Valorant Conquerors Championship was inevitable, it was never a matter of 'if' but only 'when': Shrey Verma, co-founder and CEO of LevelZero Esports

With the Valorant Conquerors Championship set to kick off in a few weeks, some of the top teams in the region have already started preparing for the upcoming competition.

The Valorant Conquerors Championship will provide teams with a chance to represent South Asia on the international stage. It will also give them an opportunity to make their way to VCT Worlds through the APAC Last Chance Qualifiers.

In an interview with Sportskeeda Esports’ Abhishek Mallick, Shrey Verma, co-founder and CEO of LevelZero Esports, opened up about his expectations for the upcoming event and how his Valorant roster is preparing for it.

Here is an excerpt from the conversation.

Q1. The official announcement of the Valorant Conquerors Championship finally promises India and South Asia a shot at international representation. The community was quite ecstatic when the news broke, and needless to say, it is a big step towards helping the region’s esports scene grow larger. What went through your mind when Riot and NODWIN Gaming’s announcement finally dropped?

Shrey: Honestly, it was inevitable, and it was never a matter of 'if' but only 'when.' Good for us, it came sooner rather than later. I wasn’t surprised, but I was really happy that I could see players from my country go ahead into brackets with top-tier teams for a chance to get placed in VCT. I hope that the question surrounding an Indian team being present in VCT also becomes a question of 'when' and not 'if.'

Q2. What are some of your expectations from the Valorant Conquerors Championship? What are some of the things you would like to see from the upcoming event?

Shrey: I will only put down my expectations when I am ready. But for now, I would like all my fellow Indian and South Asian orgs to forget everything and start the grind with double or maybe triple the effort because it ain’t gonna be an easy ride. We should not be satisfied by just being the best in India or the best in South Asia.

Q3. What do you feel are the region’s chances against some of the best that the APAC Last Chance Qualifiers have to offer?

Shrey: I wouldn’t lie, but there are better chances than most think at this point in time. Teams like Global Esports and Velocity Gaming are really good. I see Enigma has a few decent players who can turn the game around here and there. But we, as a region, should get more teams to that standard. Hopefully, we will achieve that in the coming days.

Q4. How are LevelZero Esports preparing for the Valorant Conquerors Championship? Is there something special you guys are cooking up?

Shrey: Unfortunately, players had a bad COVID-stricken phase right after the Redbull clutch qualifiers, and we didn’t get enough time to fully prepare as of yet. We want to start the grind and reach the top-tiers of Valorant soon.

Previously, we were already one of the top teams in the eastern region regardless of what trolls and haters had to say, and we proved a lot of people wrong in the process.

Q5. What can fans of LevelZero Esports expect from the roster once the Valorant Conquerors Championship goes live?

Shrey: I really wanna say we are ready and going to do wonders. But realistically, we need a bit of time to be in the top tier and stabilize ourselves from the happenings of the past two months. Having said that, we do really practice hard and we wish to put up a show for everyone who supports us from various esports titles and fields.