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Valorant Champions 2021 is a venue for 16 of the world's best Valorant teams to contest it out and determine the game's first-ever world champion.
On Day 4 of the tournament, Gambit Esports defeated Team Vikings in the winners' fixture of Group C to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Gambit returned from a 4-0 deficit on Split to win the first map, while they were dominated by the Brazilian side on Bind (5-13). Team Vikings had a promising game three on Icebox, where they managed to procure a 12-5 lead.
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In quite a fashionable way, Gambit reclaimed the match by winning nine consecutive rounds, putting an end to Team Vikings' efforts. During the post-match press conference, Gambit's Chronicle had a conversation with Sportskeeda about his team's performance at Valorant Champions.
Gambit Chronicle comments on team's performance against Team Vikings in the group stage of Valorant Champions 2021
The Russian squad comprising of Igor "Redgar" Vlasov, Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov, Nikita "d3fo" Sudakov, Bogdan "sheydos" Naumov, and Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin make their way to the quarter-finals of Valorant Champions 2021.
During Chronicle's conversation with Adarsh J Kumar of Sportskeeda Esports, the player gave his insight on the team's performance throughout Valorant Champions.
Q: Gambit looked really strong after the first map. What do you think went wrong in Bind? Was it the strats Team Vikings used, or did Gambit just have a bad aim day?
Chronicle: I think the reason we played so bad in the 2nd map and the 1st half of the 3rd map was our nerves. We were so unconfident in our moves. Team Vikings played really well. They have great team-play and individual skills, which they clearly showed today.
Q: Raze is usually the preferred Duelist on Bind, and we’ve seen Gambit pick Raze before on Bind. Is there any reason why Gambit chose to go with d3ffo on Jett in Bind?
Chronicle: It definitely depends on each team. We thought it would be a great strategy to pick Jett with agents like Viper and Skye on Bind. More than the agent composition, our nerves put us at a disadvantage.
Q: Since winning the Stage 3 Masters, Gambit has been considered one of the best teams in the world. We’ve seen two very close matches from Gambit so far in the tournament when we expect you to have an easy victory in both games. Will we get to see Gambit dominate Valorant Champions just like Masters? What is different in your squad this time around?
Chronicle: At the Stage 3 Masters Berlin, we lost a group stage match against 100 Thieves with a similar comeback on Icebox. We had a really close game against Crazy Racoons as well, for the decider match of the group stage. When we played them for the first time, we dominated them 13-1 in consecutive maps. I can say for sure that this is only because of the nerves of the group stage.
We always keep thinking that it's really important to qualify for the playoffs, and that ends up making us nervous throughout the group stages. We still don't know why we're doing that, but we should fix that as soon as possible. We will be less nervous in the playoffs for sure.
We just need to play our game, and things will come our way. You saw the comeback on Icebox. When we stopped being nervous about losing the game, we started to play really well, and we just showed our real power on the 2nd half of the map.
Q: After your previous match, Witz from Team Secret commented that they picked Icebox because they think European teams are weak in aim-duels on the map. What's your opinion on that?
Chronicle: I don't agree with that. We choose Icebox in our map picks as well because we're really confident on the map. The second half of today's match proves that.
Q: You’ve been playing with d3ffo for over a year now. Now that both of you are at Valorant Champions, how does d3ffo compare with the other top Duelists in the tournament?
Chronicle: I can say that he's completing his job in the team. He does his job really well, and we trust him, and that's the only thing we need from our team. We don't believe that relying on individual players can impact a team so much. If a team wins, the whole team has good players. Otherwise, there's something wrong there.
Q: Who would you like to face in the grand finals of Valorant Champions 2021?
Chronicle: It would be interesting if we meet Fnatic in the grand finals, but I think we might face them in the semi-finals, so it's already impossible for them to be in the final with us. I really dream about an all-European final, though. That would be fun.
