Photo by Riot Games/Bruno Alvares & Pedro Pavanato
It’s time for the next installment of Entree’s pre-Champions Shanghai VCT Americas deep dives.
The next team to put under a microscope is LOUD, the No. 2 seed coming out of VCT Americas. The Brazilian squad will open up their run at Champions Shanghai in Group B against one of the home teams, EDward Gaming.
Without further ado, here are Entree’s five X-Factors for LOUD’s opening matchup against EDG.
X-Factor 1: The Crowd
The game may be a bit of a shock turnaround for LOUD. After competing in the Stage 2 Grand Final in São Paulo, LOUD will go straight into the complete contrast in Shanghai against arguably the most popular org in all of VCT China.
LOUD is a very young team that’s very inexperienced on the international stage, with absolutely no international experience share between the five players or head coach Romanilly.
If this LOUD team can handle the pressure of playing in front of a crowd rooting against it, it will make their life much easier against an EDG team that many top analysts are already concerned about. Heading into Shanghai, EDG has bolstered its roster too, signing former JD Gaming player stew.
Read: VCTCNPosting’s intro to China’s Shanghai representatives
I asked Erde, LOUD’s in-game leader, if the crowd might play a factor in the young squad’s upcoming match, and he was blunt about the impact it might have.
“I think it doesn’t change anything, the crowd being against us,” he said. “Of course, when you have the crowd on your side, [it] is good, but I think we [are] gonna win anyways and it’s gonna be clean without [the] crowd on our side.”
X-Factor 2: The Map Pool
Looking forward to the map ban process, there’s one map I’m very interested in seeing in this matchup, and that’s Sunset.
Both teams have reps on this map in Stage 2, with EDG going 3-2 on the map and LOUD going 5-1. I feel as though this map will be played barring a shock ban by EDG, which I personally doubt considering a Summit ban may be a higher priority.
EDG banned it five times in Stage 2, while LOUD was solid on the map, going 4-2. A Lotus ban could also be on the cards due to EDG banning the map six times and LOUD being 3-3 on it.
My prediction for the map veto for this match will be that EDG bans Summit, LOUD bans Haven, EDG picks Ascent, LOUD picks Abyss, EDG bans Lotus, and LOUD bans Split, leaving Sunset as the decider.
I could definitely see an EDG first pick of Sunset, but I could also see EDG dodging LOUD on the map with its first pick and floating it to the last map.
X-Factor 3: How Do You Handle The Stew?
One of the main X-Factors in this match will be keeping an eye on how LOUD handles stew, EDG’s newest signing. There’s a lot of hype around stew’s arrival from JDG to EDG, but there are questions surrounding the move.
EDG will not have had a ton of time to fully implement stew into the team, and a rumored shoulder injury playing a part in his JDG departure and dip in form during Stage 1 must be noted.
stew is set to replace Jieni7 in EDG’s starting lineup, and it remains to be seen what form the team’s newest signing will be in.
Moreover, how LOUD responds to a new-look EDG squad with no VODs to go off of adds an added layer of difficulty in the match prep.
Before stew’s JDG departure, he was known as a full-time Duelist player for the squad and was hyped up as not just one of the best import players in VCT CN, but one of the best players overall.
In the later stages of stew’s JDG career, which are believed to have seen him play through the shoulder injury, we saw stew moving over to JDG’s Controller role. This newfound flexibility could add a fold in his gameplay on EDG, though a return to his Duelist role could form one of the strongest double-Duelist pairings in the entire event alongside ZmjjKK.
X-Factor 4: Kangkang vs lukxo
In what could be argued as the matchup to watch in this series, ZmjjKK vs. lukxo is a duel to watch. Kangkang carries the reputation of EDG’s steady hand and is known as the best Chinese Valorant player of all time. lukxo is a breakout star for LOUD and the heaviest hitter on a new-look LOUD core.
Both of these players are phenomenal with the Operator, and I believe this may be a big deciding factor in the outcome of the match.
lukxo’s more active and aggressive OPing style against Kangkang’s more passive style could be an interesting clash to watch. This clash could be an absolute barn burner. Success from either one of these players could lead to a potential takeover of the game, which both players are capable of doing.
X-Factor 5: The Brains Behind Brazilian Valorant
My 4th X-Factor for LOUD is Erde. The IGL had nuclear performances in LOUD’s run to the playoffs. In some games, he was singlehandedly bringing the team across the finish line and was arguably the most important player in São Paulo.
On home soil, Erde had VLR ratings of 1.49 against G2 Esports, 1.15 against NRG, and 1.35 against 100 Thieves. All while calling the shots for the team, hyping up the crowd, and keeping his own team’s morale up.
Erde left São Paulo having qualified for Champions and finishing finals weekend with a 1.25 rating, a meteoric rise from his 0.86 through the group stage in Stage 2. Erde’s 1.25 rating finished as the highest rating of all players through finals weekend, with NRG’s brawk finishing second at 1.15.
Read: 100 Thieves’ keys to victory against Pacific powers T1
I have Erde as an X-Factor because, like I talked about with Asuna and 100 Thieves, he could be a terrifying force for any opposing team in Shanghai.
Overall, I would give LOUD a 60% chance to take down the crowd favorites EDG and keep their Shanghai run going to make the playoffs.
LOUD will play its first match of Champions Shanghai vs. EDward Gaming on September 26 at 5 a.m. PST/8 a.m.EST, or 8 p.m. local time.
