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Things are heating up in the VCT Pacific League as the tournament gets closer to its playoffs. Week 6 started off with two intense matches. The first matchup witnessed an all-out showdown between Detonation FocusMe and T1, with the second one pitting Team Secret with ZETA DIVISION. Both matches were close and offered an exciting viewing experience for Valorant fans.
The second match of the VCT Pacific League Day 16 started with ZETA DIVISION's victory on Split. Team Secret brought the game to a third map by defeating ZETA on Lotus, but the latter closed out the series in style by defeating the Filipino team on Fracture.
ZETA DIVISION's Laz speaks about match against Team Secret in VCT Pacific League
After the last match on Day 16 of the VCT Pacific League, Abhipsito Das of Sportskeeda Esports interviewed ZETA DIVISION's IGL (in-game leader), Koji “Laz” Ushida. Over the course of the conversation, Laz spoke about the nuances of being a good IGL, the pressure of qualifying for the upcoming Masters event in Tokyo, the team's gradual improvement, and more.
Q. The role of an IGL is one that very few people want to play in Valorant. Can you list a couple of attributes that a good IGL must have?
Laz: Valorant’s gunplay and aiming aspect gives advantage to the younger players because they have better reflexes. However, for IGLs, the more experience you have as a player, the better it is, as you can choose how to fight and where to fight to make sure the team wins.
As for the IGL, the necessary traits include a person liking team play, making strats and having a interest in how the top teams in the world play. A general curiosity in strategizing is very important. Strong communication skills are also important for IGLs.
[Do you have an IGL across the different VCT Leagues that you look up to?]
I respect a lot of the experience IGLs. They decide what the color of the team will be. Each of them has a strong style, and they choose the best style for their team. If I had to name a few, I’d say Boaster, FNS, and Sadhaak.
Q. As things stand, ZETA DIVISION is the only hope for Japanese fans who dream of cheering for their home team at VCT Masters Tokyo. Does that add any pressure on your shoulders?
Laz: Yes, I feel more pressure than other tournaments. Valorant is a very up and coming game in the region, and hype is building up, so I want to win for the community that is really hyped right now.
Also, I want to state that international tournaments being held in Japan is very rare and if a Japanese team participates in that tournament, there will be more hype for it. So yes, I do feel a lot of pressure, but then I work well under pressure, it is welcome.
Q. How do you feel about your and your team's performance in today’s VCT Pacific League series against Team Secret?
Laz: As per my individual performance, it is definitely getting better. I have started to understand how to perform well while I am IGL-ing, but I will rate it at 30 [percent] because Lotus was not very good.
As a team, the performance was very good. We did poorly in the Talon match because we didn’t talk a lot, and we didn’t know what we were doing. Even when I spoke up, it just fell away into nowhere. It was because of the exhaustion, and we were so tired.
We are getting better and better, especially our support players. Each individual is doing their job better, so from here, I am looking forward to improve as a team.
Q. What are some of the improvements you believe the team has made since Week 1 of VCT Pacific?
Laz: Compared to Week 1, everything has improved. The number of strats we had, the sophistication of the execution itself, such as the timing on the abilities, were on point. We are still making mistakes, but our retakes and crunches are getting better.
Another improvement we have made is in terms of voice comms, that is, we are doing more of it. It's because we have a clearer vision of what we have to do and a clearer understanding of what each player has to call out in the voice chat.
Q. Which team has been the toughest opponent in VCT Pacific so far, and who do you look forward to playing in the upcoming weeks?
Laz: DRX was definitely the toughest opponent to face.
As for the teams we are yet to face, there is T1, Gen.G, and Paper Rex, which are all great teams. I am looking forward to facing all of them. However, I would like to play against PRX in a tournament setting again, so they are the ones I am looking forward to playing the most against.
