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Team Envy recently lost a series to Acend in the Valorant Champions 2021’s Group A winners match, at a 0-2 score.
The NA team has gained a reputation worldwide after their outplay in the Valorant Champions Tour Stage 3 Masters Berlin and making it to the Grand Finals. However, they lost the finals to Gambit Esports. Valorant Champions is their last chance to prove their worth.
Team Envy was defeated on both the maps, Ascent and Bind, which resulted in them losing the entire series. Now they will face X10 CRIT in the deciders match. Both teams will clash for the second time at the Valorant Champions on 8 December 2021.
Team Envy’s Crashies talks about their performance against Acend at Valorant Champions 2021
After their match against Acend, Pratiti Dhang of Sportskeeda Esports had a chance to talk to Team Envy’s Austin "crashies" Roberts about their performance and his thoughts on the NA teams at Valorant Champions 2021.
Here's an excerpt of the conversation.
Q: It was a tough match against Acend as they handed you a defeat. What went wrong for Team Envy to lose both the maps?
Crashies: So we got up to a pretty slow start. We didn't win any pistols. And then when we did win one, we got eco-ed right after. So it's pretty hard coming down from a 4-0.
We made a lot of mistakes in the mid round, and I think that was a really big error and probably the biggest reason we lost.
Q: Talking about the second map, even though the team lost on Bind, we saw them gaining momentum after the score turned 10-3. This allowed Team Envy to win 7 consecutive rounds, but that resulted in a loss. Why did the team lose the second map as well?
Crashies: We were obviously gaining momentum. We came back and then both the rounds that we lost, they were obviously really close. There were almost like a 1v1. I think we usually win those. Coupled with that, Victor was having a bad situation.
He was isolated in a room that's freezing cold because the window couldn't be closed; some stuff I've never dealt with in my entire career. I just feel bad for Victor because he was dealing with a really dire situation.
Q: Chet just joined the team after the Valorant Champions Tour Stage 3 Masters Berlin. What are some of the major changes that he has brought to the team before Valorant Champions?
Crashies: So he’s got a bunch of strats. He's like a bunch of darts for me personally, he is really good at counter stratting other teams. He's just a great coach overall. I wouldn't say it was his fault that we lost today.
Everything that he prepared us for, they were doing. We were very prepared for them and it was just the players that messed up today.
Q: Talk to me about how the team prepared themselves during the past few months, before the Valorant Champions.
Crashies: So after the Masters in Berlin, we took a little break, like three weeks or so, and then we got right back into the swing of things in practice. We went to Berlin a week early to get a boot camp which we didn't do previously. And I think it has helped us tremendously.
We learned how to play against the European teams, and we stole some stuff from them. Our focus was on little strats, like some little stuff just to get us prepared for how the EMEA teams will play. I think the boot camp was super beneficial for us.
Q: None of the NA Valorant teams have qualified for the playoffs yet, whereas with Acend, all the EMEA teams have been locked in for the playoffs. What are your thoughts on the performance of the NA teams when compared to the EMEA sides? Where do you think the NA teams are still struggling at Valorant Champions?
Crashies: Yes, I still think that we're still pretty close together in the region. If you see, like, our Gambit series was really close, the Acend series was neck and neck as well. The Fnatic vs Cloud9 series was really close.
We're playing each other really close. It's just that the NA teams are fumbling late in the round. So I would still say EMEA and NA is very close to each other.
Q: Lastly, if you make it out of the Valorant Champions' group stage, which will be the top 3 teams you would look forward to facing in the playoffs and why?
Crashies: Since all EMEA teams came out of the first seed, we have a pretty good chance of playing an EMEA outfit. So it doesn't matter if it's just one of them, because I think NA needs to make a statement and win against them.
