A false start for
Nongshim RedForce. Entering
VALORANT Champions as one of the favorites to win the title, the Korean team fell at the first hurdle against another contender and the defending champions,
NRG. NS will now need to pick up two more wins, and above all avoid another defeat, if they are to make the playoffs.
Despite this disappointing start, the team is not giving up and is already preparing for their next match against Xi Lai Gaming. After playing his very first match at Champions, Kim "Francis" Mu-bin spoke to Sheep Esports to break down the team's opening day of competition.
What is your first feeling after the game?
Kim "Francis" Mu-bin: “This is a world tournament that I've been dreaming of since I was an amateur player in the third division. If I'm being really honest, I did not dream it to be a stage where I had to use a wired mouse and a stage that wouldn't let me reboot my PC. It's rough.
What do you think went wrong in today’s game?
Francis: We haven't played that much Lotus on stage recently. We had this new comp with an unfamiliar map, so I would say those were the things that I wish went the other way.
Your group is a particularly hard one, with NRG of course, but also KC and XLG. How do you perceive it on your own?
Francis: I would say that all the groups are hard. It's not just our group. So I believe that our team is strong enough to make it through and survive the group stage.
Your team last game last game was in the VCT Pacific Finals against Global Esports. How did you recover from this loss over the past few weeks?
Francis: A loss is a loss, we need to get over. What's done is done. We need to move on, fix what we can fix and just focus on what's coming up for us. And that was just the mentality that we had coming into this event.
What are your expectations now for this event? Do you think you're in your best form and that you’ll play for the final win?
Francis: Even though today we lost, we know what we're capable of. I know that our team is strong. So we're going to recover and show what we're capable of in our next match.
Do you feel like the current meta, similar to the one in Santiago with Yoru and Neon being playable suits your team well?
Francis: I wouldn't say that. The current meta, isn’t focused on Neon and Yoru just because of the nerf. It’s more like because of the way that Dambi and I are able to handle those agents. Despite it not being the meta, we're confident that we can still run it as good as a meta pick.
On a personal side it was also your first game in Champions so how did you feel about it?
Francis: I wouldn’t say that Champions stage is very different from the other stages I have been on like in VCT Pacific or in Masters. But because it's Champions, I think I am disappointed in the fact that the gear and the way things were handled today was not on par with the level of competition that we were expecting.”
