ARGENCY, Vision Strikers' coach: "If we face Gambit again, we will be looking to get our revenge"

As VALORANT Champions fast approaches, we spent some time with DRX to get their insight into their bootcamp and preparation.

Vision Strikers come into VALORANT Champions as the favourite out of the APAC region teams as well as a contender for the title, their dominance in South Korea has solidified their name around the world. Having only attended VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Masters Berlin - Playoffs outside of their native country, they breezed through the GSL group stage and made it into the playoffs but falling short to eventual winners, M3 Champions. Vision Strikers took it upon themselves to endure an extensive bootcamp in Berlin, Germany where they look to take the title come December 12th.

Here is our interview with the long serving coach of Vision Strikers; Kwon ‘ARGENCY’ Soon-woo.

Firstly, thank you for spending your time with us during this busy period for Vision Strikers.

You had set off to Berlin on Thursday 11th for a boot camp in preparation for VALORANT Champions come December 1st. How has practice gone so far?

We found that EU teams have a very different approach to the game than the Asian teams. I think this is overall a great experience for us and I believe that the bootcamp really helped us understand how strengths better leading up to the tournament.

Vision Strikers made the playoff stage of Masters Berlin in September, but were knocked out by eventual winners Gambit. Do you think you have an advantage going into Champions already having had LAN experience in Berlin?

I personally think that the fact that some of our players lacked the fundamental international LAN experience played a big role in our loss during Masters 3 Berlin. I truly believe some of our players did not show their full potential that we see in them during Masters. Also, we made too many careless mistakes not just against Gambit, but on other matches as well. This time around, we will have a much more comfortable tournament and show our full potential during Champions.

Seeing the competition you have in your group with the likes of Fnatic and Cloud9, how confident are you to make the playoff stage this time?

I think both Fnatic and Cloud 9 are very strong teams, but I also want to say Full Sense is up there in terms of competition as well. I believe a competition between good teams comes down to who makes the least amount of mistakes. In terms of placements, I believe we will be the winners of Group D and Cloud 9 to come in second.

Considering the disappointing performance Lakia had when he played just one map against Gambit during Masters Berlin, will we see more of him during the group stage this time?

Unfortunately, I will not be commenting on this due to a risk of leaking our team strategy.

What benefits does fielding a 6-man roster provide to your team, in terms of in game performance and around players’ mental health?

If we had 5 players whose agent pool depth is very solid, then a 6-man roster may not be needed. But, the advantage of having this additional player comes from that expansion of our agent pool and having specialists on certain maps. The ever-changing meta in the game limits what a 5-man roster can do. Of course, this opinion can be perceived in both ways, where it may be seen as stressful for some players, or necessary to have a stronger team.

Having scrimmed against European teams as part of your bootcamp, how confident are you going into your first game, which will be the opening battle of the event against FULL SENSE?

I think their confidence drives their play and they may surprise some people. But I also think they have certain weaknesses to their game. As long as we don’t make any avoidable mistakes, I think we can take the victory against them with a 2 to 0 score.

What are your team goals for VALORANT Champions? Who do you think will be your biggest competitor at the event?

My goal at this tournament is obviously to win VALORANT Champions. It doesn’t matter who we face; my team and I will be preparing with all our might. If we face Gambit again, we will be looking to get our revenge.

Moving past Champions, we wanted to get your insight on the future of VCT and Vision Strikers. Do you think the current VCT format works well across all regions or would you like to see any changes come 2022?

In 2021, we have had many tournaments hosted by Riot, so top-tier teams that qualified for these competitions are definitely having a good time. But, in 2022, I hope to see more third-party tournaments available for the other teams that dropped out early in the season.

In terms of competition in NA and EU, would you prefer to be involved more in these regions if the option was available?

The different approaches that each region has is fascinating for me, so any opportunity that allows some international scrim blocks are always welcome.

Thank you for your time ARGENCY, we wish you good luck in the tournament.

As mentioned in the interview, Vision Strikers will face off against FULL SENSE in the opening match of VALORANT Champions 2021 and you can find out all the tournament information on the event page.