LOUD Saadhak: "I'm going to be honest. I'm kind of scared about China. I don't know those guys. They seem crazy."

After a long best of five match against Sentinels in the VCT Americas Kickoff, we at THESPIKE.GG sat down with Matias "Saadhak" Delipetro from LOUD and had a chat about their off-season changes, their loss against Sentinels, running Pheonix, and what the IGL is looking forward to most at VCT 2024 - Masters Madrid.

You can read our full conversation down below.

Interview with Saadhak

Commiserations on the loss. We saw amazing VALORANT from both teams, but what do you think you were shor on to close out the win for LOUD?

Saadhak: So we started super, super slow. The first two maps, the first map at least, we started super slow. And then, on the second map, we were disconnected from each other. Like in the third and fourth maps, we were like, "okay guys, let's just focus on ourselves, let's just give it our best, and everything's going to be fine." It doesn't matter if we win or lose, just keep going, right?

And then the last map we fell short in some important rounds. Some defuses and some post-plants. But other than that, I'm satisfied with the result nonetheless.

With the new season starting, aspas leaving, and qck coming in, there were questions about LOUD. Will it be the same? But qualifying for the Madrid Masters with a dominant performance, how does it feel to prove everyone wrong?

Saadhak: That's a good question. We really like playing the game so we always try to come up with new things and new strategies like for us it's all about having fun, just competing and doing what we love, right? So, yeah, it doesn't matter who comes and goes. Our circle still remains the same. We are really competitive. We love doing what we do. And we love playing and just playing and playing and playing. That's what makes us good, in a way.

I love from LOUD that no matter if you win or lose, you guys always keep smiling. It doesn't matter what the result of the game is. That's one good quality about you guys as a team.

Saadhak: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, we try. We try to always act like losing is part of winning, right? You wouldn't be winning if losing wasn't on this planet. So, it's a part of it.

We have to deal with it as everyone deals with it. There's always one winner, right? Not everyone wins. So, there are a lot more losers than winners. It's part of the game.

We have seen LOUD not running any Sentinel in any maps you all played apart from Icebox. Is there any particular reason behind it?

Saadhak: I mean, of course, there is. I'm not going to spoil it. I'm not going to tell our secrets, but we really find some things that work and some things that don't work. For example, on Icebox, we still play with Killjoy. She's really useful on Icebox. It depends on how we look at the maps. So yeah, pretty much it.

Continuing on this, why are you running Pheonix on Ascent, Sunset, and Bind?

Saadhak: I mean, we're comfortable playing Phoenix. We also like the agent, so sometimes it works great, and sometimes it's really hard to make it work. We always try to play him like he's really useful. His Ultimate is super strong. His flashes are super strong. So yeah, it's more of a matter of preference, and we really like it as a team.

All the teams qualified this year for Madrid have a massive fan following. Which team are you most excited to go against in Madrid? Which team will be a tough match?

Saadhak: I'm going to be honest. I'm kind of scared about China. I don't know those guys. They seem crazy. The last time we played them, we eliminated them at Champs. But man, they're getting stronger and stronger every year. So, I have a lot of respect for that region. So we'll have to see how they perform against NA, EU, and Asia. I'm really hoping to see them.

This time, we won't see Fnatic, DRX, or NAVI at an international LAN. Thoughts?

Saadhak: Times are changing, you know? LOUD still remains the same, but times are changing.

Note: The article has been edited for clarity and brevity.