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In the VCT 2023: Pacific League, two thrilling games recently concluded on Day 1 of Week 5 of the ongoing event. The first match featured Paper Rex and Global Esports, with Paper Rex emerging victorious with a 2-1 scoreline. The second game saw Gen.G face off against DRX, which resulted in a more one-sided score of a 2-0 win for DRX.
After these matches came to an end, Rishabh Kalita from Sportskeeda Esports got the opportunity to speak to Lightningfast. Abhirup "Lightningfast" Choudhury is a professional Valorant player from India who currently plays for Global Esports. During the conversation, the professional went on to share several intriguing details about his team, their upcoming opponents, and more.
GE Lightningfast speaks about the team's performance against Paper Rex, the Indian esports scene, and more
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Q. Looking back on today's match against Paper Rex, what are your thoughts on your performance?
Lightningfast: My performance, obviously, wasn't on that level, but I would expect myself to do much better than this. Be more confident on stage, yeah.
Q. How do you think your team performed today?
Lightningfast: Collectively, the first map was all good. We were all very confident and then from the second map, the energy went down a bit. So it is still not to the level that we expected us to perform. But yeah, we can do much better than that.
Q. What were your expectations from this matchup? Did the match go as you expected it to go?
Lightningfast: No, I was really expecting this match to be a quick 2-0. But our energy went down and it didn't lead us to our expectations.
Q. What do you think were the main factors that contributed to your team's defeat today?
Lightningfast: The main reason was that we weren't too used with the playstyle that Paper Rex has. Apart from that, as I said, the energy was going down since the second map, so it kind of showed in the game and the playstyle that we had. We couldn't quite read our opponents what they were trying to do and that just led to our downfall. Their playstyle caught us (off-guard).
Q. What are your plans for addressing these issues in upcoming matches?
Lightningfast: We'll find a way with our coaching staff and everyone else in the team. We will find a way to deal with such playstyles and how to coordinate better in-game.
Q. Which team in the Pacific League do you believe is the most underrated, and what makes them stand out to you?
Lightningfast: For me, I think it's us. Our team stands out because it's a team where players are from all different regions and not every player in our team speaks English, which makes it hard to communicate. As we're all from different cultures and regions, we have different mindsets, we have different playstyles in the game, and it can be really hard.
It's not very easy to play together, but since we are together, we are really putting up a good show. So, I just feel that people don't think much of us, but going forward, when we coordinate a bit more and play together some more, I think we'll show what we are really made of.
Q. Are there any professional Valorant players or teams that you admire or look up to, and why?
Lightningfast: I look up to LOUD and NRG a lot. Their playstyles differ a lot, their individual plays and how they approach the game. I just watch them and learn a lot from them, like how you need teamwork to win games. NRG just shows it so well. Then, LOUD shows how individual players can win games. I just watch both of them a lot and try to learn every day.
Q. You have been active in the Indian esports scene for quite a while. Based on your experience, what do you think the Indian esports scene is currently lacking?
Lightningfast: Definitely, the Indian esports scene is currently lacking the options of players. So, players aren't growing to the highest levels. Just because of that, we have to get more imports in, but that's also working brilliantly for the Indian scene because the Indians can learn from these imports. Then again, from my perspective, I don't think it is happening to that level.
Also, there's a lack of sponsorship, I believe. Organizations cannot really put out their everything and just burn whatever they have. They are also holding back because of the sponsors. So, how much can an individual support a certain team who requires a lot of money every month to run?
But then again, it is not really organizations, but it's mostly about the players just not improving fast enough. I believe that it's a long process and takes time. They'll get there sometime soon.
Q. What other games or activities do you like to engage in outside of Valorant?
Lightningfast: I like to go out with my friends. I like to eat a lot of different things, and just party [laughs].
Q. Global Esports will be facing Gen.G next. What are your thoughts on Gen.G as a team? What do you think will be the biggest challenge when playing against them?
Lightningfast: Before Brazil, we scrimmed against them a lot, I remember. But since then, they have changed quite a lot. Then again, I believe the way that Gen.G plays is okay for us. On a good day, we can beat them. But if things go wrong and something like this happens, like we're out of focus and at a loss of energy, obviously, we won't be at that level. I believe that if we give our best, we are going to win it.
It is such an important game for us to win to be in the league. So, it's like everyone will be hanging. Everyone will try and give their best. I am not saying we didn't give our best today, we did give it our best. We'll try a bit more. We know what we did wrong today, we'll fix it tomorrow, and then give a better showing against Gen.G.
Global Esports will be facing Korea's Gen.G next in VCT 2023: Pacific League. The upcoming match is scheduled for April 30, 2023.
