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As the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Masters kicked off in Reykjavik, Iceland, the spotlight fell on one of the most anticipated matches in the tournament's Group Stage. XERXIA took on OpTic Gaming in their opening match, as both sides met on the VCT stage for the first time since their Valorant Champions 2021 encounter.
XERXIA competed in the Valorant Champions under their previous banner - X10 Crit. OpTic Gaming, formerly known as Team Envy, met X10 Crit twice on the Champions stage.
While the first encounter was in favor of Team Envy, the second matchup witnessed a decisive overtime performance from X10 that led to Envy's tournament exit.
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XERXIA found a way to repeat their Champions triumph but to a bigger extent as they succeeded in ousting one of North America's toughest competitors by a whopping 2-0 margin.
After two close encounters on Icebox and Split ended on a 13-10 scoreline, XERXIA qualified for the Group B winner's match. The APAC side are scheduled to take on the EMEA giants, Team Liquid, on April 12 at 1.30 AM IST / 1.00 PM PDT.
sushiboys talks about his experience at XERXIA after their victory over OpTic Gaming in VCT 2022 Stage 1 Masters: Reykjavik
In conversation with Sportskeeda Esports' Adarsh J. Kumar, XERXIA's Panyawat "sushiboys" Subsiriroj discussed the team's transition from X10 Crit to XERXIA, shedding light on the improvements they have made and their goals for the ongoing VCT 2022 Masters: Reykjavik.
Q: OpTic Gaming entered the Masters: Reykjavik as one of NA's top two teams. You have succeeded in defeating them twice in the three times you have faced them in VCT events. How do you feel after claiming such a big victory against them today?
sushiboys: Before the match, I felt like this game would not be difficult. We have won against OpTic before, so we just played the way we had planned to.
Q: XERXIA will be facing Team Liquid, one of EMEA's top contenders, in your Group B winner's match. Considering the performance Liquid had against KRU Esports, what do you think about the matchup?
sushiboys: I don't feel anything, I just play our game. I just feel a bit of pressure, but we will just play as planned.
Q: Amidst X10 Crit's transition to XERXIA, the roster acquired Surf as Patiphan's replacement. How did the team handle the transition, and how has Surf adjusted to the team so far?
sushiboys: Since the four of us have been playing together for a long time, the only difference was that we just had a new teammate added to us. All four of us have experience playing at the international level, so we try to teach him as much as we can for him to understand the game. He has adjusted himself to our team really well.
Q: The matchup against OpTic Gaming was Surf's debut on an international stage. How do you think he performed in his first ever LAN tournament?
sushiboys: In my opinion, he played really well. He just plays without any fear.
Q: Throughout VCT 2022, we have seen XERXIA play a different Agent comp on Ascent. What made the team switch out Cypher and Crws on KAY/O for Killjoy and Sage, respectively?
sushiboys: Since we have been playing with Cypher and KAY/O for a long time, we thought that if we continued with this comp, it would be difficult for us to win against OpTic. I think that's why we went ahead with the changes. We created this comp in order to win against OpTic.
Q: Teams who competed in the major VCT events in 2021 had at least 3-4 weeks to prepare for the tournament. What are your thoughts on teams having only two weeks to travel and prepare for Masters: Reykjavik?
sushiboys: Yeah, we had very little time. Even though we didn't have much time, we dedicated ourselves and spent as much time with the team as possible. So we are really happy with the result.
Q: XERXIA competed against local competition at the VCT Challengers Stage in Thailand and APAC to qualify for Masters: Reykjavik. How much has the quality of APAC teams improved since Valorant Champions 2021?
sushiboys: Every team in the APAC region is getting better. So we have to put in more effort in order to win. Our goal is still the same, we want to be champions.
Q: Now that XERXIA has convincingly defeated OpTic Gaming, is there any other team that you look forward to playing against at Masters: Reykjavik?
sushiboys: We would like to play against Fnatic because they are a team that everyone knows is good and we learn a lot from their games, so we want to learn a lot more by playing them.
Q: XERXIA enjoyed an incredible performance against OpTic today. What can we expect from the squad in the later stages of the tournament?
sushiboys: We want everyone to know that even though we are from a small region like SEA, our team is not as bad as they thought. We will be champions for sure!
