RyanCentral On VALORANT’s First Strike And Grading Europe’s Top Teams

VALORANT has been going through a lull - but that ends within the next few months. First Strike is Riot Games first organised venture into VALORANT - and it is right around the corner. Content creator, commentator, and European VALORANT expert, Ryan “RyanCentral” Horton spoke with GGRecon to get us up to speed about the teams to watch going into First Strike, how Ninjas In Pyjamas have faired after their roster shakeup, and he gives his thoughts on both Icebox and VALORANT’s newest agent - Skye.

We’ve got to pick your brain on the newest agent to VALORANT, Skye. How do you feel about Skye? Do you feel shes a little over-tuned or overloaded at all? 

I think she’s the best addition that the game could have currently. I love the fact her identity is almost to be a hybrid between a Sova and a Breach whilst having her own specific playstyle. I feel that two things will happen; the first is that teams that don’t really vibe with Breach might consider playing her instead due to her flashes. The second is that on maps where Sova kind of sucks (Split & most likely Icebox) she could be used instead. She’s the perfect supplementary agent for Breach/Sova players and no doubt she’ll fit in nicely into VALORANT.

With Icebox on the horizon, how do you feel about the long sightlines and massive amount of verticality the map brings? Do you think this only furthers the current agent metagame? 

For certain agents, sure! Omen already had a 99% pick rate, but Icebox is a MUST for him. I do find the reaction of the map interesting though, Ardiis said that it was [garbage] whilst Shroud said it was the best map in the game. For me, it’s just got too much stuff in there! If Icebox had less narrow corridors and less verticality, then it would be a perfect fifth map for the game. As it stands though, it’s divisive but certainly not terrible.

I’d say NiP has moved into the third-best team in the region.

GLX Elite: EU saw Ninjas In Pyjamas' (NiP) new roster take a solid victory. Was their road to the title as clean as you expected? How do you feel about this new NiP lineup? Does it progress into the future well? 

It’s definitely hard to gauge after only one tournament that had them play two Bo3s but their win against Gambit was a breath of fresh air. Gambit I’d say is possibly a top-five team across all of EU, so NiP's win here was a massive statement about the potential of the team. Not only did Sayf and Chiwawa slot into the team like a glove, it breathed new life into players like LuckeR and most certainly Rhyme who moved over to the Sova full time and had more noticeable impact than I’ve ever seen from him. If I’m feeling spicy, I’d say NiP has moved into the third-best team in the region, but as I mentioned, we’ve just not seen enough of them yet!

SKADE was a team that was pegged as a team with promise after their performance at LVL Clash 2, and their quarterfinals loss to forZe leaves much to be desired. What does this Swedish team stand in your summation? Is there room for this team to grow into? 

I was a bit hesitant about judging SKADE too much with their performance in LVL Clash 2. They beat Team Liquid and surprised many, but I didn’t want to hype up the team too soon. Funnily enough, I just saw their game where they lost 0-2 to Nolpenki, and it wasn’t close. Their other losses to forZe as you mentioned and even teams like Flawless really don’t bode well for this team going into First Strike. I can very much see a reality where these guys don’t qualify.

The other major team that walked away with a bit of pride this past week was Gambit Esports. With a solid semifinal battle with Ninjas In Pyjamas, is Gambit the real deal? Is this a team Europe needs to be worried about?

Luckily EU teams don’t need to worry too much about Gambit as they’ll be in First Strike: CIS. I do think this team is poised to win it all. I do reckon there’s plenty more to come out of the CIS region and there’s already some great lineups that could give some upsets. However I just think that Gambit is leaps and bounds ahead and like I mentioned previously, it’s a team that would easily qualify for the EU finals if they were playing in that region!

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Walk me through what’s going on with BIG? They seemed to jump into the scene with a great foot forward during LVL Clash 2 and some of the GLX EU Battles. What happened? Where have they gone wrong? 

It’s a similar thing with SKADE and a LOT of EU teams at the moment. Whilst a loss to BBL and two losses to Twinkle (a team I’ve never heard of before) isn’t a good sign, these games were Bo1s, and all played on Split. I see Big’s time in First Strike being a really difficult one, but there is definitely a chance that they will wise up before then.  

Now, First Strike is just a month out, and we’ve got to hear your thoughts about how you think the European side of things are going to shake out. First, who are some early favourites to perform well at the qualifiers? 

Of course, you have G2 & FunPlus Phoenix, but I’m excited to see Heretics and SUMN play against some of the big guns. Heretics is a team similar to Gambit where I’ve heard terrific things about their potential and could be another team vying for a top-five spot in the region. SUMN are currently my favourite team to follow at the moment, Boaster has been grinding since the closed beta, and it’s nice to not only see that bear fruit but also to see him surround himself with amazing talents like Tsack and Moe. I don’t think they’ll win the event, and they might not even qualify, but it’s a team you can’t help but love!

Outside of that if you had to pick a dark horse to win the whole of First Stike: Europe, who would you put your money on—and why do they beat G2 Esports? 

I definitely stan G2 to win. You can’t ignore how hard FPX has been breathing down their necks, but every single time G2 has risen to the occasion and gone full Super Saiyan to win out some of those matches. The Blast final on Split especially just goes to show what G2 can bring to the table. I don’t specifically think it’s just a two-horse race though, NiP look vastly improved, Team Liquid have it all to prove after disappointing results, and all of the teams we just mentioned are chomping at the bit to provide an upset. I HATE this assumption that EU is just G2 > everybody else because it’s incredibly competitive now and we are about to add more crazy teams to the stacked region.

 

Images via Riot Games