The IGLs of both FPX (BerLIN) and Karmine Corp (ScreaM) discussed what goes into a team composition without a Duelist at VCT LOCK//IN.
VCT LOCK//IN is in full swing. Teams are being sent home, others are advancing to the next stage, and everyone is enjoying the show. On Day 2, festivities kicked off with FunPlus Phoenix taking on Karmine Corp. The minds of Zhang "BerLIN" Bo-lin and Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom were at war during their opening LOCK//IN match.
A couple of big talking points from the game are the decision by FPX to pick Lotus and the severe lack of Duelists. For the latter, it wasn't until the third and final map of the series where Jett was picked by FPX. That left the entire showing by Karmine Corp Duelist-less.
The match up went in favor of Karmine Corp, 2:1, and both teams took part in a post-game press conferences. This gave Esports.gg the opportunity to ask them their thoughts on the Duelist role and what to make of their compositions without an Agent of that category.
BerLIN says a Duelist doesn't always fit their playstyle
Initiator Agents crowded the match up on both sides. For FPX, they employed Fade and Skye on all three maps. When it comes to Controllers, Omen and Astra took their turns, and Viper remained throughout the series.
Then their Sentinel player swapped from Killjoy to Chamber, only to land on the Jett when Pearl arrived. Ultimately, the Jett was ineffective and FPX fell to Karmine Corp. After, BerLIN had this to say about Duelists in VALORANT (delivered by a translator):
"Like Jett, maybe she can be super good in the crossfires or do something individually. For our playstyle, we like to stay together to have some smokes, some flashes. Then we can make some fake actions, put the trap to the opponents. After that, I don't think we need that much of crossfires by a Duelist. We all just play together to get onto one site or one position altogether."
ScreaM believes Duelists are useful, but not always necessary
It is true that more and more teams are going for a zero Duelist approach. Long gone are the days where a Jett and Reyna or a Jett and Phoenix would load into a competitive match together. Instead, the focus has shifted towards more utility.
That was very apparent in the Agent selections by Karmine Corp against FPX. They opted for all other Agent categories, which ended up leading them to victory. After the match at VCT LOCK//IN, ScreaM touched on the lack of Duelist in the KC comps:
"We have a different approach. When I came to this team, I think Duelist is kind of overrated. Obviously, it gives you some aggressivity, You can take some space, but other than that, I think its pretty good without a Duelist right now. Of course, we haven't played every map so far in this tournament. We will see about other maps. I still think its viable on other maps."
Head over to our VCT LOCK//IN event page for interviews, results, and more! Then stay tuned to Esports.gg for all of your esports news and VALORANT coverage.