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Day 6 of Valorant Champions witnessed an array of talent from various parts of the world. X10 Crit defeated Vivo Keyd in consecutive matches to earn a chance to qualify for the playoffs.
X10 Crit and Vivo Keyd engaged in a best-of-three series in the elimination match of Group A. Although the Brazilians put up a great fight, X10 dominated them on the scoreboard, winning both maps with a 13-6 and 13-5 scoreline.
Vivo Keyd was recently involved in a controversy over using an illegal Cypher camera setup during their opening match of Valorant Champions against Acend. As a result, their victory was overturned, thereby witnessing their fall.
X10 Crit entered Valorant Champions as South-East Asia's top representative. After a 2-0 loss to Team Envy in their opening match, they played Vivo Keyd to earn a spot in the deciding fixture of Group A. In a conversation with Adarsh J Kumar of Sportskeeda Esports, Crws from X10 Crit shared his experience in the tournament so far.
Crws discusses X10 Crit's performance after victory against Vivo Keyd at Valorant Champions 2021
A squad featuring Itthirit "foxz" Ngamsaard, Panyawat "sushiboys" Subsiriroj, Nutchaphon "sScary" Matarat, Thanamethk "Crws" Mahatthananuyut, and Patiphan "pati" Chaiwong represent X10 Crit at Valorant Champions 2021.
Q: X10 had a dominating victory over Vivo Keyd, one of the most promising Brazilian sides in Valorant Champions. How do you feel after your win today?
Crws: We're really happy that we got the chance to show the world our potential. We didn't have the opportunity to play as well as we wanted in the previous game. We're really glad that all of us performed well today.
Q: This is the first major international tournament since Masters Reykjavic, where we have seen X10 participate. How would you rate your team’s performance so far in Valorant Champions?
Crws: We're not where we expected to be. We're far from our goal, but I still think we can make it. Let's see how far we go.
Q: X10 has never faced a team from NA before Valorant Champions, and you’ve met only Fnatic from the EU. How confident are the team in playing the best teams in the world in the later stages of Valorant Champions 2021?
Crws: We just need to beat one of these big teams. No one can intimidate us after that. Honestly, I think our performance mostly depends on the day. If we're on form, everything falls into place, and we play similar to how we scrim. On our good day, none of the big teams can scare us. I think we're also on par with their skill level, and we'll be able to come out on top when we face them.
Q: EMEA teams emerged as the top seeds from all four groups in the tournament. Do you think their region has the best Valorant teams in the world? How would you compare SEA to EMEA?
Crws: I think EMEA is one of the best regions, to be honest. But I wouldn't say they're the best, even though all 4 of them topped their groups. All of their games were tight, and it could've been anyone's game. But still, they're one of the best regions in Valorant, with all the scrims we've had. We can put up a fight against them, and it doesn't worry us much that we have to face them.
Q: Vivo Keyd, whom you faced today, looked really strong at the beginning of Valorant Champions. But as you know, they were involved in a Cypher-camera exploitation controversy a couple of days ago. What are your thoughts on the controversy? After playing them today, do you think that harmed their performance?
Crws: It definitely hit them hard because they were supposed to have an extra chance to play, right? If we think about it, they could've been in the upper bracket. There's so much pressure on them when they already thought they won. I believe they are a really good team, but the pressure they were under when compared to us is huge. It cost them the game.
Q: Before coming to Valorant Champions, how did X10 prepare to face opposition from all parts of the world?
Crws: We've been scrimming for 3-4 months before the tournament. We started quite early because we knew that we qualified for the Champions early on. So we tried to work on our firepower. I think that's the key to executing all of the strategies we have because it would be really hard to accomplish anything if we don't have enough firepower to fight against the NA and EMEA teams. That's why we've been working hard on our aim and shooting until now.
Q: Following up on the previous question, can you mention a few of your common opponents in scrims?
Crws: We only scrim with the Korean and Chinese teams. In my opinion, Chinese Valorant teams have better aim than any of the teams at Valorant Champions. However, they do lack effective tactics when compared to EMEA and NA teams. So, we try to practice our firepower with the Chinese teams and strategies with Korean teams.
Q: Who among your team members do you think has made the most improvement during Valorant Champions 2021?
Crws: I think it was sushiboys. He really showed up today. He popped off and had a huge impact on the win today.
Q: How prepared are you for the rematch against Team Envy? What did you learn from the first time you played them?
Crws: We learned that we were the ones who lost us the game. We made so many mistakes to take advantage of, and that won't happen next time.
Q: What position do you expect X10 to finish in Valorant Champions?
Crws: If we keep up the performance, I would expect to reach the semi-finals at the very least.
