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The Valorant Champions Tour has commenced for EMEA, as the top 12 teams from regions of Europe, CIS, Turkey and MENA compete in the Stage 1 Challengers to select the EMEA region's representatives at the Stage 1 Masters.
In Week 1 of the Challengers Group Stage, Guild Esports played against BBL Esports in a Bo3 fixture that witnessed the former dominate their Turkish opponents with consecutive map-victories.
Although BBL had a great start, they faltered as soon as Guild switched to their A-game. After a 9-3 first-half on Breeze, Guild sealed the map with a 13-6 scoreline.
Following Breeze, both sides engaged in Haven where BBL, despite their initial efforts, was eventually defeated. Guild won on a 13-9 scoreline, strengthening their chances for a Playoffs qualification.
In a conversation with Sportskeeda Esports' Adarsh J Kumar, Guild Esports' Sayf shed light on the team's preparations ahead of the Valorant Champions Tour 2022 and their expectations for the Stage 1 EMEA Challengers Group Stage.
Sayf discusses Guild Esports' potential to succeed at the Valorant Champions Tour 2022 Stage 1 EMEA Challengers
Q: Guild Esports' roster was completed just over a month ago, with the arrival of koldamenta, Russ and trexx. How did you all get together as a team and prepare for the Valorant Champions Tour 2022?
Sayf: We have a scouting procedure at Guild Esports where the coach and the analyst search for players who show the potential to compete in Tier 1 Valorant. Thereon, we will contact them and offer them a trial. We take them up if their quality matches the players we already have, which was me and Leo at the time.
Q: Your Week 1 matchup against BBL Esports was your first encounter with the Turkish side. What do you think about their performance, based on this match?
Sayf: I always see Turkish teams lacking in terms of how they approach the game. I'm not saying they are bad. Turkish teams are incredible in terms of their players, but they need to work on their game plan.
Something that a lot of teams don't do is condition their playstyle against their enemies. By conditioning, I mean that teams need to have a deeper game plan so that they can trick their enemies into doing something instead of playing within their comfort zone.
For instance, if you do the same execution for A-site 3 times in a row, you can condition your opponents to think that this is the pattern your team plays. This opens up an opportunity for your team to switch play-patterns and confuse the enemy.
Q: Guild Esports will be playing against teams like Acend, Fnatic, G2, BBL and SMB in the coming weeks of Valorant Champions Tour Stage 1 EMEA Challengers. What do you think about your future opponents?
Sayf: I like Fnatic and Acend; both of them are incredible teams. I think they can go all the way and get out of the Group Stage with us.
I doubt G2, BBL or SMB can make it. I've seen them play and I haven't been impressed with their performances so far. I'm not saying that they are terrible. They just don't have the head-start that other teams have.
G2 made a roster change. SMB and BBL still perform with the same gameplans they used within the Turkish region and lack the depth of EMEA teams.
Q: Guild are scheduled to meet Acend, the reigning champions of Valorant, in their Week 2 fixture of the Group Stage. We've seen Acend defeat a slightly different Guild lineup in the past. What do you think will happen this time around?
Sayf: I am at least 95% confident that we will defeat them, over the sole fact that you can't be champions forever. They are under pressure right now since they have to defend their title and honor.
Personally, I'll just be going in there and playing my own game; I'm not nervous. We definitely have the upper hand and that could help us win.
Q: Guild are among the handful of EMEA teams that have been seen playing Chamber at the EMEA Challengers. Do you think Chamber fits into Valorant's ongoing meta? Can we say the same about Neon?
Sayf: We fiddled around with a lot of Agents; Chamber was one of them. We tried Neon as well, to see if she matched our playstyle. However, she is yet to impress us.
At times when a new Agent drops, they don't fit into the competitive meta of the game immediately. If you do implement them in a team environment, you have to adjust your entire gameplan and that's more difficult to do with the time frame that most teams have.
Maybe for the next tournament, we'll see Neon in our lineup, but for now we're going to stick to Chamber.
Q: In that regard, do you find it difficult to adjust to the meta every time a new Agent arrives into the game?
Sayf: It's always tough in the beginning. If you haven't seen how people play with the Agent, you won't understand how their gameplan or approach with the Agent is, and that can lead to players second-guessing themselves.
Q: How confident are you in Guild Esports' presence at the Valorant Champions Tour Stage 1 Masters?
Sayf: I'm 100% sure that we'll make it out of the Group Stage and qualify for LAN. I'm confident in my teammates and I feel positive about our current gameplan.
