Champions Spotlight: Fit1nho's Giant road to VALORANT Champions

With the anticipated VCT 2023 - Champions just around the corner, it's time to shift our focus toward the talented players who will undoubtedly captivate us on this VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT). One such player is Adolfo "Fit1nho" Gallego, a 23-year-old Spanish duelist from GIANTX. In this article, we will take a look at Fit1nho's career, delve into his growth throughout his three-year journey with Giants, and discuss our expectations for his performance in the upcoming Champions event.

Early career in VALORANT

Fit1nho, like many of his peers, transitioned to VALORANT from Counter-Strike. By 2018, he had achieved the highest rank in Counter-Strike, the Global Elite, comparable to Radiant in VALORANT, and attained level 10 on FACEIT with 3390 ELO, ranking 76th among all players in Spain.

Adolfo quickly became one of the pioneer professional players in VALORANT. His inaugural team was a Spanish player mix SUPERSTARS, participating in their first tournament, the Solary Cup, in May 2020, a month before VALORANT's official release. Before joining Giants, Fit1nho competed in numerous B-tier and C-tier tournaments with various player mixes, including Team Mixwell. It was with them that Fit1nho clinched his first significant B-tier victory at the G2 Esports Invitational, defeating Team Draken, which boasted the likes of ex-NIP player William "draken" Sundin and ocelote, the founder and former CEO of G2 Esports, earning his team $11,000.

A Giant Once - A Giant Forever

Fit1nho’s standout performance on Raze for Team Mixwell did not go unnoticed and he was signed by Giants in July 2020, taking the role of the duelist in the team. The first 6 months were a real honeymoon for Fit1nho and Giants. He was a valuable asset to the team, consistently being one of the top three players and delivering outstanding performances on Raze and Jett. The team had a winning streak for five months securing victories in five C-Tier tournaments and a B-tier LVP - Genesis Cup Visión. They also managed to reach the second place at GameGune 22, narrowly losing the final to Team Heretics.

In 2021 Fit1nho decided to take a break from the Giants and joined some other rosters in search of a team. He returned just after 1.5 months and once again demonstrated his abilities at LVP - Rising Series - #1 - Qualifier. His exceptional performance, with a rating of 1.80 clearly showed that his comeback was a move forward.

Fit1nho’s gameplay started to shine and as a result the Giants also began making progress in the A-tier tournaments and competing for bigger cash rewards. A significant achievement for Fit1nho and Giants was their qualification to VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - EMEA - Challengers Playoffs by getting the 2nd place at VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Europe - Challengers 2. Although they lost to Team Liquid in the match they still earned a spot in the playoffs and won $11,000 as a prize. The playoffs offered an opportunity for 4 out of 12 teams to advance to VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Masters Berlin - Group Stage. This would enable them to compete with top teams for a substantial prize pool of $700,000. Despite Team Liquid's victory in that match, all eyes were on Fit1nho, who delivered one of the memorable highlights of the tournament. Playing Raze he stylishly jump-picked short from B Exit, eliminated L1nk with a Showstopper, and instantly repositioned his crosshair to land a headshot on Soulcas – the casters were left amazed.

A year of stagnation

In 2022 Giants had the most challenging time in the history of the team. Fit1nho’s rating dropped below 1.00 in one-third of his matches and the team struggled to make a breakthrough from the Spanish leagues to international competitions. Their results were below average: 3rd-4th place at VRL - Spain: Rising - Stage 1 - Main Event & VRL - Spain: Rising - Stage 2 - Main Event, and 5th-8th place at VCT 2022 OFF SEASON - LVP Crossfire Cup Mediamarkt e Intel. Their disappointing showing in both VCT Qaulifiers, VCT 2022 - Europe - Stage 1 - Open Qualifier 1 & VCT 2022 - Europe - Stage 1 - Open Qualifier 2 , where they only managed to secure a spot between 17th and 32nd hindered their potential for the year. Fit1nho himself experienced a low during theVRL - Spain: Rising - Stage 1 - Main Event by scoring below 1.00 for eight consecutive games - a completely unsatisfactory performance for someone playing as a duelist.

After failing to qualify for the VCT circuit Giants shifted their focus towards competitions and started experimenting with different player roles and team strategies. Fit1nho made a switch from Jett to Raze and Neon occasionally even playing as Chamber on Icebox. This led to performances overall resulting in an average rating of 1.18 for the year. Considering these matches took place at B-tier tournaments it is safe to say that this outcome was not up to Fit1nho’s potential.

Huge comeback in 2023 & qualification to VCT 2023 - Champions

Giants' confidence was boosted at the beginning of 2023 when the organization became a partner of VCT, receiving direct invitations to some VCT competitons. Fit1nho returned to playing on Jett, occasionally switching to Breach and KAY/O. Despite their setback at [event=event_1951] and at VCT 2023 - EMEA League that prevented them from qualifying to VCT 2023 - Masters Tokyo, Giants, and Fit1nho had their star moment in July. Fit1nho’s exceptional duelist performance against KOI in the upper final of VCT 2023 - EMEA League - Last Chance Qualifier allowed the team to reach the final, guaranteeing Giants participation in VCT 2023 - Champions with a prize pool of $2,250,000. Playing Jett Fit1nho made an astonishing 12 entry kills on two maps and finished the game with a 1.46 rating and 296 ACS.

Fit1nho’s performance was vital in securing victories against Natus Vincere and KOI, boasting an impressive overall rating of 1.34 and a K/D ratio of 1.45 in the tournament. His success determined the future of Giants for the second half of 2023, as the team now has a chance to compete in the Champions with the best teams in the world for an insane cash prize, as well as receive additional funding from the broadcasting rights that every VCT partnered team does.

What to expect from Fit1nho at VCT 2023 - Champions?

After qualifying to VCT 2023 - Champions and overcoming a year-long stagnation, Giants appear stronger than ever. Fit1nho's performance, especially at VCT 2023 - EMEA League - Last Chance Qualifier , shows signs of promise. The recent upward trend in his stats shows that his potential is getting closer to fully unfolding. In the period from May to July Fit1nho has an overall rating of 1.17, ACS of 238, AVG of 147, and a K/D ratio of 1.29.

However, VCT Champions 2023 will be an entirely different battleground from the ones Fit1nho is used to. The stakes and the pressure will be higher than ever, but given Fit1nho's recent performances and ability to care in the most important matches, there are high hopes attached to his showing at the event.