"Lot of difference between our games on stage and in the scrims": Coach Zeus on Talon Esports' performance in VCT 2023: Pacific League

VCT Pacific League started on March 23, 2023. It was the first of three international leagues to kick off as part of the new format of the Valorant Champions Tour. It is being held in Seoul, South Korea, and has participants from all over the Asia-Pacific region. Talon Esports was one of the most hyped teams coming into this tournament after their stellar performance at VCT LOCK//IN which exceeded everyone's expectations.

However, after two weeks of competition, they have left both fans and analysts of the game wanting with their lack-luster performance.

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Talon Esports' coach Zeus speaks about the team's sub-par performance in VCT 2023 Pacific League so far

Each international league this year follows a round-robin format, with the participants facing each other over the course of eight weeks. For the first seven weeks, teams will play one match per week, with a Super Week from May 12-16, 2023, where they will each play two matches over the course of five days.

This is the first time in VCT history that such a long-drawn format is being adopted. This gives teams ample opportunity to experiment with their Agent compositions and playstyles without the fear of getting knocked out.

However, one has to consider how much slack a team can cut itself for not showing up looking like their best form. After two weeks of seeing Talon play, there is a lot to be desired from them compared to expectations.

When Sportskeeda Esports asked their coach to comment on the team's performance, Head Coach, Yuttanagorn "Zeus" Kaewkongyai, said (translated from Thai):

"We don't have enough time to adjust coming into the league and we don't have enough time to scrim. There is also a lot of difference between our games on stage and in the scrims. We might need to make some changes with our practice schedule."

This is something that echoes what Pattiphan "Patt" Chaiwong told Sportskeeda Esports in an interview after their match during Week 1 of the VCT Pacific League about the team not getting enough time to practice because they had to dedicate time to content production.

For additional context, Talon Esports has now played three different compositions on Ascent. They even picked Gekko in their match against T1. While there is nothing objectively wrong with that, there is the matter of consistency and habit formation that needs to be considered.

Instead of perfecting set plays with a particular composition on the map, they seem to be running around looking in different directions, which could be doing them more harm than good.

A couple of weeks into the tournament, it's high time for Talon to tighten their grip on the game and bring their A-game, considering their opponents will get stronger.