After months of engaging matches, Valorant Champions Tour 2023: Pacific League has finally ended. On May 28, 2023, Paper Rex and DRX fought for the coveted championship title in the match-map Grand Finals. The series pushed players to their limit and also went the entire distance. The game was decided on its fifth map, Bind.
Eventually, Paper Rex emerged victorious, showcasing their tremendous mental fortitude and coordination despite being two maps down in the series. The team went home richer by $100,000 and received a Top Seeded Team slot at Valorant Champions Tour 2023: Masters Tokyo.
"I have really improved from last time": Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto expresses his views after the completion of the Valorant Pacific League
After the Grand Finals of Valorant Champions Tour 2023: Pacific League ended, Riot Games organized a press conference attended by Paper Rex and DRX players as well as coaches. They answered several questions.
During this press conference, Sportskeeda Esports reached out to Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto to ask about his progression from a seasoned Duelist to a high-impact flexible role.
In response, the Indonesian Valorant star compared his performance to playing the Sentinel and Initiator roles. He said:
"I would say... maybe when I play Sentinel — I still think my Sentinel is kind of a bit shaky — rather than Initiator, but I think I have improved a lot with the Initiator role. Like, from the last time, I always watch pro players who play the flexible role. I always learn from them as well. Even though I know that they are more experienced than me because this flexible role is new for me, I would say it is not easy because I have to think in a flexible role, not like Duelist. I think I have really improved from last time."
Since the start of Valorant Champions Tour 2023: Pacific League, f0rsakeN displayed his versatility by playing several roles for Paper Rex beside his usual Duelists.
He demonstrated his prowess with Initiators — including Skye, Fade, and even Sova — picking them a total of eight times during the league while also maintaining a good rating across the maps he played on.
f0rsakeN also played with Killjoy as well as Cypher and sat at the top of the scoreboard on a few maps with the former. Towards the end of the league, he is also seen taking up the role of a second Controller in the form of Harbor on Bind.
Although he picked Duelists like Neon, Jett, and even Yoru on certain maps, this number was far below his career average. Across all his recorded professional games, he has played with Duelist Agents in more than 65% of maps. However, this situation was vice-versa during the Pacific League, as he played other roles in about the same proportion.