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The Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers 1 witnessed a clash between Team Liquid and LDN UTD on Day 8 of the tournament.
Team Liquid took down LDN UTD by a 2-0 scoreline in the best-of-three series, making them currently hold second position in Group A. The team missed out on the Valorant Champions trophy last year after losing to Acend in the semi-finals. VCT 2022, has brought them another opportunity to prove their worth with their performances and skills in the tournament.
Nabil "Nivera" Benrliton joined Team Liquid in November 2021 after making the switch from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO). The player is one of the top emerging players in the scene.
Recently, Team Liquid’s Nivera opened up to Sportskeeda Esports' Pratiti Dhang about his transition period from CS: GO to Valorant and the team after coming out victorious against LDN UTD on Day 8 of the tournament. Valorant Champions Tour 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers 1’s Group Stage.
Team Liquid's Nivera on his transition period from CS: GO to Valorant, and teams' performance against LDN UTD at VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers 1
Q: First of all congratulations on the win against LDN UTD. Even though the team won the series in the second map, Split, we saw Team Liquid struggle a bit in winning the initial rounds which allowed LTD UTD to be in the lead till the score was 9-5. How did Team Liquid make a comeback after that?
TL Nivera: As you can see, we have a really defensive composition, so it's really hard on the attack to win. So yeah, five rounds for us were already good enough. But we lost the defense pistol, so we lost the first two rounds. But then we knew how to play and rock up, and we had a really good defensive composition, so we could like win every other run. That's why we came back.
Q: Team Liquid is one of the few teams to add newly released Valorant agents like Neon and Chamber to their agent composition in the tournament. How has the team practiced and adapted to these agents quickly?
TL Nivera: It brings a lot of freshness to have a new agent in the team. Like new things, new metas and our players can play any role. That's why we just take the new agents, and Chamber and Neon are really strong. I don't think enough teams are using them right now because they're new, but I think they're just the best agents in the game right now.
Q: You recently switched to Valorant in November 2021, after having a career in CS: GO. Tell us about your transition period and difficulties faced while doing so.
TL Nivera: I work really hard because it's a new game for me and I have only been playing this game for like eight months and yes, I really need to improve a lot.
Sometimes I have to play like CS and like in the end it's really bad. Even the aim is very different. So I have like bad habits I would say and I'm still learning even today and I'm working really hard.
Q: What are some of the differences that you have spotted between Valorant and CS: GO’s esports scene?
TL Nivera: I think CS: GO slightly better in terms of competition because this game is like really famous and it's an old game. But because Valorant is a new game, it needs time to take up space to put up some really good tournaments every month.
I think right now CS: GO is a bit better in terms of competition but I know in the future Valorant will be like Riot Games' League of Legends. It's just crazy. So it's going to be better for sure.
Q: Last year in Valorant Champions,Team Liquid missed out on the trophy after losing to Acend in the semi-finals. What are some of the major changes that are brought to the team since then for VCT 2022?
TL Nivera: Yes, we took a month-long vacation so everyone could relax and brief a bit and yeah, when we came back we were struggling a bit for like the first two to three weeks. That's why I think our first match against competitors was really hard because we didn't practice really well and we had a big lack of time.
Right now, we're in a good form, I would say, and we will get better. Like we're getting better in practice, we have more time and that's why we like this competition format because it's like one match per week and you have a lot of time to prepare for the match and train. So yeah, we didn't change anything special. We just added new agents and we practiced like we used to practice before the Valorant Champions.
Q: What are some of the objectives that you have set for yourself for this year?
TL Nivera: We just want to dominate the whole scene and I think it's going to be pretty hard if you have very good teams, like a lot of good teams. So yes, we have to work really hard and I would say the first objective is to qualify right now for the Masters. But for the long term, you just like to be the best team in the game.
Note: This copy has been lightly edited for better readability.
