals winner], alongside 49 other high-achieving Valorant teams, will fight for a chance to grab the prestigious title and the biggest share of the €20,000 prize.
Paradox, who currently also plays for Revenant Esports, is one of the five athletes representing India in the upcoming Red Bull Campus Clutch World Finals. He will also be backed by popular and talented athletes, namely Saksham "Deadly10" Aurangabadkar of Velocity Gaming, Tanmay "FOX" Verma of Medal Esports, GauRanG, and BuLL3T.
As it stands, Team Villainous is a strong candidate amongst all the teams participating in this tournament.
Team Villainous' Paradox speaks about the upcoming Red Bull Campus Clutch World Finals - The team's strategies, his favorite Valorant agent, and more
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Esports' Sharmila Ganguly, Kasif "Paradox" Sayyed shared some insights regarding Team Villainous' plans and ongoing preparations for the upcoming Red Bull Campus Clutch World Finals. He also had some valuable tips for new players looking to enter the dynamic world of Valorant esports.
Question: The ultimate phase of the Red Bull Campus Clutch 2022 is almost here. How are you and your team, Team Villainous, preparing for the grand World Final Stage?
Paradox: As you know, I'm from Revenant, Deadly is from Velocity, FOX is from Medal Esports. We all received space from our organizations (teams) for this upcoming tournament. We asked them ourselves to get us benched for this period. So, we are practicing every night for (minimum) two to three hours, and our practice is going pretty well. We are picking up scrims, practices, dry runs, and more.
Question: The Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final stage will host the best-performing collegiate-level teams from across the world. The pressure will be immense. What do you think are their biggest strengths? Is Team Villainous ready to counter the competition?
Paradox: As per my statement in an older interview, I feel that collegiate level aim is way better than professional aim. They're not afraid to peek and just go all in or all out, like there's nothing to lose. They don't know the risks of losing an aim battle and so, they just go all out.
We are preparing ourselves tactically because, as you might know, all the athletes on our team are technically good. Each and everyone on our team, they're skilful. But, after all, it's a team game and the chemistry, the energy, and everything related to it matters. We are practicing and we are going to build on our strengths instead of working on others' weaknesses.
Question: Describe your in-game role in Team Villainous. If you were to play just one character from the Valorant roster for the rest of your life, who would it be?
Paradox: My role on the team [Villainous] is that of a 'pseudo Duelist' currently. I'll either play a Duelist or a character who can act like a Duelist. Basically, even if I play KAY/O, I play it like a Duelist.
If I play Neon, who is obviously a Duelist, I'll play her in a more supportive role. For example, I'll make some distractions, maybe some flanks. I use my stunts to provide an advantage to my team.
Regarding the one agent that I may choose for life in Valorant is... The most versatile Agent that you can have in Valorant is KAY/O.
KAY/O is self-sufficient and can greatly help the team. His ability to suppress opponents [ZERO/Point, NULL/Cmd] is undoubtedly the most annoying. If you get suppressed, you can't use your abilities and you're forced to take an aim duel, which I like. His flashes [FLASH/Drive] and nade/molly [FRAG/MENT] are also good. His kit is very balanced, in a way that he isn't a broken Agent. If you know how to play him smartly, KAY/O is definitely one of the best Agents.
Question: Team Villainous had undergone a crucial change during Red Bull Campus Clutch India, when Ezzy had to leave and you had to pick a replacement, Deadly. How did the change affect Team Villanous’s original strategic plan? How have your roles evolved since the change and since your brilliant victory in the India Finals phase?
Paradox: Ezzy leaving [Team Villainous] was kind of sad. Unfortunately, he had some personal issues that prevented him from committing to Red Bull Campus Clutch. He wasn't able to attend the Stage 2 of the [national] tournament qualifiers. We had to bring in a substitute very quickly.
At that time, Deadly was in RGE [Reckoning Esports] and I had to try and acquire him for Phase 2, which was slated to begin in a day. The evening before our first Phase 2 match, I had to request Sharang "Sh4rkyy" Naicker to let Deadly play for Team Villainous.
After Deadly joined, our roles underwent some changes. However, GauRanG remained the hardcore Controller that he is, and BuLL3T stuck to the Initiator role.
During Ezzy's presence, FOX [Tanmay Verma] was playing the role of a distracting Initiator and stuck to Agents like Breach and Skye. I was playing the Duelist role, while Ezzy stuck to Chamber [Sentinel].
After Ezzy left and Deadly joined the team, I offered Deadly the Duelist role and I chose to become a pseudo Duelist, except Chamber. Deadly picked Chamber whenever the team needed it and the primary Duelist role, while I was given the secondary Initiator or the second Duelist role.
Question: Will you and your team choose a Double Duelist team comp, like professional teams usually pick on maps like Bind?
Paradox: Yeah, a double Duelist composition for Bind. For example, I'll go with Raze, he [Deadly] may go with Agents like Phoenix or Reyna. We have got some tricks up our sleeves for the Red Bull Campus Clutch World Finals. We're going for a strategy similar to that of Paper Rex's popular aggressive approach.
As I said before, we are going to work on our strengths instead of working on others' weaknesses. Aggressiveness is one of our strengths and we are going to use it.
Question: In an earlier interview, you had mentioned your love for many video game genres, including racing, MOBA, campaign-based, and more. You have showcased a considerable presence in the CS:GO and Street Fighter scenes as well. What was the drive behind you picking Valorant esports as your primary preference among so many options?
Paradox: I was never a fan of shooting games, like first-person shooters. However, coming from a CS:GO professional background, it was very easy for me to switch to Valorant. I'm very quick to grasp things, be it academically or anything. So, when Valorant launched, I was very quick to grasp its mechanics and it felt very easy for me.
I also had this intuition that Valorant will become very popular and successful in India. The timing of Valorant's launch was so sweet. I found the game to be pretty much easy as well. It's easy to learn, but slightly hard to master. But I would say that Valorant's skill ceiling is not that vast.
It isn't like Rainbow Six Siege, which is hard to learn and super hard to master. CS:GO is easy to learn, but very, very hard to master, which is not the case with Valorant. Mobile esports and Valorant on PC are on top right now in India.
There are no CS:GO tournaments. Sky Esports is bringing a few CS:GO and Dota tournaments right now. They're bringing back popular competitive games from the past. But, for now, Valorant is the most popular PC game [in India].
Question: The Red Bull Campus Clutch has influenced thousands of students and given them a platform to showcase their skills in Valorant. You have been a part of the Indian professional Valorant scene for a long time. Considering your precious experience in the field, how would you motivate a newbie looking to walk into the vast world of Valorant esports?
Paradox: As I mentioned before, Valorant is easy to learn, but hard to master. You can just grind it out by playing as many ranked games as possible. First, you should start with making a team with your friends. Choose from friends who are like-minded or promising players whom you come across in ranked games. They should be good with communication.
First of all, while stepping into the world of esports, I know I'm talking like an Indian parent right now, but you have to focus on your education. You have to keep a backup plan ready for yourself. The esports scene in India is growing, but it's not on the benchmark set by the North American and EMEA regions yet. It's still evolving, and hence, you can't completely rely on it.
In fact, I'm pursuing a post-graduate degree right now. I have not left my educational route yet. However, time management is of utmost importance while juggling between esports and studies.
There are no shortcuts to esports, don't cheat in games. You should keep indulging in esports and practicing video games. Just keep playing and you’ll get better with time.
You need to grind in the game and participate in tournaments hosting high-achieving teams. Don't be afraid to forge an underdog story for yourself. Don't be afraid to participate in tournaments as it will bring you experience.
