VCT LOCK//IN broadcast talent give their thoughts on Lotus’ pending international debut

The 2023 VALORANT Champions Tour is here. The tournament in Brazil will open the circuit with 32 teams in a single elimination format. We'll see a multitude of international debuts, from teams, players, and the latest map. Regarding the new map, we spoke with several members of the VCT LOCK//IN broadcast talent team to see what they think about Lotus appearing at the event.

It is always exciting when a new map or Agent is finally playable in competitive VALORANT. With the first international tournament happening of the VCT partnership era, we very well may see Lotus slip into a couple of matches.

The hype is real and everyone is ready to see the three-site map, with its ruinous appearance and rotating doors. We asked Doug "EsportsDoug" Cortez for his general thoughts on the map.

"I really like Lotus. I think the complexity of the map makes it stand out amongst the rest of the pool. It's going to force the best out of players from a micro perspective with a macro on a team scale. So many angles, and so much room to play differently."

Another VCT LOCK//IN broadcast talent, Mitch "MitchMan" McBride, chimed in with tempered expectations regarding Lotus. He's not too high on the map appearing more than a handful of times, if at all.

"I'm not sure how much Lotus we will see on the international stage. It's always a huge risk to a play a new map and, with most series having a clear favorite, it just strikes me as a mistake to let it through for most of these matches. Especially in single elim!

"Overall, I don't expect to see much of Lotus, but when we do see it, with the ability to completely suffocate attackers' map control early on, this could be the most punishing map we've seen for teams attempting to wing it."

Every map in VALORANT has what works and what doesn't. There are Agents who absolutely dominate in certain locations and others that need to be kept far away. When it comes to Lotus, the VCT LOCK//IN broadcast talent team have an idea of what Agents might do the trick.

MitchMan's casting partner, Tom "Tombizz" Bissmire, was kind enough to share a plethora of details with us. There are a few Agents he sees performing well on Lotus, due to their abilities paired with the layout of the map.

"Lotus seems like a map with a lot of opportunity, which is exciting. Defenders have a lot of changes to fight for map control with orbs in a lot of contentions positions. But with recent nerfs to Chamber and a rise in KJ being played, we could see some varied styles of how to play the map.

"I'd also love to see what can be done with Agents like Breach. With a lot of narrow chokes the attackers have to fight through, his stun has a lot of opportunities to delay and comb with other utility.

"Finally, I'd love to see teams attempt to use Neon. The pace that she adds to fight for initial control and her stuns being great for close chokes already makes her valuable. Seeing her speedway [Fast Lane] used to take control around A seems fairly viable and on defense, having speedy rotations could be a nice touch."

Brennon "Bren" Hook agrees with Tombizz regarding a certain quaking Initiator Agent.

"Breach seems incredibly strong. He gives you amazing options to play aggressive defensive defaults by stunning the chokpoints at the beginning of rounds, very much like how Fracture plays at the top level I feel. Outside of that, I'm not sure what will get played."

There's a solid chance that when we do see Lotus, we'll recognize Breach as a must-have tool in order to succeed. There's one last Agent those we spoke with want to appear on the map, though. EsportsDoug is back and wants to see the Agent make waves.

"I have really high hopes that we see a lot of Harbor. I think his Ult could be really strong in general, and I think he's an excellent counter to what will be pretty common compositions on this map."

The final topic we gave the VCT LOCK//IN broadcast talent a chance to speak on are the teams making their way to Brazil. Arten "Ballatw" Esa believes we may see some Hail Mary picks during the map selection process, but knows teams will at least come prepared.

"Map pick/ban mind games around Lotus will be a very interesting part of LOCK//IN. Some teams will float it while unprepped against teams they believe are underprepared themselves or are perma-banning. Some teams may act like it's their perma in the first few rounds and then bring out a beast.

"Some teams may float while prepped against other teams that float, trying to bait them into picking it. Etcetera etcetera. There are so any different combinations of mind games and matchups.

"Notable teams who frequently come in prepared on the newest maps for global events are FNATIC, 100T, NAVI, the former OpTic core, C9, and DRX. Whether it's as important at this event compared to others is probably up for debate. I believe it's not, due to the format.

"It's better to focus on the knowns and minimize the unknowns. Also, the Alpha Bracket teams may be able to adjust their approach about the map for the final four. That's just pretty crazy."

The tournament will introduce us to many new talents and many new teams. There will also be a large amount of familiar faces taking the stage in Brazil. That seems to be the key for Bren when it comes to teams doing well on Lotus.

"I'm excited to see Lotus finally get played. The teams that will excel on the map will end up being those with consistent core rosters I feel, from last year to now. Mainly because they have the biggest luxury of time to spend on a new map compared to brand new teams."

Everyone has their expectations, but it is safe to say we never truly know what to expect when it comes to top tier VALORANT. Here's to hoping we see some innovation and surprises with Lotus to appease our entertainment needs during the tournament.

Thank you to those who offered up their insight. Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more VALORANT content and check out our VCT LOCK//IN event page for news, interviews, results, and more all in one place.