Table of Contents Table of Contents
4
SELECT
Meet the Editors
Rainbow Six Seige By Stephen Gatej
8
History of Gaming Consoles By Stephen Gatej
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6
12
Changing the Game By Sebastian Perez
14
Highest Selling FIFA Games By Sebastian Perez
Gaming and Self Control By Yared Mckaughan
22
Producers Picks By Yared Mckaughan
Valorant as an Esport By Dash Spencer
20
26
28
What to do on a Saturday? By Dash Spencer
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Rainbow Six Siege: A worldwide video game turned esport By: Stephen Gatej
Promotional artwork showing off a few of the game’s characters
T
hrilling adrenaline rushes and sitting comfortably at home aren’t a likely pair. However, millions of people all around the world play video games for those very situations. But what does it take for a game to create these intense, heart-pounding moments? Rainbow Six Siege may just have the answer.
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photo by Ubisoft
Released in 2015, by game developer Ubisoft, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (often referred to as “Siege”) is a highly competitive tactical shooter game available on PC, Xbox, and Playstation. There are two sides to the game, attacking and defending. Attackers try to infiltrate a building and must complete varying objectives, such as defusing a bomb or rescuing a hostage within a set
time limit. Defenders try to prevent the attackers from accomplishing their tasks. However, there’s another way for either team to win a round: Killing every member of the opposing team. In Siege, instead of respawning right after you die, you must wait until the next round, which makes staying alive a major priority. This is exactly what creates the thrill in Siege. There are few things as intense as being
the lone player against a full team of people trying to kill you, even if it is just a video game. All of these factors lead to a game which is equally dominated by a need for mechanical skill, strategy, and cohesive teamwork. This saw Siege gain a lot of popularity over the years, and like many other big shooter games, an esports community began to blossom as a result. In 2017, the first professional league began. From there, it has become a very popular esport, with some of the biggest gaming organizations around the world taking part (TSM_FTX, Cloud9, G2, etc:). There are many different levels of competition as well, all the way from the highest level where players make a living off of Siege to semiprofessional players hoping to make it to the big leagues. Andres Galvan is one of these aspiring players, and has been a part of multiple semi-pro teams. He has played Siege for six years, but started taking the game more seriously around two years ago. Galvan said that Siege is unique from other competitive games for a couple of reasons. “You can open up an entire map to make you see better, and a lot of the map is breakable. That allows for
Andres Galvan locked in during a game of Siege
new sight angles and sight lines, and allows you to shape the map the way you want it to be to give you the best advantage.” He also noted the game’s unique leaning mechanics.
“The leaning can make or break your gameplay is the best way to put it. It’s definitely not in most games, and the way it’s done is, I think, very well executed. You can use it to peek around corners really quick so the other person can’t see you, and there are a couple other things you can do with it.”
photo by Andres Galvan
Chris Lama is the vice president of Parabellum Esports, which is a gaming organization with professional teams in a few games (namely Siege and Rocket League). Their Siege team is currently in the highest tier of North American competition, the North America League (NAL). Lama listed a few reasons why Siege is unique within the esports scene. “I think it’s super complicated to watch. But that’s not a bad thing. I think they’ve got a really good talent pool when it comes
to casters and analysts and they’re very involved in the community. So that’s one key. And then the other part. I guess the key differentiator is that it’s unlike any other eSports title out there when it comes to shooters, with it being stacked, as opposed to flat. And then just graphically it’s very nice. I think it’s a beautiful game.” However, Siege is still just like any other esport in that it requires lots of dedication and work. Andres Galvan said he works on his individual quality, like his gunskill and game knowledge, for 3-5 hours
almost every day. “A lot of my time is spent just doing [training grounds], which is literally just shooting bots. It just helps me practice my aim, and the better gunner you are, the better the teams who pick you up will be. But that isn’t all of it. A lot of it is also your communication. So sometimes I’ll spend some time running through the maps and practicing my callouts. And sometimes I’ll just play some ranked, because the more you play, the ultimately better you are.”
Andres Galvan doing some individual aim training
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photo by Andres Galvan
Galvan also said that improving as a team requires different kinds of practice. “To grow as a team, you have to spend more time in scrims, dry-running, and doing VOD reviews. Scrims are just where you play another team, and other teams will show your mistakes to you - especially better ones. Better teams will punish you fairly easily and show you where your weaknesses are. Dry-runs are pretty much just your setups, like how you set up site, and how you want to defend.” Galvan explained. “[Finally], VOD review. This
is also used to figure out where your mistakes are. When you’re playing, you are kind of blinded by what’s going on in your face, rather than [seeing] everything that’s going on. VOD review gives us that kind of extra ability to see where mistakes are being made, because I can’t always be looking at my teammates, 24/7, and they can’t always be looking at me.” Galvan offered one final piece of advice which he applies not only to video games but also his everyday life. “Fix your mental [mentality]. A lot of video games in general, and honestly life in general, is just determined by how you look at a game or just a situation. I personally used to be a lot more negative, and I used to get really upset at my teammates, which would bring them down and also bring me down. So, if you’re going to try and get into gaming, have a positive mentality.” Sadly, despite its unique premise, Siege is getting to be a fairly old game, and although the esports scene is doing well, the player base is getting progressively more frustrated due to serious issues in the game. One such issue is rampant cheating/
hacking in Siege, which frustrates players and turns them away from playing the game. Galvan said that for Siege to keep going strong, this problem must be resolved. “I see a bright future for Rainbow, if they can take care of the cheating problem. Console Siege has a very nasty M&K infestation [a form of cheating in which players on consoles use hardware to play with a mouse and keyboard instead of a controller] where players just destroy other controller players, because M&K is just better than controller, and then PC has a cheating problem where they’re just shooting you through floors and completely destroying you. So, Siege has a bright future, but in order for that bright future to be fully realized, they need to take care of the cheating problem.” Chris Lama agreed that the future of Siege is still in question and that even the currently healthy esports scene could experience some difficulties soon. “The 2022 season is very important. And if they can structure and help support the league a little bit better, then the game will have a longer shelf life. Otherwise,
we might be stuck in a period where it could possibly die in the next three years.” Although the future of Siege is still uncertain, there have definitely been some highlights in recent times. One of these is the Siege Invitational, or S.I, which took place from February 8-20, 2022. At the Invitational, the best teams from all around the world compete to see who is truly the best. According to Andres Galvan, this year’s S.I. was a major success. “We had a wonderful S.I. The production was amazing. They did an absolutely amazing job!” On top of the recent Invitational, a brand new season of Siege esports is underway in North America and Europe, and the AsiaPacific and Latin American leagues are beginning to kick off. During these competitions, hundreds of the best players around the world will fight for supremacy within their region, as well as a spot in the next global competition, the Six Major in May.
History of Gaming Consoles Atari 2600
Sega Genesis
Released in 1977, the Atari 2600 was the first console to use cartridges. This allowed for many games to be played using only one console.
Released in 1989, the Sega Genesis never reached the level of popularity of the NES. However, it still had a few massive franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Mortal Kombat.
1972
1977
1985
1989
1995
Magnavox Odyssey
Nintendo Entertainment System
Playstation 1
Released in 1972, the Magnavox Odyssey was the first ever gaming console. While it had very basic graphics and limited performance, it paved the way for modern day consoles as we know them.
Released in 1985, the NES was the birthplace of many legendary game franchises. Some of these titles were Super Mario Bros, Metroid, and many more.
Sony’s original gaming console, the PS1, was released in 1995. It was massively popular at launch and allowed for simple 3D graphics, as well as some more complex games.
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Gaming has become extremely popular in the past few decades. A major part of its appeal is that anyone can play them from home, as long as they own a console (or PC). But when did consoles become avaiable on the market, and when did they begin to pick up some real popularity? Find out with this timeline!
By: Stephen Gatej Gamecube
Playstation 4
Xbox Series X
Released in 2001, this was Nintendo’s console to compete with the PS1. Released around the same time was the original Xbox, with was Microsoft’s stake into the “console wars.”
In 2013, the Xbox One and Playstation 4 were released. Both served as big upgrades upon the previous consoles, and the PS4 introduced VR capabilities to console gaming.
The Series X was one of two “next-gen” consoles released in 2020. The other was the Playstaion 5, and both had incredible performance uprades with features such as 8k graphics and 120+ fps.
2005
2013
2017
Xbox 360
Nintendo Switch
Released in 2005, the Xbox 360 (along with the PS3) was an overall upgrade on the previous console’s graphics, controllers, and overall experience.
Released in 2017, the Nintendo Switch was a unique kind of console. It gave consumers the option of either playing at home on a big screen, or taking the console with them and playing on a smaller, built-in screen.
2020
Sources: wikipedia.com, blog.aaron’s.com
2001
Changing The Game
A look into the ever-changing world of video games and eSports By Sebastian Perez
Hundreds gather at ACL to witness the 5th ever eMLS Cup. Photo via Sebastian Perez Outside the iconic ACL Live, a line began to form, stretching around the block. Each person eager to get inside the theater, but none of them know what to expect. Many of them had never attended an event like this. On March 13, 2022, Austin hosted the fifth ever installment of the eMLS Cup, a tournament hosted by the MLS to determine the best FIFA 14 GAMERLAND 2022
player in North America. The MLS, or Major League Soccer, is the American soccer league, with soccer teams from cities all over the United States. Ten pro FIFA players, each sponsored by a different MLS team, fight it out in a intense, knockout bracket, until someone was crowned the eMLS cup champion. It didn’t matter if you were an expert on
FIFA, or just an aspiring soccer fan, the event was appealing for anybody. Whether it was outrageous upsets, or tense penalty shoot-outs, the event had everything, and it helps go to show how far esports have come in the past 10 to 20 years. Esports started from humble beginnings, starting as
a Spacewar competition at Stanford University in 1972. Back then, eSports really just existed, not generating the same buzz as it does today. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s when eSports took a turn for the better. “I don’t know how much about eSports history, but it really did start with Dota, and League of Legends…Very traditional, PC, free to play games.” says David Ferragut. Ferragut is the Director of Customer Innovations at EA, one of the biggest video game companies in the world. “People play in tournaments, people engage, people watch people play, there’s pros. And then they have these big giant events at the end of the year, where they give out millions of dollars.”
Esports are becoming a global phenomenon, beginning to cement their place next to traditional sports. All over the world, people are attending these massive, end of year events. These events help to build the market of esports, and help them grow. “So you look at these League of Legends, tournaments. They have those in China. And they fill stadiums. I mean, they’re even starting to do [it] in LA, hundreds of thousands of people showing up for these tournaments. And they’re doing huge mass market things. And then you look at the numbers of people watching in China, watching in Korea, and they’re just massive.” says Ferragut. Not only are they appealing to
watch in-person, thousands of people watch on streaming platforms, like Twitch and Youtube. National TV networks, like ESPN and CBS have begun broadcasting eSports. While games like DOTA and League of Legends have their large fanbases in very specific markets, one game is looking to take over the global eSports market. FIFA is a video game depiction of the worlds most popular sport, soccer. The first ever FIFA game was released in December of 1993. What makes FIFA different from other video games is that a version of the game is released every year. As the world of soccer changes, FIFA changes with it. It provides a wide variety of modes for players to choose from. They can play Kick-off,
Thousands attend an event, hosted by EA Sports, Photo via Josh Berendes
which allows players to play as any team they want, against their friends and/or an AI. FIFA offers a career mode, allowing players to become managers, and take control of any club they want, and become the manager of that club. Player career allows players to create their own professional soccer player, or choose from any real life soccer player, and take control of their career. “The career mode used to be really good. I think I played the career mode for FIFA 15 and 16. And so just being able to play the solo player aspect of it is really fun game, getting to model your character after yourself.” That’s Austin Pham, who is currently an undergraduate at UT. Austin is a long time soccer and FIFA player.
The game also offers Proclubs, which allows for online multiplayer. You and your friends, or other players online, can play together against other clubs online. The most popular, and most played mode that FIFA offers is FIFA Ultimate Team, or FUT. In FUT, you’re given your very own team, and you get to make it whatever you want. You can control the stadium, how your team looks, and most importantly the players in your team. Your goal is to make it the best club it can be. When it comes to eSports, FIFA acts similar to other established eSports, but with a minor twist. Like many other eSports, FIFA follows a sort of yearly calendar, consisting of seasons, with smaller tournaments, and usually grand finals at the end of the season.
In-game footage from FIFA 12. Photo via. EA Sports FIFA 16 GAMERLAND 2022
What makes FIFA different from other eSports is that the FIFA eSports calendar is tied to different soccer leagues around the world. “So we knew that, you know, linking kind of our competitive schedule and our calendar as closely as we can to [the] Premier League and other things and [the] World Cup. We’re just amplifying the reach of those tournaments,” says David Ferragut. Major European soccer leagues are beginning to host end-of-year FIFA tournaments, where teams from that respective league will compete against each other. The eMLS Cup is just one example of these FIFA tournaments. Not only that, but clubs will hire gamers to compete for
them in these tournaments. “So we have young professional gamers that are sponsored by different teams. So some are sponsored by Liverpool and by Paris Saint Germain, so traditional soccer clubs, will support professional gamers, and you’ll actually be an employee of that company. And you will be paid to go play in all the tournaments, right. And so you’re representing an actual soccer club, which is really cool,” says Ferragut. So what makes FIFA so enticing as an eSport? After all, what good is aneSport if no one watches it being played? Ea saw the mass market potential that FIFA had. Being the world’s game, soccer has a lot of global appeal, and anybody interested in soccer could be interested in FIFA. “So you don’t have to be a FIFA game expert, or a super hardcore FIFA game player to maybe appreciate the eSports, right? And so we’re like, okay, let’s, let’s bring it with more mass appeal. And so, you know, if you watch soccer games, you could watch a FIFA Esports tournament, and you be like, Okay, I get it. Like I understand how this works. I can watch this right. And then of course, you’ll have your your super hardcore fans that play FIFA and will really appreciate the difference in how good everyone is and how they set up a team and the strategy,” says David Ferragut. “But you can also bring your family and your
Gamer sits down to play FIFA 21. Photo via Guglielmo Basile friends to a soccer game and have fun, right? And so that’s why it’s the world’s game. That’s why EA, you know, loves making FIFA because we feel like, there’s a little bit of something for everybody.” This begs the question what makes eSports so popular. Why do people watch them, and play them? What can be attributed to their recent success, and rise to popularity over the past couple of years. ESports are a lot closer to more traditional sports than
people think. People love to watch their favorite sports being played at the highest level. “If you’re a fan of the game of basketball, you want to watch basketball being played at the highest possible level, you know, there’s a difference between me going to the park and playing horse with my friends, and then, you know, watching, you know, LeBron, or Joel Embiid be as absolutely incredible at the game as they are,” says Stephanie Snowden, who is the Director of Com-
munications at Infinity Ward. Infinity Ward is the company responsible for the hit video game franchise, Call of Duty. If you’re interested in anything, you want to see it done at the highest level. What makes eSports so popular is that people are getting to watch professionals play their favorite game at the highest level. For most players, playing at that level is merely a pipe dream, but watching eSports of their favorite games allows them to experience the highest levels for their favorite games. “I’m a very middle of the road, Call of Duty player, and, you know, when I watch the pro players, it’s a totally different game. They’re playing an experience that is not even imaginable for me, because
I lacked the skill to kind of experience that high level. The teamwork and strategy and coordination that goes into that, I think is makes for something that’s really watchable and enjoyable and high stakes,” says Snowden. Video games drive the eSports behind them. As video games increase in popularity, so will eSports. So why are video games so popular? Beginning almost 70 years ago, why have video games stuck around, and risen to their highest of popularity. Video games offer an experience that you can’t really get anywhere else, from any other means of entertainment. Video games are immersive. With video games focused on storytelling, you feel immersed in the world around you, and with the story.
“I find that games especially, you know, single player games, something like horizon forbidden west or Assassin’s Creed or my favorite game of all time, which is the Witcher three, those, you you feel like a part of that world, you know, you’re really enveloped in the storytelling and the character building in the flow, and you can actually go out and, you know, experience things in that kind of open world way that I think get people really excited,” says Snowden “You can kind of immerse yourself, you know, as a soccer player myself, you can play as you know, your favorite idols, you know, you can play as Ronaldo and Messi and being able to like, you know, emulate that in a video game. It’s what really makes the expe-
Two gamers engaged in a tense game of Smash Bros. Photo via Alex Haney 18 GAMERLAND 2022
rience really fun as a video game,” adds Pham “If you think of passive entertainment, like Netflix, it’s fine, right? You can watch TV, but it’s super one way, you know, it’s like you’re just consuming a show. And then when it’s over, it’s over. Games isn’t like that. It’s two way it’s interactive. It’s give and take, right. And things are always changing. So there’s, there’s an engagement there that is super unique to games,” says Ferragut. Video games also provide a social experience. Video games allow people to play online with their friends, and compete against each other. Video games allow people to bond over a shared interest, and sometimes these bonds can last for life. “I mean, I think the social aspect is the most important part for me, or the part that I first fell in love with. Getting to, you know, hang out with your friends and just be competitive and bond over just playing against your friends,” says Pham “People want to play games, they want to challenge themselves, they want to be social and games, right? They want to see their friends, they want to hang out with their friends. There’s just an interactive entertainment thing, that there’s a few, there’s very few things that do that,” says Ferragut. “People want to play games,
people want to connect, and you can have friends that you’ve never met in real life. But you guys are on a squad together. Right? You guys have your own FIFA squad and you play every night. I still play with my friends. You know, I’m older. We all have kids. We all live in different cities, we you know, we don’t get to see each other but we play Apex legends, you know, once or twice a week. And it’s our way to get
“People want to play games, they want to challenge themselves, they want to be social They want to see their friends, they want to hang out with their friends. There’s just an interactive entertainment thing, and there’s very few things that do that.” together connected and talk about talking about our family talking about our jobs, talk about our problems, but also go and have fun.”
Highest Selling FIFA FIFA 16
#10 #9 #11
#8
Release Date: September 27, 2016 Copies Sold: ~13 Million
FIFA 11
#5
Release Date: September 28, 2011 Copies Sold: ~16.5 Million
FIFA 14
Release Date: September 23, 2013 Copies Sold ~14 Million
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#6
FIFA 17
FIFA 12
Release Date: September 27, 2011 Copies Sold: ~10 Million
Release Date: September 22, 2015 Copies Sold: ~11 Million
#4
FIFA 15
Release Date: September 23, 2014 Copies Sold: ~14 Million
Games of All Time FIFA 13
Release Date: Septmeber 25, 2012 Copies Sold: ~14.5 Million
#3
FIFA is EA Sport’s take on the worlds biggest sport. Unlike other video games, FIFA 20 FIFA comes out with a new version every Release Date: year. Each year the game changes, September 24, 2019 introducing better graphics, updatCopies Sold: ed teams, as well as updated players. ~25 Million These different factors contribute to how well a certain FIFA will sell.
FIFA 21
#1
Release Date: October 6, 2020 Copies Sold: ~30.5 Million
FIFA 19
Release Date: September 28, 2018 Copies Sold: ~20 Million
#2
FIFA 18
Release Date: September 29, 2017 Copies Sold: ~26.4 Million
Gaming and Self-Control
The unlikely masters of discipline. Story by Yared McKaughan
-ing a video or something.” Joe admits that at first, he didn’t take his studies seriously, but this year, things have changed. He’s had to become an expert at setting his priorities and knowing exactly what he needs to do in order to keep on top of things. He admits that it’s hard sometimes, but he understands college is his backup plan, he wants to be a gamer. Joe started his career humbly. “I started to upload just clips of cool shots I made, but people didn’t like that too much”, remarks Joe.
BuddyRV after his team scores the winning goal.
“Busy, stressful, fun, exciting.”. These were the 4 words Joe used to describe his life. Joe, better known by his fans as Jamaican Coconut, is a multi-platform content creator with thousands of fans, so why would he use these words as representatives of his life? Well, Joe is also a student.
I just play as a hobby.” This is the story of most of his aspirations growing up, big dreams turning into things to do on the weekend.
A day in the life of a student is hard enough, so try to imagine working a full-time job while conducting your studies. If you can’t, here’s a breakdown of collegiate gamer life. In this case, He may be a streamer, Youtuber, and a TikToker, but he also Joe’s life. majors in computer science at “I wake up around 8 and eat Penn State. breakfast. I take the bus to “I built my own PC in 7th school because I’m only a sophgrade, I’ve been interested in a omore and have 2-3 classes a career but I also had dreams.” day. After school, I go to the Joe had many aspirations grow- gym and get a lift in. Then I ing up but they dwindled down get home and try to finish my homework, but sometimes I once he got older. “I used to play soccer in High School, now don’t and I go straight to edit22 GAMERLAND 2022
“Then I started making videos, like longer content with funny moments and things like that.” This is when his following started to increase. Since the start of his career, freshman year of college, he has gained 10,000 YouTube subscribers and 60,000 TikTok followers. But back to the question of why would he go through this every day? “I love my fans, when I went to the Winter Major in LA I got recognized and it was beyond surreal.” He described the out-of-this-world experience as rewarding and almost overwhelming. You can imagine how hard it must be to juggle school, a job, and other adult activities. The life of a content creator in school is very challenging,
especially if gaming is your first priority like Joe. But Buddyrv sees things through a different lens. “I always put school and education above gaming. He takes his studies more seriously than Joe, which could be due to Buddy, Ryan, being a junior in high school. “I always prioritize school before creating content.” Buddy wants to major in marine sciences, but keep the option of a gaming career open. He has always been a great student, so juggling Rocket League and school isn’t as challenging for him.
“I always prioritize school before creating content.I balance this by getting right to work with my schoolwork as soon as I can, then giving myself a break to mentally focus and start to think of ideas for content or just play the game.”
-BuddyRV
Paz after winning a round of Overwatch with his team.
Along with this, he is on his school’s varsity soccer team. He balances all of these by setting his priorities. “I get right to work with my schoolwork as soon as I can, then give myself a break to start to think of ideas for content or just play the game.” Ryan is interested in playing at the collegiate level. ”Right now I’m just growing into it, and preparing myself for it in the long run”. He hopes to play in CRL and later play professionally. But does this apply to only one game?
No. Even other gamers go through the same process and have the same feelings. Paz, an Overwatch player for Penn State also has a tough time balancing his time. Paz is on a professional team as well, so he has to factor in mandatory team practices which makes it all but easier. “I wasn’t putting enough time into my academics. I could get away with it in High School, but not in college.” As you can see, these are different lifestyles. Ryan, a high school student, is more focused on the academic side of things, Joe focuses on the gaming side,
Buddy RV competing with his team.
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and Paz is starting to pay more attention to his studies. So, can we learn things from these three about how to live your student life? Well, Ryan believes that self-control and dedication play a very important role in his life.
expected so much discipline and principle from this career path which shows that you should respect gamers a little bit more. They are just as talented as regular athletes.
The life of professional gamers is chaotic, so when you factor in school, part-time jobs, “Having self-control and keepand extracurricular activities, ing everything in check is very it now becomes a problem important.” of keeping an equilibrium The need for discipline can be between activities. These found in many careers, but with three gamers are masters of gaming, it’s a little different. self-control and prioritizing. If Video games are an addictive they can balance a career and activity that can take control of academics, it means that you your life, so playing them profescan too, with whatever you’re sionally takes a lot of dedication balancing. and control. You may not have
Jamaican Coconut preparin for a stream.
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Valorant as an Esport
Y
The in’s and out’s of Valorant
Story by Dash Spencer
our plane landed in Reykjavik, Iceland 1 hour ago and now you’re in your hotel room. You specifically chose this hotel for its WiFi. Instead of going out for dinner, you take out your computer and load into Valorant. This is the start of your week leading up to VCT Masters, the most prestigious event for Valorant.
ports scene. One of the largest Esports, CSGO, has a playstyle just like Valorant’s. What separates Valorant from CSGO is Valorant’s use of agents.
Valorant is a relatively new game developed by Riot that came out in June of 2020. Even with the game’s young age, Valorant has cemented itself among the top Esports. Valorant, originally known as Project A, takes tactical shooters like Rainbow Six Siege and mixes in Agents with abilities. Valorant is a 5v5 first to 13-round game where you are either on the attackers or defenders. The attackers will try to plant the bomb while the defenders try to defuse the planted spike or eliminate the whole attacker team before the spike is planted. This style of game is not unknown to the Es28 GAMERLAND 2022
Valorant is able to use a mix of abilities and raw aim making the Esports scene even harder to get into. You have to master a certain agent’s abilities and have the raw aim if you want to make it to the top. In Valorant each player on the team of 5 can pick the agent they want to play before the game starts. Each agent is equipped with their kit of abilities making it important to have variety in your team’s picks. In Valorant there are 4 types of agents, Dualists, Sentinels, Controllers, and Initiators. Duelists are self-sufficient fighters who their team expects, through abilities and skills, to get high eliminations and seek out engagements first. Sentinels are defensive experts who can lock down areas and
watch flanks, both on attack and defender rounds. Controllers are experts in slicing up dangerous territory to set their team up for success.Lastlt, Initiators challenge angles by setting up their team to enter contested ground and push defenders away. Valorant’s 18 agents are divided into these categories. Each one shines in different scenarios making it crucial to master as many agents as you can. The most skilled Valorant players are also the most versatile. In an interview with professional player Ultra, he stated that “In order to win you need to adjust to your teammate’s play styles.” Team chemistry and effective teamwork are already vital to succeeding in many games. However, Valorant takes this to the extreme. Unlike a lot of games, Valorant is not primarily judged by skill. Each player on a team will play a different role and you need to understand how your teammates play. Certain players will be better at certain things. An example of this is letting your support player push onto the site instead of the duelist. Duelists kits are made for an aggressive
© 2022 Riot Games, Inc. Used With Permission. BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 12: Team Acend poses with the Champions Trophy in hand after victory at the VALORANT Champions Finals on December 12, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot Games)
© 2022 Riot Games, Inc. Used With Permission. REYKJAVIK, ICELAND - APRIL 14: Yuma ÒDepÓ Hashimoto of ZETA DIVISION prepares to compete at the VALORANT Masters Bracket Stage on April 14, 2022 in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)
playstyle and so having them push first is crucial. Solo Queueing is a prime example of how important teamwork is.
your solo queueing, and winning your games will be much more difficult.
Winning games is already important for casual players, but for professional players, it’s mandatory. Even losing one game can lead to your team being thrown out of the tournament so everyone is always striving to improve. There are many ways to get better at Valorant, these can include aim training and playing scrimmages.
Even if you’re just a casual player any Valorant veteran will tell you not to solo queue. Solo queueing is the act of playing alone instead of with a party. Even though you’re playing by yourself, you still need 5 players per team. This means that you will be on a team with 4 other random people who you don’t know. Communication will be lim- When you play any sport ited, if present at all, when at a professional level you 30 GAMERLAND 2022
want to know what you are up against before you play against another team. This can consist of watching said team’s past games or even playing a practice game against the previously stated team. “Every team analyzes their competition’s gameplay so they can look for weak spots.” Said Sean Gares, the 100T coach in a recent interview. As a professional player, learning how the enemy plays can be extremely beneficial. By understand-
Another commonly looked over way to get better at Valorant is improving your mental. mental is short for mentality and helps keep you focused on the game. Although mentality might seem unimportant at first, when it comes to Valorant, it’s the exact opposite. Being in a good headspace can help you communicate, stay consistent-whether that has to do with raw aim or game sense-and keeps your emotions in check. A lot of professional Valorant players are fairly young and now that they’re
making a sustainable income they’re leaving home. Most players will move to Texas due to it having the lowest possible ping. To a casual player, a 3ms ping difference couldn’t matter any less. However, TSM, which is one of the top Valorant teams, kicked Wardell from their roster because he didn’t want to move to Texas with the rest of his team. This was an incredibly surprising decision since Wardell is seen as one of the best players in North America. You might think that moving to Texas isn’t something that should be protested especially if the consequences include being kicked. However, The Sentinels player Tyson “TenZ” Ngo said in a recent stream that he chose not to move to Texas because “there’s nothing to do there”. Living in LA, especially for a 20-year-old like Tyson is a great option. In 2021 the team “Sentinels” won the first VCT Masters without dropping a single game. Now, the second VCT Masters is approaching and brand new talent is on the table. Valorant is only two years old which gives the game, and its esports, a lot of time to mature.
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ing how your enemy plays you’ll know how you should be playing. For example, let’s say Jett, one of Valorant’s duelists, always goes to site A. To counter this your team should always have a player near site A to eliminate Jett. By seeing that Jett always goes to site A your team can take advantage of that weakness. Scrimmages are a fantastic way of learning your enemy’s playstyle and finding those weaknesses. Every team needs practice and scrimmages against other teams are a superb way of experiencing what the match will feel like before it even happens.
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