Despite the lack of international experience in Vitality’s VALORANT roster, Coach Salah Barakat has rated the team as capable of going head-to-head with the big teams in the EMEA VALORANT.
The yellow-and-black just put a team together, but Barakat believes that the team needs to play a couple of games together before that manifests.
Vitality were victorious against Global eSports in their opening match at the VCT LOCK//IN, as they came out tops on Split and Lotus, although they dropped Pearl.
They faced Leviatan in their second-round match, coming from behind after falling at Haven early in the game. They couldn’t get the job done in regular time and still went into three overtimes, only to loose in a demotivating manner after losing their pick of Pearl, which ended their LOCK//IN run.
The coach, after the elimination, was confident of the quality of his team and believed that they were a team close to the top.
“I still confidently believe we’re in the upper echelon [of EMEA], in the top half. This game is a lot about experience in front of a crowd, and in an event like this, [, and it’s] the first right experience for everyone here except for BONECOLD. Experience is going to be key for us. In terms of [strategy], aim, player mechanics, all of these things, I think we’re definitely close to the top. From what we’ve showed already, I think a lot of people would say the same and believe the same.” coach Slash said post-match.
BONECOLD was the only member of the team that has international experience as he is a former champion on the VCT scene, although he didn’t feature on the VCT stage since the end of 2021. The rest of the team made their debut on the international VCT stage and gave a good account of themselves.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
