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Following the Valorant Conquerors Championship (VCC) announcement, the Indian Valorant esports scene has seen some noticeable rise in its name.
With new teams forming every day, the competition is growing fiercer. One such team, ROG Academy, has raised some eyebrows recently, as they went on to dominate some of the strongest names in Indian Valorant esports.
Noticing their rise in the recent The Esports Club gauntlet Season 1, an exclusive interview was arranged between Sportskeeda Esports’ Subhradeep Mukherjee and the in-game leader of ROG Academy, Atharv “Rio” Ahire.
Apart from their recent rise to power, he also shared his thoughts regarding VCC and where India stands in the global Valorant esports scene.
Here’s an extract from the interview.
Q: The Asus ROG Academy is a fairly new team in the Indian Valorant esports scene. How did the roster come to be formed?
Rio: Yes, ROG Academy is a pretty new team consisting of some new and young talents who never got an opportunity or support to showcase their talent. The roster was formed through multiple tryouts which were conducted amongst some very good individuals in the country, which was hosted or handled by The Esports Club in association with AFK Gaming. So trying to select the best out of all through the tryouts was a tough process. But eventually, six players got the opportunity, and ROG Academy was formed.
Q: The Asus ROG Academy program helps to cultivate new individuals for the future of esports. What was the roster’s training program during the upbringing?
Rio: I personally think this is a great initiative by Asus ROG to give a great opportunity for the upcoming or young talents in the country who just need proper guidance or support to make or start their esports career. They also provided them with the best peripherals they needed to achieve their respective goals. I think this season 2 training program has just begun and much new stuff will come up in the upcoming days. Also, for now, the roster is mainly focusing on team communication and trying to change the way we approach the game in a positive and systematic manner.
Q: Even though Valorant is a given part of your daily routine, is there anything out of playing Valorant followed by the roster?
Rio: Yes, basically Valorant is the only part of our daily or the fixed routine which we try to follow. It is to achieve some small-scale goals, which we set for a particular day or week to achieve through practice and giving our time and hard work in the game. Other than Valorant, for relaxation purposes, we play other games in duos or trios just to keep our minds fresh, which also improves team bonding and can be considered as a stress reliever for us.
Q: The Esports Club Gauntlet season 1 being such a grand stage for a new team as yours, what was the roster’s expectation going into the tournament?
Rio: I think The Esports Club Gauntlet Season 1 is one of the biggest tournaments organized by the TEC team to date. Also, this is the kind of event that provides opportunities for other neighboring countries of India, such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc to showcase their talents as well.
To be honest, we didn't have many great expectations from the team considering we were a newly formed team. To top it off, we did not even know each other, their game style, their positive aspects, negative points, etc all while practicing for only two days. But we still managed to qualify for the event pretty easily and in a dominant fashion, beating some of the known teams and orgs in the country. It was great to qualify, and I think this is now the best platform in the region for both pro teams as well as new ones like ours to learn and develop with a long-term event.
Q: The roster performed exceptionally well during The Esports Club Gauntlet Season 1 qualifiers, defeating some of the most well-known esports orgs in India. How do you feel about your success so far?
Rio: We had some ups and downs at the start as we are still figuring out some things which sometimes happen during official matches. We played pretty well in The Esports Club Gauntlet Season 1 and managed to qualify for the group stages.
We managed to win against Reckoning Esports in the qualifying rounds with a scoreline of 2-0. I think if we keep up the hard work and practice on a regular basis, we can do much better in the upcoming tournaments. I have high hopes and expectations from our current roster.
Q: What was your experience going up against some of the best in the country?
Rio: Considering we are new, a team built up of some individuals who lack professional esports experience in the scene, we still managed to beat some pretty good teams. There were even times when we had very close games against some well-known orgs in the country. We haven't played much as a team yet but until now, I've had a great experience playing with these individuals.
Q: In the path of moving forward with your success, what are the set goals for the roster currently?
Rio: As for now, we are figuring out the pros and cons of the team in various aspects and trying to make the team communication more effective and perfect. We set daily or weekly small-scale goals, but in the long run, I want to see our team among the top teams of India and potentially in the APAC region.
Q: During the matches in The Esports Club Gauntlet Season 1, was there any time the team went up against a formidable foe which resulted in the roster’s spirit getting crushed? If it happened, how did you guys work around it and moved forward?
Rio: I think there never came a situation like this, but we might get to face such a situation while facing some of the best teams in the group stages, especially now that we are in such a tough group with the likes of Velocity Gaming, Samurai Esports, and Enigma Gaming. I'm pretty sure we'll overcome it somehow with the same positive energy and never-giving-up attitude we have in every game.
Q: How do you feel about India finally getting a shot at international representation through VCC?
Rio: I think this is a very important opportunity for the region as a whole. While big local events in the region like TEC Gauntlet have given us and other aspiring teams a big platform, a chance to compete against international teams is something everyone aspires for, and this can be a huge boost in terms of opportunity and exposure for the region.
Q: As VCC got announced recently for the South Asia region, what are your expectations in the upcoming battles for VCT Worlds 2021?
Rio: I personally think this is a great opportunity for the Indian teams to showcase their talents internationally, all while learning a lot from this championship.
The more our teams get the chance to compete in such events, the more comfortable our players will be playing these huge LAN events, and slowly progress towards getting close to securing top spots internationally. It will also drive more teams to practice and improve, making the regional Valorant esports scene more competitive
