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Riot Games hosts various tournaments and provides an international stage for Valorant players to showcase their talents. The Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) EMEA League is one of three regional competitions where teams fight for the ultimate victory.
Team Vitality and Karmine Corp (KC) clashed in the third week of the competition, and the former defeated the latter with a clean 2-0 scoreline. Vitality displayed shocking precision in not even allowing their opponents to reach double digits in round wins.
VIT BONECOLD speaks about the team’s performance, their goal, and his role as an IGL in VCT EMEA League
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Santeri "BONECOLD" Sassi hails from Finland and currently leads Team Vitality's Valorant roster. He started his career in Riot’s first-person shooter (FPS) title with hREDS and moved to Raise Your Edge Gaming after a year. After a brief stint in ASCEND, he became a part of Team Vitality.
He excels in understanding the flow of the game and is incredibly versatile. BONECOLD is a major asset as he can play multiple roles seamlessly and deliver outstanding performances consistently.
In a brief conversation with Sportskeeda, BONECOLD provided us with various insights.
Q. It was a great match and an overwhelming victory. What do you think about the team’s and your own performance today?
BONECOLD: I think today we played, like, super solidly. I don’t think that we did anything that special today. I feel like today everybody was crisp, everybody was kind of loose because we wanted to get back the momentum. It was nice for us because it just felt like everything was working, so it was a nice momentum shift for sure going into the next week’s games.
Q. What do you think went wrong on the enemy side that you took advantage of to win?
BONECOLD: I feel like they changed the comps on both maps - Ascent and Split. So I feel like they were just trying to get something new, something fresh going on. I just feel like they have some sort of confidence issue. I don’t feel like they are playing off of each other.
So, when the enemies keep coming separately in every single encounter or whenever you see them, it’s very easy to punish. I think the core issue for them is they just lost a bit of confidence from the previous games.
Q. After last week’s match against FUT Esports, what changes were made that stood out the most in today’s match?
BONECOLD: I feel like in this game we were playing a little bit looser. I feel like in all the chaotic situations that happen, we were like on top of them. So, when there were some hectic fights and whatnot, we knew the timings that we need to just go and everybody goes at the same time. We also knew when we have to breathe, take a moment, chill, and relax.
I feel like what happened is that we were making clear calls and we were exactly on the same page. That was one of the biggest things we were practicing for the week and it was coming together. Because I feel like, all the practice we did didn't show up in the match against FUT Esports, and we are aiming to be at least in the Top 3 teams in Europe.
So, I feel like the confidence we got from this game is going to be spiraling up, going into the next games.
Q. You have played different Agents in this tournament. Which role do you feel the most comfortable in?
BONECOLD: I feel like Sova and Fade are both that I enjoy playing as recon Agents. I just feel like I have the most impact and can manage the pace of the round, contributing the most to the round when I’m playing something like Sova or Fade.
Q. You will be facing BBL Esports next week. What do you think about them as a team? How do you plan to prepare against them?
BONECOLD: I feel like BBL Esports are playing like individuals. So, I feel like against them it's going to be very important to punish their mistakes and punish when they are overplaying the situations. I feel like we don’t have to do anything special against BBL when we go and play them.
It all comes to us playing super solid, playing together, and coming in with the right mindset when we go into that game. I feel like playing against BBL we should not have any problems.
Q. As the IGL, what do you think is the best way to boost team morale in the middle of a match?
BONECOLD: I think in the middle this can differ from IGL to IGL. But I feel like with this squad I have, I feel like I am getting way more respect than I should. So, I feel like whenever I say “Guys we need to focus” or “Guys we are not playing how we normally do”, I feel like people listen up and actually get the motivation out of that. For me, it has been a long way coming from my previous team where I was more of like a player rather than an IGL.
But with this squad, I have been forming myself to be the absolute best leader there can be. So for me at least I think most of the time with this squad it’s all about regaining that focus, playing round by round, keeping people in check, and that the vibes are correct.
I can kind of lead by example, when I come in relaxed and focused I feel like people can easily grasp it. So I feel like leading by example is the best way to go about it.
Q. Moving on to some general questions, do you think Gekko will replace the existing Initiators?
BONECOLD: I feel like in some cases, yes. With Gekko, you kind of have to play around with the Agent because his abilities alone are just not good enough. So you want to have something with the Gekko. I feel like it’s kind of hard to actually commit to it unless you are doing it in plenty of maps.
So I don’t think it will fully replace it but I feel like we have different options now - which direction you want to go with the compositions where you can play Skye-Gekko on some maps, or you can fall back to your Sova-s, Fade-s, Kay/O-s, and Breach-es. It's just nice to have both options available and makes the game a lot fresher than having one composition for one map.
Q. Lotus is the latest map in Valorant. Which Controller Agent do you think is best suited for attacking?
BONECOLD: I think for attacking alone, like single-handedly, Harbor is the best. For me at least, Harbor is single-handedly one of the best Controllers on the map. I feel like with Harbor you can get a lot of things done and control the tempo and where you want to go. You can have this forcing plays around Harbor with his utility and especially with his ultimate. So I think Harbor is the best Controller for the map.
Team Vitality will be facing BBL Esports in the upcoming week of VCT EMEA League 2023. Fans can tune into the official Twitch and YouTube channels and watch the match unfold as two of the most promising teams in the tournament battle it out on April 22, 2023.
