Recently, the hottest eSports event that has swept major live streaming platforms is undoubtedly the "VALORANT Champions 2023" that has just ended.
First, let's talk about the atmosphere at the venue, I say it is "the Super Bowl of eSports".
Although I have been to many offline matches before and had a psychological expectation of the VALORANT Champions, knowing that this game is extremely popular, I still felt a bit shocked.
The venue this time is the KIA Forum Sports Center, which used to be the home stadium of the Lakers, and it can easily accommodate tens of thousands of people. However, the site was still full, with a seating rate estimated to be 99%, and even the "mountaintop" seats were crowded with people.
Even the hotspot making machine Elon Musk came.
It is said that this man is a fan of Demon1 from the championship team EG this year, and he came to cheer for the finals.
Matching the scale of this event is the performance and gameplay of the VALORANT Champions.
Especially the explosive device that exploded and triggered the countdown, followed by the theme song of 2021 "Die For You" and "Ticking Away", I would say it is the best opening ceremony of eSports in recent years.
During the competition, the mini-map of the current round was displayed in the center of the stage, connecting the players on both sides.
The various stage effects and lighting effects make the live viewing experience excellent.
In addition, each viewer will also wear a remote control bracelet.
This bracelet is synced with the in-game explosive device. When the explosive device is about to explode or be dismantled, it will have different effects. Especially when the entire arena flashes red for a few seconds, everyone is nervous together.
It has to be said that Riot Games has done a great job in the operation of eSports events.
To start with, let me give a brief introduction to friends who are not familiar with this.
This VALORANT Champions is equivalent to the League of Legends S Championship (World Finals) if we find a corresponding event. It is led by Riot Games and then selects teams from around the world who have won qualifications through local leagues to ultimately determine a world champion team.
The gold content goes without saying, basically it is the highest honor of Valorant.
This year's final was a duel between the number one seed team EG from the Americas and the number one seed team PRX from Singapore.
Among them, EG, the American team, only ranked sixth in the regular season of the Americas International League before.
But in this year's Tokyo Masters, they emerged as a dark horse, playing back and forth with FNC, who is generally believed to be the strongest, and finally won the runner-up, becoming the number one seed in the Americas.
In this championship, under the leadership of Potter, a well-known female coach and former legendary professional player, they rushed all the way, playing with both excellent marksmanship and tactics.
As for PRX, they are a top-level Asian gunman team, with a standout violent gun and popular players Jinggg, f0rsakeN, and something.
I myself often watch Jinggg's kill highlights when I have nothing to do. In my heart, she is basically the world's number one bomb girl.
Although PRX won 2:1 against EG in the loser's bracket, after EG successfully advanced, the champion's seat was still full of unknowns.
Therefore, the excitement of the finals is still quite explosive.
To let more people understand the upcoming competition, I also want to talk about why Valorant's competition is attractive, and what makes this game popular among players around the world.
First of all, it must be said that Valorant's competition is full of unknowns.
For example, this year's championship team EG, who was not optimistic before the finals, player Demon1 showed unbelievable strength and accuracy in the finals, and his hands were hot. Either precisely point down several members of PRX at the beginning, or activate the ultimate skill "hurricane blade" to cut in unexpectedly with the mobility of the jet stream and collect heads.
Even in the situation where the teammate is killed and needs to face several opponents alone, he can often reverse the situation and be in a disadvantage but not afraid.
This allowed EG to directly overtake the score and win the first game, boosting morale.
Although PRX's big brother something gradually regained his touch, he decisively killed the opponent with low health, even using the dark horse to play an incredible instantaneous empty-handed pick (simply put, being daring and having an incredible reaction speed).
But in the next two rounds, they still couldn't resist EG's unstoppable momentum.
Often just a side step and flank, PRX is the first to reduce personnel. Even in PRX's advantage map source factory, it has formed a crushing situation, and even the coach of PRX was beaten into questioning life.
Whether it is the hero pool, the skills coordination between teams, or the understanding of the map, EG is worthy of the championship strength.
But before the game, no one could predict it.
There is also FNC, which can be considered a dream team, when playing against the Korean team DRX.
Although they won in the end, they were shocked when they started with a 1:13 score.
Furthermore, the biggest charm of Valorant, "Spike Rush", is indeed exciting.
For example, the star player Kang Kang of EDG contributed a world-class scene of ten thousand people in this global championship:
In the endgame after all teammates died, he instantly dismantled the package and killed two opponents.
This is something that can only be felt by watching the live broadcast, and it is enough to be included in the textbook.
Backflash: refers to turning or bending down at the moment before the flash grenade explodes to avoid being blinded by the flash effect.
There is also EG's player Ethen holding a Shock Blade (short gun) in the second half of the second game, directly igniting the audience with a four-kill wave of one against many.
This kind of scene, which is difficult to kill against the odds, successfully counter-kills, is difficult not to make people's adrenaline soar.
Moreover, there are basically no viewing thresholds for Valorant's competitions.
Based on the FPS competition under the "blast mode", players with a little foundation can quickly understand the game situation.
Various dazzling hero skills also greatly enhance the viewing experience. Especially watching professional players have unique understanding and application of skills, sometimes it is so exciting that it is addictive.
For example, when PRX played against EDG this year, they played a "Fireman Fast Attack" that stunned all the audience.
In short, this year's VALORANT Champions ended successfully, this is an ending, but also a new beginning for Valorant in the future.