Week 7, Day 2 of VCT 2023: Pacific League has come to a conclusion. On the day, two intense matches were held. In the first match, India's Global Esports went head-on against Rex Regum Qeon. This match was extremely crucial for both teams. It was closely fought, with both rosters going neck-to-neck till the end. Unfortunately for Global Esports, the game ended in favor of Rex Regum Qeon, where the latter won the best of three series with a scoreline of 2-0.
After the match was over, Rishabh Kalita from Sportskeeda Esports got the exclusive opportunity to have a conversation SkRossi. Ganesh "SkRossi" Gangadhar is a professional Valorant player from India who currently plays for Global Esports. During the interview, SkRossi went in-depth about GE's match against RRQ, sharing his biggest takeaway, the importance of the upcoming week, and more.
GE SkRossi talks about the team's performance against RRQ in VCT 2023: Pacific League, their upcoming matches, the Indian esports scene, and more
Q. How do you think you performed today? Are you satisfied, or do you believe you could have done better?
SkRossi: No, completely dogsh*t [laughs]. I played really bad, and I know it. Today I just wasn't feeling it, you know. I was in a really good mood to play and go out there and perform, but that couldn't happen. A few things happened, and I wasn't feeling good or was not in the right mindset at the beginning of the game, and that kind of, how to say, I couldn't start really well in the first map, and I just couldn't come back after that. It was a very rough day for me.
Q. What did you think of your team's performance?
SkRossi: I think everybody played good, to be honest. But the opponents, especially Lmemore, just won them a couple of eco rounds, some of the crucial rounds. I think one individual kind of stepped up for them, and all the others actually, they played good, but they were just unlucky. Both the games were really close, 13-10 and 13-11, and in both the maps, we lost some crucial eco rounds and crucial rounds where the opponent players just stepped up huge, and yeah, it happened.
Q. Did RRQ make any play or deploy strategies that might have caught you guys off-guard at any point in today's match?
SkRossi: No, to be honest, nothing like that. We knew how they would play. Most of the things that we knew or expected them to do, they did the exact same thing. Nothing caught us off-guard. It's just me whiffing a couple of important shots and the opponent Lmemore just stepping up when it mattered the most, winning them crucial rounds. I think that made the difference today.
Q. GE is known for its strong pistol rounds. But the team lost both pistol rounds on Fracture today. What do you think went wrong?
SkRossi: I honestly don't know. I, myself, like I said, wasn't feeling really good and I don't even remember how we lost the pistol rounds, to be honest. I was like in a very dark zone maybe, I just don't know what happened. I honestly don't remember how we lost the pistol rounds. I just remember the Fracture, first pistol round how we lost but other than that, I actually don't remember to be honest.
I think it's because we didn't play together. Usually, we play together on pistol rounds. Maybe, we just went one by one. I went one by one and died while flanking, and the others just went from CT and stuff. I think we weren't clumped together. Maybe that's the reason.
Q. You talked about the first pistol round on Fracture, was that spike plant intentional?
SkRossi: No, I don't know what happened. We discussed after that we need to plant open. I don't know how we made that plant happen. Because we knew that they had B Main and are pushing B Main, but I don't know actually. That wasn't part of the plan. It just happened on the fly, I guess.
Q. What is your biggest takeaway from today's match?
SkRossi: I think we just need to be focused, be on point, and always stay together because, in today's game, the enemy used to get away with swinging wide and getting one kill. We were going untraded. I think now we need to be more serious and focused, to be honest, when we are going into the fighting areas and expecting the enemies to just swing and get kills, you know. So we should be ready to trade it and nothing else, I think. That's it.
In today's game, we should have been winning, but both games were close. We played horrible; I played horrible. I mean, not the entire team played bad, but I played horribly, and still, the score was what? 13-10, 13-11. So I am the kind of guy who always searches the positive things in the negative sides, you know. So the biggest takeaway will be, like, I played this bad, and the scores are like 13-10, 13-11, so if I play really good or at least decent, I think we can win games. I think that's the biggest takeaway.
The next week is super important. Regardless of today, if we win or not, the Team Secret game is really important for us. For that to happen, we need to first win against DetonatioN FocusMe. So Detonation and Secret game is really important for us now.
Q. Since you have been active in the Indian esports scene for so long, what do you think the Indian scene currently lacks that's preventing us from emerging as a leading nation in esports? I mean, people do have passion, but talents aren't coming out. So what do you think is the reason?
SkRossi: I think people have passion only in the initial days then it completely fades away when people find quick fame or quick money, and all the other things they get distracted by. I think that is one of the reasons. There is no 100% commitment from people. Everybody lives in Bootcamps and practice, but that is not enough to reach where all the others are. I think lack of commitment and multiple distractions is holding back our country, to be honest, is what I feel, and not giving younger generations a really good chance at a very young age, I think that is one of the factors as well.
Q. You are known for your crisp aim. You also had the highest ACS in the Pacific League last week. Can you share with us your aim training routine that you follow to keep your aim sharp and consistent?
SkRossi: So I follow this aim routine called the Miyagi aim method. That's just my entire warmup routine. People can YouTube that. It's really easy. So it's all about not shooting or not just spraying as soon as you see an enemy. It's all about taking time and being very accurate. It's all about that. So yeah, nothing else.
Q. When you are not playing Valorant, what do you like to do in your free time?
SkRossi: Before, it was all about Valorant. The last two years before the League, it was always Valorant. But at one point, I realized that playing too much of only one game, it's not good, you know. You also need to do other things to clear up your mind to reset for the next day. You also need to make yourself feel good and give time for other things in life. I think that's what I learned, and it's been really doing me good in terms of mental state and being fresh for the next day, for the practice or tournaments. So I just play games like Dota 2 with my friends, sit on Discord, talk to them, and just chill.
Before, it always used to be like practice, even after practice. Seven hours or six hours of Valorant always Ranked, Ranked, Ranked, but now I do play Ranked, but it's not like five hours or six hours. It's like after practice, a few hours of Ranked, and then just chill and reset for the next day.
Q. Global Esports will be facing DetonatioN FocusMe next. What do you think about the team, and what are your expectations from the matchup?
SkRossi: We can't expect anything. They can do anything at this point because they have nothing to lose, and we are the ones who have everything to lose at this point so. They'll come out swinging, and we should just be prepared for that and show them that we are the better team.
Q. Could you share some tips or advice for our readers aspiring to be professional esports players?
SkRossi: To be professional at something, you should be really loyal to your work. At the end of the day, you always need to think that 'Did I do my 100% today?' whatever I am working on, did I give my 100% to it? It's all about 100% commitment and always checking that are you doing good, are you doing bad, and what areas you need to work. And also your behavior outside the game and inside the game as well.
You also have to show the outside world what kind of a person you are. You cannot always be just a character inside the game. People need to know your personality as well. So have a really good social presence as well, which will really help a lot of professional players after their careers.
But coming into the game, it's all about putting your 100% into your craft, making it perfect and daily analysis and daily learning. It is all about commitment and asking yourself did you do everything today to see yourself where you want to be. It is all about that.
Up next for Global Esports in VCT 2023: Pacific League is DetonatioN FocusMe. The match is scheduled to go live on May 13, 2023.