"There's innovation in SEA that NA lacks" Team Envy FNS after defeat to X10 Crit at Valorant Champions 2021

Day 7 of Valorant Champions 2021 wrapped up the group stages of the tournament. Sending 8 teams to a single-elimination playoff bracket, the quarter-finals of the tournament started on December 8, 2021.

The deciding fixture in Group A witnessed a second matchup between North America's Team Envy and South-East Asia's X10 Crit, after both sides met in the group's opening match.

The best-of-three series resulted in a 2-1 victory for the players from Thailand, after they sent one of NA's top prospects back home. During the post-match press conference, Envy's In-Game Leader (IGL) Pujan "FNS" Mehta commented on the quality of South-East Asian teams in Valorant.

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Team Envy's in-game leader FNS comments on the performance of South-East Asian teams in Valorant Champions after their defeat to X10 Crit

Team Envy, in addition to Sentinels and Cloud9 Blue, were North America's representatives at the Valorant Champions 2021. However, as the tournament concludes its group stage, Team Envy will follow Sentinels on their exit from the tournament.

Cloud9 Blue are left as the only North American team in the top 8 of Valorant Champions 2021. During the post-match press conference, FNS answered a question put forward by Sportskeeda Esports.

Sportskeeda asked FNS, "After a really close match against X10, how would you describe the quality of SEA teams at Valorant Champions? How do they compare with teams from NA in terms of their playstyle?"

" SEA teams are definitely a huge step up from some of the NA teams we've played, although not all of them. Their preparation, as far as their innovation in the game with Breach and KAY/O and just different agents is something we are not used to playing against in North America. I think there's a lot more innovation in these regions that NA lacks a little bit. But in terms of firepower, we're pretty much similar." - FNS, Team Envy

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With the likes of Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker, Austin "crashies" Roberts, Jimmy "Marved" Nguyen, Pujan "FNS" Mehta and Victor "Victor" Wong Team Envy was one of North America's best hopes at earning the title of Valorant Champions 2021 after the upset Sentinels faced in the tournament.

In the opening fixture of Group A, Team Envy defeated X10 Crit on consecutive maps. However, moving on to the deciding match, X10 had a much more impactful performance and earned a well-deserved last minute spot in the quarterfinals of Valorant Champions 2021.

After winning Icebox with a close scoreline (13-10), Envy looked uncomfortable on Split , conceding the map (8-13) to X10. With everything on the line, both sides battled it out on Haven, resulting in a 12-14 overtime loss for Team Envy.

After defeating Team Envy, X10 Crit enter the quarterfinals and are scheduled to face Gambit Esports on December 9, 2021, at 22.30 IST (18.00 CET / 12.00 EST / 9.00 PST).