pANcada reflects on LOUD’s growth: “If we get discouraged now, we stop evolving”

Since 2025, LOUD has faced a challenging period in VCT Americas. After their VALORANT Champions 2022 victory, Bryan “pANcada” Luna left the team to play for Sentinels for two years before returning to LOUD to lead the squad once again.

Despite several roster changes over the years, pANcada believes the current lineup is talented, though they still need time to develop synergy and for the newer rookies to gain experience. The recent loss to 100 Thieves was a setback, leaving LOUD with the task of winning all remaining matches in the lower bracket if they hope to reach the international stage.

On Jan. 23, 100 Thieves recovered from a first map loss on Breeze to defeat LOUD by 2-1. Breeze has been out of the map pool for years, and now it is coming back after a full rework. LOUD feels very comfortable in that map, which is why they chose it.

"We feel really good in this map, and we played it well against them," LOUD pANcada said in an interview with esports.gg after the match. "It's one of those maps with LOUD's face."

However, small mistakes led to a very suffering victory for LOUD. The reason is not the lack of individual talent, but the lack of experience as a team, as a group, pANcada explained. "We want to develop ourselves to reach that perfect mid-round point, but for that, we need time to play."

For the LOUD's in-game leader, even though things are not working the way they wanted, the roster gets along very well, and everyone is trying to improve and doing their best. Even when the gameplay does not show their true talent, they are evolving. "The boys really want to win, and we're looking for that," he added.

The main goal now is to adapt to the new meta. While Yoru is one of the strongest duelists, it is also important for players to feel comfortable in their roles. Although Virtyy has said he feels more comfortable playing Waylay, we have not yet seen him use the agent in official matches.

In an interview with nandoshow, an independent Brazilian journalist, the LOUD coach explained that some teams are unable to play certain compositions and that Yoru does not work for LOUD within their current setups.

While 100 Thieves has been consistent in the VCT Americas, LOUD was not expecting such an aggressive and proactive team. "We had a clear idea of how they were going to play, but they shut down our entries and played very aggressively on the maps, which made things much more difficult for us," pANcada explained.

However, LOUD has not given up yet. While pANcada might have been through one of the worst seasons of the organization, he believes the team continues to see the positive side of losing. "We understood what we needed to do. It is always about improving and don't let the defeats discourage us," he stated. "I think discouragement is something that can hinder us, and if we discourage now, we will stop evolving."

For him, it is all about giving the team time to grow. The new Kickoff format has allowed teams more opportunities to prove their value in the tournament, something pANcada appreciates.

“If it were like last year, we would have lost two matches and been eliminated. Everything we learned wouldn’t have been put into practice, and we would be falling behind, trying to catch up to our own path.”

After many years with the organization, LOUD pANcada believes he has matured a lot since the beginning. "Sometimes, the person is not wrong for what he wants; he just needs the right direction," he added. "You gain experience not only in the game, but in life as well, and you change as a person."

LOUD will be playing on Jan. 31 against Evil Geniuses. The losing team will be eliminated from the competition, and the winner still has a chance to dream of international stage qualification through the lower bracket.

You can watch all the matches on the VCT Americas official YouTube or Twitch channels. In case you want additional commentary, look out for the official co-stream channels.

Note: This article was originally written in Portuguese and translated into English, with slight adaptations made for clarity.