"Hard to integrate a couple of rookies and players changing roles": fRoD on LOUD's journey ahead of Valorant Champions 2023 (Exclusive)

Valorant Champions 2023 kicks off on August 6, 2023. This is the final Riot-sponsored tournament of the year. Sixteen teams from the Americas, EMEA, Pacific, and China have been shortlisted to play at the event. The tournament winner will be declared the world champions of 2023 and will take home a grand prize of $1,000,0000.

Riot Games organized a pre-event press conference on August 6, 2023. Players and coaches of teams playing in Valorant Champions 2023 were in attendance. LOUD's coach, Daniel "fRoD" Montaner, attended the last segment of this event, where Abhipsito Das of Sportskeeda esports got the chance to ask him about his experience coaching the roster, which consists of seasoned world champions as well as relatively new, young players.

---

LOUD's coach fRoD opens up about the roster's journey leading up to Valorant Champions 2023

Towards 2022's end, after the franchising system was announced for the subsequent VCT seasons, Bryan "pANcada" Luna and Gustavo "Sacy" Rossi parted ways with LOUD to join the Sentinels Valorant roster and sign Cauan "cauanzin" Pereira and Arthur "tuyz" Vieira.

This meant that the squad retained three members of their Champions-winning roster. When fRoD was asked about how his team's journey leading up to Valorant Champions 2023, he said:

"I think that we have come out and started playing pretty well. Initially, it was hard to integrate a couple of rookies and players who are changing some roles, but ultimately everyone is very dedicated and they stick to the game plan. We as a team are very unified in what we do."

The "unified" aspect of this team that fRoD alluded to is clear when you see them play, and it reflects in their results. The squad made it to the finals of the first international Valorant tournament of 2023 and won the Americas League beating NRG Esports 3-0.

Speaking about growth, fRoD added:

"Ultimately, it is the growth that we have to continue doing. We came out pretty strong at LOCK//IN and the Americas League, but it is all about how you finish and keep evolving."

fRoD also reiterated the team's focus going forward, saying:

"Our biggest focus right now is to forget about the good that we have done and focus on continuing to improve and evolve as players and hopefully bring a better showing every time we play in a different tournament."

LOUD start their Valorant Champions 2023 run with a match against DRX on August 6, 2023, at 3:00 pm PT / 12:00 am CEST (next day) / 3:30 am IST (next day) / 7:00 am JST (next day).