OpTic Gaming na ang dating Valorant roster ng Team Envy. Sa Episode 62 ng The OpTic Podcast, kinausap ng Call of Duty League pro at streamer na sina Seth “Scump” Abner sina Pujan “FNS” Mehta at Victor Wong tungkol sa nagaganap na VCT NA Stage 1 Challengers Main Event at kung anong pinagkaiba ng Valorant sa CS:GO.

Sa pamumuno ni FNS, ang OpTic Gaming ay itinuturing na isa sa pinakamalalakas na Valorant teams sa North America, at isa sa apat na nakatanggap ng direct invite sa Stage 1 Challengers Main Event.

Natalo ang team sa kanilang unang match laban sa mga baguhang Rise squad, ngunit nananatili pa ring mataas ang ekspektasyon para sa isa sa mga top teams ng North America.

OpTic FNS naniniwalang mas mahirap ang laban sa Group A kaysa sa Group B ng VCT NA Stage 1 Challengers Main Event

Valorant Team Envy FNS VCT Stage 3 Masters Berlin
Credit: Riot Games

Inilagay ang OpTic sa Group B ng Stage 1 Challengers Main Event, kasama ang mga teams tulad ng Sentinels, Version1, ar NRG.

“I think Group A is harder. 100 Thieves and Cloud9 are top teams, and XSET has gotten better as well. The Guard is looking insane too,” sabi ni FNS. “I guess Luminosity Gaming and Evil Geniuses are the two weaker teams in the group, but even they are looking good.”

“And while Group B has Sentinels, we don’t know what shape they’re going to show up in. Then there’s us, and we feel like we’re at a pretty good level right now. Version1 seems like they’re on top, and NRG is playing at a high level right now too. However, Knights and Rise are very inconsistent, and I think even they would admit that.”

Ayon sa Canadian pro, ang lahat nang teams sa Main Event ay malalakas, ngunit mas maraming underdogs sa Group B kaysa sa Group A.

Ang pinagkaiba ng Valorant sa CS:GO

Valorant Team Envy FNS Victor VCT Stage 3 Masters Berlin
Credit: Riot Games

Tinanong din ni Scump sina FNS at Victor kung sa tingin nilang mas mahirap ang CS:GO kaysa sa FPS title ng Riot. Para sa kanila, depende ito sa kung anong aspeto naka-focus ang player.

Tactically demanding ang Valorant

“Counter-Strike is harder mechanically, but Valorant is harder tactically. With the micro-steps and all the small details, there’s so much in Valorant that you can’t account for. On the other hand, in CS everyone has the same grenades and flashes,” sagot ni Victor.

Isa sa mga pinagkaiba ng Valorant ay ang mga agent abilities at ultimates ng mga ito. “The worst thing is not being able to prep for an ultimate. Say you have a Viper on five ultimate points. If he gets two kills, he can suddenly use his Viper’s Pit ultimate and make things a lot more difficult,” sabi ni FNS.

“You now have to instantly figure out on-the-fly how to counter that and retake site with the spike already planted.”

Sina Sage, Astra, at Raze ay ilan sa mga agents na may high-impact ultimates na maaaring magpabago ng takbo ng laro. Halimbawa, mawawalan ng saysay ang early pick sa Resurrection ni Sage, habang halos siguradong may free kill naman si Raze pag tumama ang kanyang Showstopper rocket.

“As an in-game leader, it’s really hard to account for all this. Even if you have a good calling game, or your star players are popping off, you could still suddenly lose a round because of one of these ultimates, and all of a sudden the economy or momentum is now in their favor,” paliwanag ni FNS.

Credit: Riot Games

Patuloy na nagbabago ang Valorant meta

Ibinahagi rin ng dating CS:GO player ang kanyang cheeky tactic kapag nagpa-practice laban sa ibang teams. “If teams have the exact same agent composition as us and we’re doing well, I’ll just run their strats against them,” patawang sinabi ng OpTic pro.

“It works flawlessly. I’ll be wondering why they are rotating off a position when it’s their strat to begin with.”

Bukod pa dito, pinunto rin ng 29-anyos na player na maraming pagbabago ang nagaganap sa shooter ng Riot, napaka-fluid ng meta. “Nothing really changes in CS. They don’t even add a box on a site randomly,” sabi ni FNS. “So you’ll still be able to apply the same stuff and set strats, and execute the basic premise of how to play a certain map.”

“But in Valorant they are adding maps and agents constantly, so you have to get used to shifting metas.”

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