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Four of the leading Valorant rosters in South Asia have convened in the Indian city of Bangalore to compete for the TEC Challenger Series 8 LAN event.
Over the course of three days, Velocity Gaming, Orangutan, Revenant Esports, and Enigma Gaming will engage in a double-elimination bracket as they battle it out for a portion of the 1,500,000 INR prize pool.
Orangutan, the first multi-national Valorant roster in South Asia, was among the three teams who were invited to the tournament. After putting on an impressive display of talent in the TEC Challenger Series 8 Group Stage, Orangutan has qualified for the tournament's main event, where they will compete against the remaining three teams to determine the tournament's winners.
After kicking off the LAN event with a remarkable victory over Enigma Gaming, Orangutan will proceed to meet Velocity Gaming in the Upper Finals. The winner will move on to the Grand Finals, which will be held on August 14 at 4:00 pm IST.
Orangutan's IGL Vibhor speak about the team's performance in Valorant TEC Challenger Series 8
In an exclusive interview with Adarsh J Kumar of Sportskeeda Esports, Orangutan's in-game leader, Vibhor "Vibhor" Vaid, shared his thoughts on the team's performance in the TEC Challenger Series 8 so far, detailing their expectations for the remainder of the tournament.
Q: Orangutan had an incredible start to the tournament, finishing the Group Stage with a 3-0 record. How would you describe your experience in the TEC Challenger Series 8 Group Stage?
Vibhor: The Group Stage experience was really nice. We ended the Group Stage with a 13-0. It was a cherry on top of the cake for us. I think we had a very close game against Medal. If we'd lost that game, we were almost out of the tournament, but we managed to pull off a comeback.
We came back from a 10-12 deficit, and then went on to win that map in overtime and we just won the third map. It was nice to come back like that and end the Group Stage on a high. I'm happy with how the team performed.
Q: Which team gave you the toughest fight in the Group Stage?
Vibhor: Our toughest opponent in the Group Stage, I would say, was Revenant Esports.
Q: We’ve seen you play on various Valorant Agents across all 4 roles. However, Astra is an Agent you picked up very recently. Considering you never played Astra during the Astra meta, how comfortable were you on picking up the Agent now, and how effective has Astra been for you?
Vibhor: I've always loved playing Astra. I love lurking in the game. Astra is an Agent that you can really lurk with. You can place stars from anywhere on the map and do your own thing. I always loved playing like that.
In VLT, Hellff was always playing Astra and I was in the Sentinel role. But I was always telling Amaterasu to give me Astra and that I wanted to play the Agent. But as soon as it was about to happen, Astra went out of the meta.
Astra is slowly coming back into the meta, so I've picked it up and I enjoy playing the Agent a lot.
Q: Over the last few months, Orangutan parted ways with Persia and acquired Ember and aduka. How did these changes help shape Orangutan?
Vibhor: The changes helped a lot since Ember is a player from our region. Persia had a lot of communication problems, since he was not very fluent in English. It was hard for him because he's from Korea.
With both Ember and aduka coming in, they're both pretty fluent and their communication is on-point at all times. That is what has helped the team a lot. Plus, both of these players are very sharp in-game as well. I think it just adds to our firepower.
Q: In addition to the two new players, Orangutan acquired new members to your Valorant coaching staff as well, skyeSG and theDoctorr. How influential have they been in your team’s recent performances?
Vibhor: They are a huge influence. The coach helped ease a lot of the burden off my shoulders. Previously, I was doing everything regarding the team. But the coach has now taken on a lot of those responsibilities, so it helps me a lot.
The analyst helps the coach and also helps me analyze and prepare for the teams that are up against us. He analyzes all the teams and gives me their weaknesses and strengths, so that I can IGL off of that. Our coach, theDoctorr, brings the team together and always keeps the energy up. I think that's what's most important.
Q: Despite being a 6-man roster, your coach, TheDoctorr, ended up playing a couple of matches for your team. What was the reason behind that?
Vibhor: Aduka had a stomach issue and was down with appendicitis. He had to get a surgery done immediately. He was bedridden in the hospital for a couple of days. I think we had matches at that time. Ghost was not at the office around that time. He was not really stable at the bootcamp, so that's why we chose to play with theDoctorr, and I think that turned out well for us.
Q: Throughout your career, you've played with Indian players. But now you're IGL-ing in a multinational Valorant roster with mostly foreign players. How is that experience like?
Vibhor: The experience is pretty nice. These players understand the game really well. I don't have to spoonfeed a lot of things to them. They understand a lot of things on their own and they do stuff on their own in-game. It's not that big of a challenge, but IGL-ing in general is a challenge in itself. So that is definitely an added pressure, but I like it and I like the responsibility. I'm trying to work on it every day and I'm trying to get better.
Q: Recently, we saw Orangutan play on Valorant's latest map, Pearl, for the first time ever. What are your thoughts on the map and what kind of Agent composition do you think will effectively be the meta on Pearl?
Vibhor: I think for me, Sage and Fade are must-picks on Pearl for now. You need Sage just because planting is hard on the B-site of this map. I think her wall helps in that aspect. As for Fade, there are a lot of windows and stuff on this map through which you can throw Fade's recons and everything.
I think you can go with a double-Controller setup on this map as well; something like what works in Bind right now, with Viper and Brimstone, or Viper and Astra. Something like that can work. As for Duelist, any Agent that you're comfortable with will work.
Q: As you know, Valorant has plans to replace the existing Valorant Champions Tour circuit with a franchise league next year. Considering that, what do you think the future of Indian Valorant teams will look like?
Vibhor: I don't think a lot of information has been out on what's going to happen with the tier-2 scene in India. All I can hope is that not a lot of organizations will pull out, keeping faith in the Valorant scene. It's hard for the organizations also, but I think that even without franchising, there are a lot of tournaments that can happen in India and a lot of viewership will still come to the Indian Valorant games, so I'm not too worried.
Q: You had your first Valorant LAN experience with Orangutan at SCS Chennai. What are your expectations for the TEC Challenger Series, considering you’ll be playing in front of an audience once again?
Vibhor: It will be pretty nice. Playing online and playing LAN is always different. The atmosphere is obviously different. Playing on LAN involves a lot of focus and concentration; you cannot get distracted by what is happening around you. You just have to focus on your screen and play your own game.
I think I can do that pretty well, and I'm not fazed by playing in front of a live audience at all. I think I enjoy it, and it's even more fun when your team is winning and the people from your organization are cheering for you. I think that's the best feeling, hearing those chants in the background. It just fuels you to do even better.
