#FreeMe Gaming’s championship hopes almost turned to ashes in the Liga Adarna Valorant tournament after losers’ bracket winner Amari Esports put on an outstanding performance to take the series opener.
But for them, it’s just another day at the office, since they spent most of their competitive careers in another first-person shooter game.
Speaking on Tiebreaker Vodcasts’ Beyond The Meta, presented by SMART Sports, #FreeMe Gaming shared how they used their previous experience in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) to transition in the Valorant competitive scene.
“Siguro for me, since may experience kami from competitive scenes before, it doesn’t affect us that much kasi every game is a new game for me. Hindi mo dapat iniisip ‘yung last game ‘pag nag-start na ulit ‘yung game,” said team captain Tiara “Alluka” Pleno as #FreeMe Gaming overcame the deficit and won two straight games to bag the title.
“So hindi mo siya iisipin na ay natalo ako last game, baka matalo ako this game. Kailangan you treat every game as a new game. So lahat ng emotions from before, dapat wala na siya.”
Alluka, along with Aya “Ayaaa” Koshikawa, Regina “Ivory” Lopez, Kris “msLuftmensch” Tolentino, and new addition Bianca “Lax” Lacson — who replaced stand-in Kristine “Fierce” Lozada — have all played CS:GO before bolting to the futuristic world of Valorant.
That, for them, made the transition seamless, which means all they have to do is study different maps, agents, and callouts.
The group decided to make the jump after seeing the sudden rise of the Valorant community, which meant more opportunities for professional players.
“Kasi nakita namin na rising ‘yung community ng Valorant, kaya nag-decide kami na mag-capitalize na lang din doon kasi sobrang daming tournaments na nagpo-pop so ‘yun nag-decide kami Valorant,” said Ivory.
“’Yung transition ko from CS: GO to Valorant, madali lang siya kasi siyempre shooting game pa rin, like… Kailangan mo lang aralin ‘yung maps, callouts, saka ‘yung agents so madali akong nakapag-adjust,” echoed Aya, who was part of the ArkAngel squad that won gold in the World Electronic Sports Games back in 2018.
#FreeMe Gaming is currently competing at the FSL Valorant Open IV.
