"The season is short, so not a lot of time to rest. Just have to work more and perform consistently. I feel like we're on the right track to win" Chet on Masters Tokyo

VCT 2023 - Americas League has finally come to an end, and over the course of the last two months it has produced a plethora of entertaining matchups, especially with a rather interesting Playoff picture being drawn up such that NRG Esports, once down 1-3 in the regular season, were scheduled in a Grand Finals matchup with a one-loss LOUD. Although LOUD and NRG both qualified for Tokyo, only the Brazilians emerged as the champions of Americas. Following NRG’s loss, THESPIKE.GG was granted the opportunity to interview Chet "Chet" Singh to get his thoughts on the matchup and the journey they underwent to reach this point.

Falling to a magnificent Grand Finals sweep

THESPIKE.GG: As soon as the result became apparent, what were your immediate thoughts? How did you guys react to the loss?

Chet: We don't feel too awful about it because we still made good progress this season, but obviously we all feel that we threw too many rounds that should have been closed.

THESPIKE.GG: Did knowing that NRG had qualified for Tokyo ease up the players a bit, since it’s easy to lose focus with much less at stake?

Chet: Knowing that didn't change our preparation that much. I mean, I didn't have a lot of time, but it was still very similar.

THESPIKE.GG: Do you think having so many matches back-to-back, especially with the lower finals yesterday also being BO5 takes a toll on you in terms of not being able to practice as much and playing endurance-wise?

Chet: For me personally, I just feel horrible, like physically. I mean, I'm just not sleeping that much. Maybe it's on me, like I can maybe work smarter or something, but I just don't feel that well physically right now. Maybe if the schedule is slightly more spaced out or maybe the BO5 started one day later, it would have been nice, but it is what it is.

THESPIKE.GG: If you guys reflect on your performance, if NRG's performance in the League overall, you guys started off 1-3, I think, and then coming on to make the Grand Finals, how did that entire journey feel?

Chet: It was stressful. I felt like we had to turn the season around pretty quick, and we had to do it during the Super Week, so it was a lot of risk-taking and, you know, just a lot of gambling just to get our season back in order, so I think we feel good, though. You know, we haven't missed a LAN since we've been a team, besides like the very first Iceland, so I mean, overall, I think we've been successful.

THESPIKE.GG: In today's matchup, all three of the maps came very close and almost went into favor. It was a lot of momentum, large momentum shifts. What do you think, if you could pinpoint specific errors that could have been made better, what do you think would have been the case?

Chet: I just think our communication, not like communicating ideas, but just listening and executing stuff in the end of the game rounds is our biggest issue at the moment, and it definitely affected us in this game today.

THESPIKE.GG Was there any inherent pressure preying against LOUD given all of the anticipation surrounding the matchup?

Chet: I don't think we had any crazy pressure, just because we had already made our goal. Obviously we want to win, but I don't think we were super stressed this time around, just because we know at the end of the day it would be super devastating to lose.

THESPIKE.GG: Are you guys going to take a break before prepping for Tokyo?

Chet: Not much of a break. I think we're just going to have like two off days, because it seems like Tokyo is a pretty quick turnaround from this tournament. The season is short, so not a lot of time to rest. Just have to work more and perform consistently.

THESPIKE.GG Do you guys feel confident about Tokyo?

Chet: As long as we clean up our errors we made today, I feel pretty good about it. Maybe we'll do some experimenting before Tokyo, just to see if we can stay ahead. But yeah, I mean, I still feel good. I feel like we're on the right track to win the event.

THESPIKE.GG Have you been following the global scene and seeing what teams have qualified for Tokyo? Do you have any thoughts on the other leagues and how they have turned out?

Chet: Yeah, I've watched everything. I think Paper Rex has surprised me. Just what they've been running composition-wise seems not too bad, honestly. As well as Attacking Soul, one of the Chinese teams, seems also decent, and I've definitely already watched them for my own team. So, I mean, I'm impressed with those two teams specifically, and I'm pretty much familiar with the other teams as well. I mean, everyone's good, so it just depends on what will happen at the event.

Make sure to check out our VCT 2023 Hub for all the information about the VALORANT events this year.

Featured image courtesy of Riot Games.