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The VCT 2023: Pacific League kicked off on March 25, 2023. This tournament features ten teams from all over Asia Pacific fighting it out over eight weeks to establish themselves as the best in that region. If they perform well in this competition, they will get a chance to represent APAC at the Valorant Masters 2023 in Tokyo.
Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ) came into VCT 2023 as one of the underdogs. The organization has come under a lot of criticism for signing tier-two players from the Philippines over top-tier Indonesian ones. This team saw a shaky start at VCT LOCK//IN, as well as the Pacific League. That said, they are trying to improve their gameplay and have been looking better each passing week.
Rex Regum Qeon's fl1pzjder talks about team's first win in VCT 2023: Pacific League and more
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Abhipsito Das from Sportskeeda Esports interviewed Indonesian team RRQ's IGL Saibani "fl1pzjder" Rahmad after their Week 3 match against DFM in the VCT Pacific League. In a really jolly conversation that followed the squad's first victory in the tournament, fl1pzjder shared his thoughts on balancing content creation and practice, how the team is improving with passing each week, and their upcoming opponents Team Secret.
Q. This is your first win in VCT 2023 as a team. How do you plan to celebrate tonight?
fl1pzjder: Nothing really. After the game, we usually just go and eat. We were just talking about how even if we lose, we go to eat, so maybe tonight we will get some food at some better place and maybe get some drinks.
Q. In my conversation with 2ge last week, we spoke about Indonesian fans’ doubts about the org’s decisions while making the roster for this VCT season. What is your take on the matter as an Indonesian player?
fl1pzjder: I think it is a really hard thing to answer because the player doesn’t get to choose who to play with. I am just happy to be the chosen one to be in the team. I can’t really say anything about all these things other than I am just happy to be one of the chosen ones.
Q. In the professional esports scene today, making content must take up some time. How do you think that affects your practice schedules here at VCT Pacific, if at all?
fl1pzjder: I would say it does. For the past 2-3 weeks, we did a lot of shooting which takes time away from practice. But now it's getting better, as we don’t have to do much of that anymore other than the small stuff. If we keep having to shoot, it will affect us for sure.
Q. If you had to list a couple of things that you learned from your games in the first two weeks of the VCT Pacific League, what would they be?
fl1pzjder: We are gaining confidence slowly. The first game was really tough for us. We knew we could win, as Gen.G was our scrim partner, but nerves hit us really hard in the first week. In the second week, ZETA really played well. We are just getting more and more confident. Practice is going really well for us, but we couldn’t replicate it in the tournament. Now in the third week, we still made some small mistakes, but the more we play, the better we are getting.
Q. Today was kind of a must-win match in the VCT Pacific League for you. Is there any additional pressure that comes with that?
fl1pzjder: I think there was no pressure at all. We knew we could beat them (Detonation FocusMe). We just wanted to play our game and not let the pressure to win get to us. We knew our map pool and had spent a lot of time at practice. I knew coming into this week that we could win.
Q. It was a dominant showing from the team on Haven, and you guys ran away with the map after the first couple of rounds. What adjustments did you make after the first four rounds that led to this?
fl1pzjder: The team was definitely feeling it. We had watched their VODs, and they were playing in the same exact way, which made it so much easier for us to adjust to the gameplay. After 2-2, I just told the team, “We shouldn’t overthink. We just have to do it.” After that, we got to 10? Yeah.
What kind of a difference does it make for the team to have the IGL absolutely frag out?
fl1pzjder: You might say so. I am not the kind of IGL who cannot shoot. I can help my team with my aim alongside my calls. I am quite lucky to be able to do this because I have seen a lot of players who are unable to shoot because they are IGL-ing because they are too caught up thinking about the game. Me being able to do this definitely helps out the team.
Q. RRQ seemed much more composed today, even when you were at a disadvantage in some rounds, and the communication seems to be much better. Are you going through a specific routine to make sure the team doesn’t crumble under pressure?
fl1pzjder: We don’t really do anything specific. We just learn from our mistakes. The first week was really, really bad for us. Our communication, our gameplay, and pretty much everything we did was wrong. After the ZETA game, I found more confidence in my team.
Coming into this week, I told them that we are doing better already and that we have made our mistakes in the first two weeks and we can’t do it anymore. In practice, our comms are good, even if not perfect. After the first loss, we realized that our comms can’t remain like this because if they do, we will keep losing.
Q. If you had to point out one thing that DFM did amazingly in their VCT Pacific League game today, what would that be?
fl1pzjder: [Silence], [giggling] I was paying attention to just winning. Maybe once I review the game again, I will be in a position to comment. Okay, on Pearl, some of their retakes were really good.
Q. DFM and RRQ would be considered evenly matched by most people, while Team Secret — your next opponents — are looking like one of the best teams in the VCT Pacific League. What are your expectations from that game?
fl1pzjder: I don’t think much about these things. RRQ and Team Secret are close friends because some of my teammates are Filipino as well. We practiced together a lot in Brazil. We have practiced with them a lot before the VCT Pacific League started. I don’t have any fixed expectations. I just want to have fun and play, and hopefully, we can win.
