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The Valorant Conquerors Championship will start on June 28th. All the South-Asian teams are grinding to be at their very best in the upcoming tournament.
NODWIN Gaming’s Valorant Conquerors Championship is going to be the only path for the South Indian teams to secure a place in the APAC Last Chance Qualifier which is a part of Valorant Champions Tour 2021 later this year. The winner of the Valorant Conquerors Championship will compete against the teams from Japan, Korea, and South-East Asia for one slot in the Valorant Champions Tour.
However, after recent changes in the price of guns and the agent's abilities in the Valorant Episode 3, players are expecting a shift in the game's meta. In a conversation with Sportskeeda Esports’ Rishab Chakladar, Godlike Esports’ Sabyasachi ‘Antidote’ Bose opens up about the changes and its effect before the Valorant Conquerors Championship.
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1) Recently you played a CS: GO match against Team Venom in Red Bull Frag Out. How did you feel about picking up the AWP in CS: GO after quite a while?
Antidote: It feels nostalgic for sure as I played Counter-Strike after a year. I was lacking some mechanics, as I have not played the game for a long time. But in the end, it was a fun event and I had fun.
2) Red Bull has come up with the Red Bull Flick, a 2v2 CS: GO tournament in India. How do you feel it will impact the CS: GO scene in India?
Antidote: I think Red Bull Flick, a 2v2 CS: GO tournament will be a very good boost for the Counter-Strike scene in India and the brand, Red Bull, has already targeted the grassroots people in any scene for example Hip-hop culture, Athletes, Gaming Industry, they are always focusing on the grassroot level. I think Red Bull coming up with this event will definitely boost the Indian community and Indian Counter Strike.
3) Skyesports, the official broadcasting partner of Red Bull Flick India, will be broadcasting the tournament in 7 different Indian languages. They have previously broadcast the entire Red Bull Campus Clutch tournament as well. How impactful is the multiple language broadcast for audiences across India? Any thoughts on the amazing production and broadcast by Skyesports?
Antidote: I think Skyesports is doing a pretty good job. They are one of the big guns in the industry right now.
There are viewers for every language. Being a Bengali, I love to hear Bengali commentary as we enjoy other sports. Skyesports is trying to bring that atmosphere to esports and I think it will help to reach a larger audience.
4) Valorant has drawn in a major crowd within a year of its launch, including some well-known CS pro players such as yourself within one year of its release. What reason do you feel makes the audience more interested towards Valorant?
Antidote: There are multiple reasons behind that. First of all, the pros switched to Valorant which increased the interest among the audience. Secondly, some big influencers have come up and played and promoted the game and they brought people as well.
Finally, the involvement of Riot. The business module of Riot Games is very different from other developers. Besides that, many organizers are investing in Valorant right now which has attracted a lot of viewers. I think these are the main reasons for the popularity of Valorant.
5) Valorant has introduced a new agent KAY/O in Episode 3. What are your thoughts about KAY/O?
Antidote: I have not played the new agent yet. But I have seen the abilities of KAY/O. It seems KAY/O like is an overpowered agent.
Let's see what Riot does because the agent they brought previously was overpowered at first, but later they nerfed it. I am expecting the same for KAY/O as well.
6) The developers have made a lot of changes in the Valorant Episode 3. Some agents have nerfed. The price of guns and the agent's abilities have changed as well. Do you think this will affect the meta in the upcoming tournaments?
Antidote: I am very concerned about the shift of meta. I think the changes in the price of guns and the agent's abilities in Valorant Episode 3 will affect the meta.
At the moment, players will only buy the abilities they want to use in that particular round, except buying all the abilities. So, there is a certain shift in meta which is coming up and I am more focused on that rather than all the other changes.
7) Valorant Conquerors Championship is knocking at the door. It is going to be the only way for South Asian teams to secure a spot in the Valorant Champions Tour 2021. How do you think Indian teams can perform against the top teams of South Asia?
Antidote: I think there is lots of competition in the country itself. Moreover, in the upcoming Valorant Conquerors Championship, every team will play in this new meta. So, teams have to reset themselves and come up with new ideas and new strategies. So, it will be very interesting.
Talking about playing against the South Asian and South-East Asian teams, the main problem was the ping difference. Other than that, the knowledge and understanding of the game is almost equal. I played the first international tournament with Velocity Gaming in the PVP tournament last year against the South-East Asian teams and we finished third in that competition and we could’ve won that tournament as well.
So, I think Indian teams have the potential to dominate against all the teams of South Asia and South-East Asia. But before that we have to think about our own region because there is lots of competition coming in the Valorant Conquerors Championship from India itself.
8) After a year of domination with Velocity Gaming in 2020 you recently decided to switch to GodLike Esports. How do you feel that teamwork is changing in the new team?
Antidote: Honestly, I don’t expect results from the beginning because if you want results there is always a process behind it. I was in a winning team and I switched to a new team which is not a very easy task. The achievement will not come easily.
Obviously, there is a change of things, style and mentality. I am just trusting the process and watching myself and staying humble and let’s see what comes in the future.
9) Godlike Esports have had a tough time in some recent competitions. How confident are you guys as a team for the upcoming VCC?
Antidote: We are definitely very confident because of the line-up and the potential we have. We just need to sit together and focus on some team bonding and team play. We are individually very strong but we have lacked as a team(Godlike Esports) in recent tournaments.
Valorant is all about teamwork, unlike Counter Strike. Because in Valorant, there are so many abilities which demand great team coordination and if things go right we can probably win the Valorant Conquerors Championship.
10) There are multiple tournaments going on currently such as TEC Gauntlet Season 1, Lethal Esports Invitational. There was the Grand-Final of Lenovo + Intel Valorant Open which concluded on June 21. Professional players are playing 3-4 official matches every day. Is it creating pressure on the players and affecting the team's practice?
Antidote: Yes, it is affecting the players and team practice. When I was in Velocity Gaming, we used to skip some tournaments. We just used to play selective tournaments as we put the focus on our team's practice. But if we skip tournaments, the ranking falls down in the Asian list. That is the only reason why all the teams are now participating in each and every tournament. But I can surely say that it is hampering the practice and the preparation.
11) Learning from the best is always a good option. But do you think Indian teams should come up with something new and different rather than following the NA and EU teams to compete on a bigger stage?
Antidote: I think Indian teams should. But it is very much common in every sport. Right now North American and European teams have better competition than India. So they are coming up with something new everyday. So we learn from them because we know they are better than us. And obviously we are not copying anything from them. We are playing to our strengths. We are just getting a basic idea from them.
