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Day 9 of Valorant Champions 2021 concluded the quarter-final stages of the tournament. After a miraculous run in the group stages, South-East Asian team X10 Crit fell to European powerhouse Gambit Esports.
After failing to convert a victory from their first map pick (Fracture), X10 Crit successfully equalized the best-of-three series by conquering Gambit on Ascent. The showdown in Breeze favored Gambit, resulting in a 2-1 victory for the Russians. All three maps ended in a 13-7 scoreline.
X10 Crit was among the three teams representing SEA at the Valorant Champions 2021. Based in Thailand, X10 are a young roster of players who displayed their aggressive style of play and incredible teamwork by making their way into the top 8 of Valorant Champions Berlin 2021.
X10 Crit returned to Thailand after a successful Valorant Champions appearance and now awaits the next iternation of the tournament to make a bigger impact. After their quarter-finals fixture, sushiboys from X10 Crit shared his experience of the tournament with Adarsh J Kumar of Sportskeeda Esports.
X10 Crit's sushiboys discusses future of SEA teams at Valorant Champions 2021
The Thai roster included: Panyawat "sushiboys" Subsiriroj, Patiphan "pati" Chaiwong, Itthirit "foxz" Ngamsaard, Nutchaphon "sScary" Matarat, and Thanamethk "Crws" Mahatthananuyut.
Q: How would you describe your experience at the first ever Valorant Champions tournament?
sushiboys: I'm completely new to such an experience. It was exciting to take part in the tournament. The matches have been really fun, and i enjoyed seeing the unexpected happen every now and then in the tournament.
Q: This is your first major international tournament since VCT Stage 2 Masters Reykjavic. How do you think X10 Crit performed in the tournament?
sushiboys: Participating in Valorant Champions 2021 was definitely a unique experience when compared to Masters Reyjkavic. We gained a lot of knowledge and experience since our last Masters and worked on our mistakes as well. X10 definitely performed better in this tournament since we managed to make it to the top 8 teams this time.
Q: Fracture is the latest map added to the competitive map pool. What made you guys choose the map? Considering Fracture was your first pick, what went wrong according to your game plans?
sushiboys: We picked Fracture because we had practiced with Gambit on the map a few days back and the results were pretty good. However, Gambit had effective strategies and read our plays efficiently.
Q: Ascent is Gambit’s favorite map. They have played that map the most and they had a 90% win rate until today's fixture. How do you feel after beating Gambit in their own ground?
sushiboys: We feel proud to have defeated Gambit on Ascent, of all maps. To be honest, we are not our best on that map. So I consider today's win a great achievement.
Q: What are your thoughts on the performance of South East Asian teams at Valorant Champions? How does SEA region compare to NA and EMEA?
sushiboys: We can easily come to the conclusion that SEA teams are not that different from NA or EMEA teams in terms of quality. Two of our teams from SEA made it to the top 8 of the tournament, so that says a lot.
Q: What do you expect from SEA teams in the future?
sushiboys: Currently, we don't have enough tournaments for teams within the region, so I would appreciate it if Riot Games introduced more competitions so that a higher number of teams can participate. I would also like to see more open slots for the SEA region because there are a lot of good teams who cannot make it due to the region being limited to two open slots.
Q: Can you tell us more about the gaming culture in Thailand? How did you get attracted to games when you were a child?
sushiboys: Generally in Thailand, adults have a negative opinion on gaming and do not approve of people pursuing it as a career. However, with the success of Thailand in esports in recent times, we have proved that gaming isn't so bad after all.
When i was a kid, I never really had a chance to play games. But as I grew up, I started gaming with my friends. Soon enough, I figured out I didn't want to just play for fun anymore.
Q: Did you have a professional gaming career before Valorant? How did you perform in that esport?
sushiboys: I used to play Counter Strike on an amateur level. I made it to the top 8 of Thailand's CS: GO player rankings. My best rank in the SEA region was 27.
Q: After X10's victory against Vivo Keyd, your teammate, Crws told Sportskeeda that you were the X10 player who made the most improvement over the course of the tournament. What do you have to say about that?
sushiboys: I gained a lot of experience throughout the tournament. After our first matchup against Envy, I understood my mistakes and was able to adjust my style of play accordingly to help defeat them a second time. Every match helped me learn and improve my performance for the next match.
Q: Before coming to Valorant Champions, how did X10 prepare to face opposition from all parts of the world?
sushiboys: We practiced every single day and tried to find new strategies to surprise every single team here.
Q: What do you look forward to in 2022?
sushiboys: I still want to compete next year, especially in LAN tournaments. It would feel great to play on stage again.
