"We have to learn to abuse the lack of sound": M80 johnqt opens up about playing on LAN in VCT 2023 Americas: Ascension

One of the biggest differences between the regional Valorant Challengers Leagues (VCL) and the VCT Ascension tournaments is that the latter is played on LAN in front of a live audience. Compared to that, players play the VCL matches from the comfort of their homes. If these teams don't get the necessary exposure before playing high-stakes matches on LAN, their performance can take a substantial hit.

This is precisely what happened to M80, the #1 seed from North America, when they played their first match against their Brazillian counterpart, The Union, in VCT Americas Ascension.

A team that had been a notch above the rest within the region faltered massively on the first map. While M80 made it close on the second, they could not close the series out.

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johnqt spoke about his team's LAN debut in VCT 2023 Americas and their goal going forward

Sportskeeda Esports had the opportunity to ask Mohamed "johnqt" Ouarid about his (and the team's) experience playing on LAN for the first time after their match against FUSION on July 1, 2023.

johnqt pointed out some differences between playing online and playing on LAN, stating:

"When we play online, we are definitely more comfortable, since that is where we play scrims, Deathmatch or even most official matches. Playing on LAN is a whole other ball game. Its different PCs, different monitors and definitely the sound. We can’t really hear anything. That is the biggest difference. We did lose yesterday, but we know that we just need to figure out the sound problem and we will be fine moving forward."

For the uninitiated, players in a LAN environment are given an in-ear earphone and a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. The latter is fed with white noise to make sure sounds from the outside are cut off. This makes sure the opponent team's comms, as well as the sound of the live audience (where applicable), is shut out.

When asked about how M80 is adjusting to the problem, Ouarid said:

"We just need to adjust our playstyle and be more aware. We can’t rely on sound cues, so we need to be super aware with our other senses. Moreover, we have to learn to abuse the lack of sound of ourselves."

The adjustment could already be seen in their match against FUSION on Day 2 of VCT 2023 Americas: Ascension. Given the tournament format, all teams will qualify for the playoffs stage. It will be interesting to see how well M80 adjusts to the LAN environment then and whether it will be good enough to lock their seats in VCT Americas League's 2024 and 2025 seasons.