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The VCT Americas League has commenced with 10 partnered teams from across the region gathered to face each other. Former Valorant Champions LOUD took on fellow Brazilian contenders MIBR on the second day of the tournament, where the former won two maps in the best-of-three series and came out victorious.
Although MIBR only managed to take a single map, they put on a good fight against LOUD on the final map - Ascent. However, LOUD showcased some of their best plays as they did not shy away from incorporating the new Agent into their team composition in their opening game of the VCT Americas League.
LOUD fRoD speaks on encompassing Gekko to the Agent lineup and more at the VCT Americas League
Daniel "fRoD" Montaner is an American/Cuban professional Valorant personality currently signed as LOUD's head coach. He is a former CS:GO professional who has also made his mark on the original Counter-Strike, playing for various teams like Complexity and Evil Geniuses.
In an interview with Kushal Bhattacharyya of Sportskeeda Esports, fRoD shared his thoughts on LOUD's performance in their opening game of the VCT Americas League. The coach did not shy away from answering detailed statements regarding the matchup between LOUD and MIBR.
Q: LOUD maintained an exceptional performance in LOCK//IN, but the team found it difficult to beat Fnatic. How much do you think LOUD's roster has improved since VCT LOCK//IN?
fRoD: I think the team has seen a lot of improvements. There are obviously some things that we are lacking a little bit. I think every team goes through ups and downs when it comes to certain tendencies. And right now, we understand some of those things that were difficult for us in LOCK//IN, primarily our defenses.
It was a huge focus for us to make sure we were more solid in our defense. Our attack is always good, but sometimes we do lack discipline in certain moments and post-plant situations. I was a little bit upset during some of the rounds because our team was playing really well, but the other team was taking a lot of risks.
They our one of the big rivals. We played a lot of matches in LOCK//IN, so there was a lot of study material. So it was up to us to come into this game with some new things and also understand some of the weaknesses we displayed and try to work on them. In the process, we possibly we let go of some other things. But we understand what we need to fall back on and also some strategies and disciplinary moments.
Sometimes when we take a loss, it opens our eyes in a certain way that we need to focus on little things. We have a lot of aim and good skills, but at the end of the day, so does everyone else in this tournament. For us, the little things are what that matters the most. At certain moments, we were falling behind on that. We cannot do that if we expect to 2:0 every team in this tournament.
Q: This was the first time Gekko was played in the VCT Americas League. What was your thought process behind including the Initiator in your game plan? How do you think the Agent fits into LOUD's team compositions?
fRoD: To be honest, Gekko is a very good Agent. One thing that a lot of teams are going to struggle with is what fit he has. Just like all Agents in this game, an individual's playstyle and understanding of t hat Agent makes that Agent different. Sadhaak is extremely high level when it comes to his Gekko play. So it's more like finding a right situation for the right map to fit him in.
We want to try him so we can constantly evolve as a team. Create the meta, not play the meta. We are always going to be looking into newer Agents and things, and have a complete understanding of the meta. Also trying to develop as a team in the same process. We are always looking to mix things up, and for that, Gekko is a great Agent.
Q: Considering Gekko's ultimate is a reusable and mobile version of Killjoy's Lockdown, do you think it can be a game-changing ability?
fRoD: It can be, yes, as I said, the person using it can make it really strong. Maybe a lot of people who play that Agent can use his Ultimate once. But Sadhaak is a kind of guy who would use the ultimate two or three times in a round. We understand Gekko and all his cooldowns. It can be game-breaking in a sense, but not necessarily.
Q: What are your opinions on the synergy a Skye-Gekko duo can bring to the team?
fRoD: I think Valorant is a game of synergy. Every Agent is good, in our opinion, but it's all about their synergies with other Agents. Everyone can see the value of Gekko, it's just understanding the player and the composition that can make it work.
This is something we have been practicing all week, and we did not really get much time to try getting a full understanding of the Agent and try to redefine the meta.
But we feel like we are onto something and I feel like we are only going to continue to become stronger as the game progresses.
Q: Coming back to the match itself, do you think MIBR had a lot of communication issues during the first map, considering their performance was very random at times in their first game of VCT Americas League?
fRoD: Not neccesarrily, I think that Split is one of our strongest maps. We have a really good understanding of how to play that map. So instead of focusing on the other team, I feel like those are something that we work on a lot, so it can naturally expose them to the way we play the map. MIBR is a tough team, they have great indivudual skills.
They will always be adapting and figuring things out. Our goal is to get a high level of understanding of these maps and try to expose the weaknesses of the teams. All these teams are very talented, so we have to make sure we are disciplined and respecting them in the game. We can’t just treat this as a ranked game and we can't just go out and headshot everyone.
Everyone has amazing skills, for us we are just really trying to redefine things and play this game at a high level. Playing to win is different to wanting to win. Even if we are having a bad day we can pull through it with a win, it is obviously going to be a lot tighter.
Q: LOUD has maintained this amazing record against all Brazilian teams. Moving forward in the VCT Americas League, which team are you looking forward to facing?
fRoD: We are looking forward to playing every single team. Because they are all great teams. We honestly think Americas is a very strong region. Obviously EMEA and APAC are very, very strong as well. But we know that there is a very high level of skill and coaches here in the Americas.
There is no particular team. Being the reigning champions and second in LOCK//IN, we do have a target on our backs when it comes to teams wanting to play and beat us in VCT Americas League. We are going to get every team's best, no matter who we play and when we play.
