"We are hopefully looking to bring Derke in for the first game." - Fnatic Boaster at the Press Conference

With VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík, the most inaugural LAN event of VCT 2022, commecing in less than twenty-four hours, the excitement and hype in the community is surreal. But before twelve of the world’s best teams engage in intense matches for the Masters title, representatives of a few teams participated in a press conference answering some of the most intriguing questions the audience had.

The conference was conducted at 11 AM PST/6PM Local Time and featured the following players:

• Press Conference 1: Fnatic – Boaster, OpTic Gaming – YAY, KRÜ Esports – Klaus, Team Liquid – Scream
• Press Conference 2: DRX – Stax, ZETA DIVISION – Laz, XERXIA – Crws

Without further ado, let’s dive into the answers the participants had for the questions THESPIKE.GG asked.

Press Conference 1

THESPIKE.GG: Will Derke be playing the first match on Monday?

Jake "Boaster" Howlett : We are hopefully looking to bring Derke in for the first game.

THESPIKE.GG: Two different team names; same rosters. Envy vs X10 is not a happy memory. How do you feel going against them (XERXIA) in your opening match?

Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker : It is pretty exciting to get a rematch against them after getting knocked out by them at Champions. We have gone back, reflected, and also Victor "Victor" Wong is healthy now. I’m really looking forward to replaying them. Its unfortunate that we can’t go against the complete original roster with the departure of Patiphan. But they are looking good with Surf, so I’m hoping it will be a good match.

THESPIKE.GG: Although Liquid placed 4th at the EMEA Challengers, you were granted a spot due to the issues with FPX traveling to Iceland. What were the team’s initial reactions to this news?

Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom : We’ve had a slump after Champions. Our preparation wasn’t the best and we tried a lot of stuff. We can only be happy for qualifying here. Its sad that FPX couldn’t make it. They are a team that deserves to be a part of this competition and they proved that in the Challengers.

THESPIKE.GG: Your team shocked the world at the Champions event making a statement to never underestimate a team that has made it so far despite the region it originates from. Going into the Masters event, how confident do you feel about being able to repeat history again?

Nicolas "Klaus" Ferrari : I believe that we are really confident after proving ourselves at Champions. It was a great achievement for our development us as individuals and as a team. We have really grown up together and have gained a lot of experience. Qualifying to all of the LAN events so far has also been important for us and it will play an important role going into this tournament as well.

Press Conference 2:

THESPIKE.GG: Your team’s luck at international tournaments hasn't been great. What do you plan on doing differently to change the outcome this time?

Kim "stax" Gu-taek : It is a disappointment that our results weren’t that great last year but I think with Kim "Zest" Gi-seok coming back as the IGL in this event, our chances look better and I look forward to competing in this tournament.

THESPIKE.GG: ZETA preferred to not attend last year's APAC Last Chance Qualifier for Champions in order to re-build a new roster. With the rebuild done, what do you think are the expectations for this new roster going into the event?

Kouji "Laz" Ushida : We have three new members in our team and neither of them have played in international Valorant events before but we believe this team has the best potential yet, in terms of representing the Zeta Division banner. We are excited as to what this new roster can bring for us and our goal for this event is to at least win a single match and move forward in the competition.

**THESPIKE.GG: Following the departure of Patiphan "patt" Chaiwong to the Overwatch scene, Thanachart "Surf" Rungarphajaratsakul joined the team and is enjoying similar success. How confident are you in his abilities, and the potential for your roster in the tournament? **

Thanamethk "Crws" Mahatthananuyut : To be honest, we are always confident no matter who’s playing in the game because we trust in all of our teammates. The path to qualifying for Masters was extremely difficult itself, but we still made it so we are confident that everyone in our team is capable of bringing success back to APAC.

And that's a wrap from for Masters Reykjavík 2022 press conference coverage from THESPIKE.GG.