The VCT Champions Berlin is the biggest Valorant LAN event till date. The event boasts the best players across the world and kicks off on December 1.
The pre-champions press conference featured 4 In-Game leaders. Team Liquid's Jamppi, Fantic's Boaster, Cloud9's Vanity and Sentinels' Shazam spoke about job security in Valorant and their views on the upcoming matches.
The VCT Champions Berlin is upon us and is the first Champions-level event for the game. Valorant is still a very new game and the post-Champions period could see quite a few roster changes. We spoke to them about how secure players felt in their jobs at the highest level of the game and if they are always competing for their spot on the squad.
"ScreaM and Soulcas help me a lot" - Jammpi
Jamppi joined Team Liquid in February and took over as the IGL in July this year. The youngster is still coming to terms with his role as the In-game leader although Liquid's successful results speak volumes of his impact on the team.
I’m still kind of new to this role. I feel like I can micromanage some things on the team. I get a lot of help from Scream and Souclasts so it's not like I am the only one on the team.
When asked about job security in Valorant the players had some interesting opinions to share.
"All four of us are IGLs. I think there is a lot more job security in being an IGL if you put up relatively consistent results," said Vanity. "Being a Duelist player, on the other hand, it would be a lot more worrying."
As an IGL, as long as you are putting in the work the job security should be there. At least in North America cause there’s not very many of us."
Vanity joined Cloud9 in August from Version 1 and his impact on the team is visible in their results. Cloud9 had a dominant run through the NA LCQ defeating some big names such as 100Thieves, Rise, XSET and Version 1. Vanity’s addition brought direction and strategic depth to the squad.
Esports teams (even at the highest level) often have a high churn rate and players regularly move rosters. The players in the pre-Champions conference had similar opinions on job security for Valorant IGLs are the highest level. Vanity and Jamppi were of the view that the IGL role is one of the safest in Valorant.
Jamppi: The role of an IGL is much more than just replays.
Vanity: It changes a lot within the team to switch IGLs.
To which Jamppi said, changing In Game leaders leads to a change in playstyle. In North America, where Vanity says there are very few IGLs, the demand for good IGLs has increased manifold over the past few months. There are very few quality In-Game Leaders in North America which is why their demand is quite high in the region.
"If people are just playing for their spots, then they are not selfless, when they need to be " - Shazam
As a roster that has been together for a long time, Shazam's views on this topic reflect the team's mentality. The added pressure wanting to perform better than your teammates can often harm your chances of success.
"Our team is one of the longest standing rosters. The culture we have, where people are playing for their jobs is an unhealthy way to approach it. If people are just playing for their spots, then they are not selfless, when they need to be", said Shazam on Sentinels' players position on the team. "Hopefully nobody’s ever felt like they are at risk for their spot on the team (Sentinels)."
The VCT Champions kicks off on December 1 with the match between Vision Strikers and FULL SENSE. All matches will be streamed live on Twitch.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Valorant news and updates.