LOUD’s fRoD spoke to the media in a pre-tournament press conference.
The first international VALORANT event of the year, VCT LOCK//IN, is just 24 hours away. 32 of the worlds best will battle to earn their region an extra spot at the first Masters. LOUD's coach Daniel "fRoD" Montaner joined the media for a pre-tournament press conference.
The rise of China in competitive VALORANT
The rise of China in competitive VALORANT has started. With the FPS title being amongst the 45 titles granted gaming licenses, fans can expect to see steady progress from the Chinese teams. EDward Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix were the two Chinese teams invited to compete at VCT LOCK//IN to make this a 32-team event.
EDG was the first Chinese team to compete in an international event. The Chinese first seed represented the FGC at VALORANT Champions 2022. Although EDG did not go far in the tournament, they had left a mark on the international scene with their aggressive gameplay that pushed teams to their limit.
LOUD's fRoD believes if China can get a good grasp on the competitive scene, it could spell trouble. "From my experience against playing teams from China (in CSGO), they're always extremely coordinated, have great tactics, and great individual skills. One of the hardest teams to play against so you know if they get really strong in China I think we're all going to be in trouble."
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LOUD fRoD gives an update on the team's health
Yesterday, the VALORANT Esports Twitter account posted a statement that read LOUD's match against Korean side Gen.G would be delayed by two days. This was due to the sickness amongst the LOUD camp, meaning they were unable to field a full roster.
The match will now be played on February 15 to give the LOUD members additional time to recover. Fans will be given one of two options:
- Attend on February the 13th, receiving a complimentary ticket on February the 15th to watch LOUD.
- People who did not attend on the 13th will still receive a complimentary ticket if they can provide a valid unused February 13 ticket.
LOUD fRoD gave an update on the team's status ahead of their match against Gen.G. "Everyone's doing great. We've been resting, making sure that we're taking the right medication, and lots of vitamins. The guys just really need a lot of rest. So we've been focusing these last several days on getting as much sleep as we can."
"For someone like myself and Cauan (cauanzin), we've been feeling one hundred percent for a couple of days now. So no issues there [...] and everyone will be good to go hopefully in the next 24 hours, everyone's on the path to improvement and slowly but surely everyone will feel 100%.
For more VCT LOCK//IN coverage please check out our event hub page.
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