"Our goal is to stay ahead of the meta": fRoD talks about LOUD's Viper-Harbor composition at VCT LOCK//IN 2023

LOUD, the reigning Valorant Champions, have once again secured a slot in a major VCT Grand Finals after defeating DRX in the VCT LOCK//IN semi-finals. As the team prepares to battle for the glory of winning two major VCT events back-to-back, they will be joined by the winner of the upcoming Fnatic vs NAVI match.

After emerging as the most dominant VCT Americas team in the Bracket Stage, the Brazilian roster entered the playoffs as confident as ever and was prepared to wreck havoc on the Korean giants, DRX.

LOUD opened up the tally with two consecutive map victories - Pearl and Icebox. However, being on the brim of elimination pushed DRX to claim the next two maps - Split and Fracture.

After an intense and exciting five-map series, LOUD managed to claim a decisive win on Ascent, sealing the series with a 3-2 victory.

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LOUD's Head Coach fRoD talks about team composition and victory against DRX at VCT LOCK//IN 2023 Sao Paulo

After LOUD's commendable victory over DRX, players and the head coaches of both teams attended the post-match VCT LOCK//IN 2023 press conference to answer questions regarding the tournament.

In a reply to a question from Sportskeeda Esports, LOUD's Head Coach, Daniel "fRoD" Montaner, talked about the team's unique Agent composition on Icebox, where they utilized both Viper and Harbor to carry out their gameplan. fRoD said:

"Without getting into too much detail, I would say that we focus a lot on synergies of Agents, not just Agents that players know how to play or Agents that players excel at."

He continued:

"For us, we think that there is a lot of synergy there and we practiced hard to figure out ways to play with these Agents in different styles. We know that it's fairly new, so it's tough for teams to practice against something like that."

Harbor is the latest addition to Valorant's roster of Agents. Despite being introduced over four months ago, he is yet to see much action in professional Valorant gameplay. In fact, the 2023 LOCK//IN was the first VCT event to feature Harbor in its Agent pool.

Being a relatively new Agent, he is yet to break into the game's meta. However, teams have been seen experimenting with the Indian Controller on certain maps at LOCK//IN.

So far in the tournament, we've seen Harbor lock in a 12% pick-rate across all maps, with Pearl and Icebox being the most popular ones, each having a pick-rate of 28% and 27%, respectively. The Agent has also seen a 4% pick-rate on Haven, and 6% on Lotus.

fRoD further added:

"Our goal is to stay ahead of the meta. We're really excited for whatever new Agent comes out, and you never know, we might be playing that one too."

LOUD's unwavering determination and their array of impressive performances in front of the home crowd at LOCK//IN have helped them retain their position as championship contenders despite losing three integral members of their 2022 Champions roster.

Fans of the team can look forward to more exciting moments from them in the Grand Finals of VCT LOCK//IN 2023. LOUD will take on the winner of NAVI vs Fnatic on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at 9 am PST/ 6 pm CET/ 10.30 pm IST.