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The Pacific League in Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) 2023 features teams from the Asia-Pacific region. It consists of highly reputable organizations that have tasted success at the top-most levels when it comes to competitive gaming, such as Cloud9 and Paper Rex. However, not all the squads in this tournament are equal in terms of how much they've achieved. For instance, Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ) and Detonation FocusMe, are yet to make a mark on an international stage.
The former is an Indonesian squad that came under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons a while ago. RRQ has faced a lot of criticism from regional fans after they decided to sign Filipino players over ones from their own territory once they made a partnership deal with Riot Games.
Though most fans don't expect this squad to perform remarkably in the VCT Pacific League, one must not count them out as they keep working together and learning from their losses as a team.
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RRQ's 2ge on playing against Detonation FocusMe in VCT Pacific League 2023 and more
Abhipsito Das of Sportskeeda esports interviewed the Indonesian team's primary controller, James "2ge" Goopio, after RRQ's Week 2 game in the VCT Pacific League on Saturday, April 1. Over the course of the conversation, he spoke about the national pride associated with esports organizations, reasons why he feels Astra is still broken, and the idea behind the team's Lotus composition.
Q. RRQ faced some criticism towards the end of last year when the VCT partnership model was announced for getting players from outside Indonesia despite there being plenty of great talent in the region. As a foreign player yourself, what effect do the expectations of the fanbase have on your performance as a team?
2ge: For us, because we are not Indonesian, we are Pinoys. We, as a team... we are one nationality because we are representing Indo. We care about the fans, but we don’t let [their expectations] affect us. They don’t want players from outside [Indonesia] when there are so many potential players in Indo, but it was the decision of RRQ.
Q. On a similar note, the team has spoken about the difficulty in communicating effectively given linguistic differences. Things looked much better today; how is the team coming along in that respect?
2ge: There is still a bit of language barrier between us (the Indonesian and Filipino players) because English is not our mother tongue. Over time, we will improve even further.
Q. How much pressure were you under coming into this series considering the team was yet to win a single map in the 2023 season of the VCT so far?
2ge: There is no pressure on us since we are the underdogs of the VCT Pacific League. We have nothing to lose, but we are trying our best to beat the top teams of the world.
Q. Who do you think is your biggest contender in the VCT Pacific League?
2ge: I think DRX and Paper Rex. The two of them are the biggest contenders for me.
Q. You started off much stronger today than in your first VCT Pacific game against Gen.G. What was the difference in the team’s mental with respect to the two matches?
2ge: We just approached them (ZETA DIVISION) like any other scrim match. We were not afraid of them simply because they had already played on a big stage like Champions. On Haven, our comms were great, our strats were working out, and we read them fairly well. On Ascent, we were reading them but failed the gunfights, which led to them being better today.
Q. Were you concerned about a potential comeback after a dominant start on Haven?
2ge: We knew that they were coming close, but we focused on individual rounds instead of thinking of the outcome. We anti-stratted them and read them, and took no pressure regarding a potential comeback.
Q. What about Astra’s kit do you think makes her a better pick for you than Omen?
2ge: As Astra I can help my teammates globally. If I am on the A-Site, I can help my team on the B-Site. I can smoke back site to buy time and stay alive. I can even anti-rush them with my utilities like Gravity Well, stun, smokes. Compared to all this, Omen only has one flash and two smokes.
Q. About Astra’s kit in general, do you think it could use certain changes or do you think she is in a good place right now?
2ge: Astra used to be so broken with her five stars and 15-second cooldown on called-back stars. I think, even now, she is still quite broken even with four stars and longer (35s) cooldown. She is still the best Agent for me, for now anyway.
Q. What was playing Lotus without any kind of hard recon like?
2ge: We couldn’t see the enemy because we didn’t have Sova or Fade, while our opponents (ZETA) had Fade. We only had Guiding Lights for info, but we couldn’t tell how many people were there, and we couldn’t be sure if they were executing or just faking.
Q. What were some of your takeaways from today’s VCT Pacific match?
2ge: I would like to be more brave next time. I was maybe a bit too passive in this series. I was trying to play smart and find the right timing, but since the enemy was putting so much pressure by taking control, me being a little more brave would have been better. I will try to do it the next time so we can win our next series.
Q. You will be facing Detonation FocusMe, another Japanese team, in your next game in VCT Pacific League. What do you think of them? Any special preparations to counter their tactics?
2ge: We will definitely VOD review them. We will play our usual game. Play together, retake together, and we will win our next series for sure!
