ZETA DIVISION is one of the two Japanese teams in the VCT Pacific League 2023. They have consistently been hailed as one of Japan's best, if not the best, since their stellar performance at the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Masters in Reykjavik.
Ever since the partnership program with Riot Games started, the team has not been able to perform as well as expected. They had a reasonably tough matchup against Leviatan at VCT LOCK//IN, after which they had to face DRX in their opening Pacific League game. Against RRQ, however, the Japanese team found a fair footing and claimed their first victory of the 2023 VCT season.
ZETA DIVISION's TENNN talks about playing against Rex Regum Qeon in VCT Pacific League 2023 and more
Abhipsito Das of Sportskeeda Esports had the opportunity to interview ZETA DIVISION's brand new Killjoy-main, Tenta "TENNN" Asai, after their VCT Pacific game against RRQ on April 1, 2023. TENNN spoke about ZETA's building confidence, social media pressure, and the team's upcoming opponents in the tournament.
Q: DRX is a much more formidable opponent to face than RRQ. Was there a difference in expectations whenever you go up against a more evenly matched team like RRQ?
TENNN: Even against DRX, our macro was not that bad, so we decided to fix the small mistakes to have a better match, and we did that this match.
Q: You made some suitable adjustments on the last three rounds in the first half of Haven. What do you think was going wrong in the first nine rounds of the game?
TENNN: In the nine rounds, we were able to enter the site, but the enemy retakes were good. Our usage of skills (utility) was also not that good, so we decided to fix that.
Q: You outperformed everyone else on the server on Haven by a large margin. What do you think the rest of your team could have done differently to complement your performance better?
TENNN: Don’t leave me behind in a situation where I am the only one left alive.
Q: Do you think you were more confident today than last day, leading to your first win in VCT Pacific?
TENNN: Yes, being confident is good. As I said earlier, we simply continued our macro from the DRX game and fixed all the small challenges we had.
Q: Being a Japanese team, do you feel additional pressure to qualify for the Masters Tokyo compared to teams from other regions?
TENNN: Not during matches; I don’t feel the pressure then. But when I surf social media, there seems to be a narrative that a Japanese team has to make it to Tokyo. And I am sure that me and the team really want to go to Tokyo.
Q: Today was your first official match on Lotus, and you did fairly well. What are some areas you think you could improve?
TENNN: Right now, the composition we are using is easy to counter, so we want to try out other comps as well. We also want to deepen our understanding of the map so we can do better in the future.
Q: What were some of your takeaways from today’s VCT Pacific Game against RRQ?
TENNN: The takeaway is we are more confident now, as this is our first win in six months or so. Everyone is more confident now, and I am more confident now.
Q: Your next game is against Global Esports. What do you like most about their playstyle, and who on their roster do you look forward to playing against the most?
TENNN: What I like about the team is that they are a very international team consisting of players from different countries. My favorite player on the team is t3xture because he is very strong.