Important insights from Sentinels
Q: What was the biggest issue for the team on Sunset? (Question from Pedro Romero to Kaplan)
Kaplan: I don't think we came back into Sunset with the confidence, resolve, and faith in ourselves that was needed for a bounce back. It just took way too long to get those things back. It only came back once the game was all but over and there was no pressure anymore.
Q: After the first six rounds on Lotus, EDG changed their pace of Attack and it felt like SEN had a tough time reacting to it. Could you provide some insight on this? (Question from seoulera to johnqt)
johnqt: They didn't do anything that we didn't expect. I think we were in good positions but we misplayed a bit on post plants by not playing for retakes and the right win conditions. We just misplayed on Defense during the mid round.
Q: Boaster wanted to meet Sentinels in Fnatic's next match. He also said that he wanted to take Sentinels but if you guys take him down, he said you deserve to win it all. What are your thoughts on the upcoming matchup? (Question from seoulera to Zellsis)
Zellsis: He really makes that small look like a medium, doesn't he? I saw what Boaster said, and I was hoping to win this game so I could give him a more perky answer back. It's gonna be a good matchup either way. Both teams look just about the same in terms of everything. I think we have the edge because Boaster averages 5 kills this tournament.
Q: After the game, you tweeted it took the team a long while to wake up from an "in-game coma". When did you think you guys started falling into that mental and the causes of it? (Question from Sierra/zhobiii to TenZ)
TenZ: It definitely happened somewhere around Lotus when we were giving up the lead. It felt hard for us to bounce back. It's hard to pinpoint the exact cause of the issue. We are going to review everything tonight and make sure it doesn't happen again.
Q: What do you think about the evolution of CN at Champions 2024? (Question from Fauzan)
Sacy: I feel like the CN region is growing. They are always considered as underdogs. I can talk about this because when I was in LOUD, playing a Brazilian team kinda felt the same. Talking about myself, I always see the CN region as a danger because they have growth for potential. They are doing a pretty good job.
TenZ: I think they have a lot of talented players within the region. Strategically, they were lacking in previous years. However, they have definitely seen improvements year by year to the point where they were playing really well against us.
Q: Your movement on Neon was immaculate. Talk to me a bit about the drills that you have been doing. (Question from RavishingCasts to zekken)
zekken: I just play a lot of TDM with Neon and jump around with her. I like characters that have cool movement such as Raze with her satchels and Neon with her run and slide. It's a lot of fun to play in my free time and I just keep getting better at it.
Ravish: Is it also because she is Filipino?
zekken: Yeah, pretty much.
Q: We saw your mom pull out some dance moves during the half time interview. Did you see it from the stage? If you could choose another Valorant pro parent to face off against your mom in a dance battle, who would it be and why? (Question from Sierra/zhobiii to zekken)
zekken: I didn't get the chance to see it but knowing her, it was probably a good move.
Sierra: It was Gangnam Style.
zekken: It was Gangnam Style? That sounds like her. She likes to dance. If I had to pick another Valorant parent for a dance battle against her, it would be MamaC0M because I think it would be fun.
Q: What are your general thoughts after playing against EDG? What were the biggest challenges that they threw? (Question from Pedro Romero to johnqt)
johnqt: They didn't do anything that surprised us throughout the match. I just think they got a lot of confidence after winning rounds which we kinda lacked. It became a snowball effect where they went for aggro peeks. They were playing to win and we were playing to not lose. They are a great team when they have the momentum going for them. We kinda messed up and dropped the ball.
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Important insights from EDG
NOTE: Translation was tough to discern at times for most of the Mandarin questions. Therefore, I have opted to omit a few of them.)
ZmjjKK's message to ardiis (Credits to VALO2ASIA for the clip)
Q: Can you buy the Sentinels classic? (Question from Zellsis in Mandarin)
ZmjjKK: I can buy once I get back to my hotel
Q: Your next opponent will be Team Heretics or Leviatan. What's your preferred opponent? (Question from Alan)
Muggle: We want to play against the number one Jett in the world.
Q: You guys called a timeout before the last two rounds. Did anyone say something during the timeout? (Question from karsa)
nobody: I didn't really say anything but Smoggy said that SEN might almost get their ultimates so all of us should go out and fight them.
Q: You guys won nine out of ten rounds after going 5-3 down on Lotus. What did you discuss during Sentinels' timeout that allowed you to get a lot of rounds? (Question from Sierra/zhobiii to Muggle)
Muggle: I told them to focus on C short. I told them to be careful about their Killjoy at B site too.
Q: What do you think other Chinese team can improve upon to achieve similar international results like EDG in the future? (Question from me)
Muggle: I think the teams should not care too much about the voices outside the stage.
Q: EDG wasn't able to surpass the 5th-6th place in previous events. What do you think changed the most from end of Masters Shanghai to Champs 2024? (Question from Pedro Romero to ZmjjKK)
ZmjjKK: I think it's mainly about our mentality. It's nothing about our gameplay on stage but it's primarily about us enjoying the game by ignoring the bad comments.
Q: Everyone remembers your iconic Operator pose at Masters Tokyo. We haven't seen a lot of action with the Operator from you at this event. Can we see a return of the old ZmjjKK? (Question from PresnaEsports' Andres to ZmjjKK)
ZmjjKK: I feel like the OP isn't that important at the moment. Even though I am not using the OP, we still comfortable in the game. Neon is also not a good Agent for the OP. I remember when we played against FUT Esports, I didn't perform that well with the OP and didn't get crazy frags like I used to do. Smoggy told me that "You are very good at Duelist so don't forget that". Therefore, it doesn't seem like the OP matters much because I can still help my team without it.
