Shadowing XERXIA Esports’ Nail Biting 2022 Valorant Journey

The Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Masters 2022 kicked off on 10th April and the hype is too real this time around. For this international competition, Riot Games decided to go back to Reykjavik, Iceland to host all the teams that are participating. This international tournament will conclude on 24th April, with one of the twelve teams taking home the glory.

One of the regions that have been stirring conversations during the Masters qualifying tournament was Valorant Champions Tour Asia-Pacific (APAC) Challengers One. This year the APAC circuit was given an additional slot at Masters 2022 and naturally, the stakes were high. A total of twenty teams from Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia & Singapore, Hongkong & Taiwan, Vietnam, South Asia, and Oceania competed in a heated competition.

While some teams had to fight through the Play-ins, some were directly seeded into the Group Stage. One such team that made a name for itself in the Group Stage was XERXIA, which entered the APAC tournament as the number one team from Thailand.

XERXIA Esports, an organization, which was founded in October 2021 by Tanakrit “Gammy” Panitchakun, stepped foot into the world of Valorant Esports in January 2022 by signing a star-studded roster.

XERXIA was one of the strongest teams that the other teams were watching out for in the tournament and was regarded as one of the top dogs of the circuit. Staying true to this, XERXIA brought its A-game to the tournament, finishing second after Paper Rex. Now, the team will test its mettle against the top teams in the world at Masters 2022.

Right after XERXIA qualified for the Masters tournament, AFK Gaming had the opportunity to chat with the team’s coach Yuttanagorn “Zeus” Kaewkongyai about their goals for VCT Masters 1, and which opponents they are keen on taking on.

The Thai powerhouse’s Valorant roster features Itthirit “foxz” Ngamsa-ard, Panyawat “sushiboys” Subsiriroj, Natchaphon “sScary” Matarat, Thanamethk “Crws” Mahatthananuyut, and Thanachart “Surf” Rungapajaratkul.

Off to a great start in VCT Masters 2022 Stage 1

As the second seed from the APAC circuit, XERXIA was seeded into the group stage alongside seven other teams. The eight teams in the group stage were split into two groups with four teams each and XERXIA was placed in Group B. In this group, it will go against the likes of KRÜ Esports (KRU), Team Liquid (TL), and OpTic Gaming (OPTIC).

Zeus said that the team was really ecstatic and surprised by the fact that it made it out of the APAC circuit and qualified for the VCT Masters 2022. He stated that they had to prepare differently and in advance for the APAC event because the playstyles of the Thai teams and the teams in the APAC circuit were completely contrasting.

With continued pristine practice and preparation, the Thai team hopes to have an even better run at the VCT Masters 2022 event. Now, if the team bags the top two spots in Group B in VCT Masters, it will move on to the playoffs and rake up Valorant circuit points, crucial for a spot in the World Championships.

In the opening match of Group B, XERXIA locked horns with OpTic Gaming from North America in its first Best-Of-Three (BO3) series on 10th April. The first two maps that the teams clashed on were Icebox and Ascent.

XERXIA picked up a 13-10 victory on Icebox and moved on to the second map with confidence. In an iconic moment in Round 11 on Ascent, sushiboys proved that "pros don't fake" as he defused the spike on A Site while Pujan "FNS" Mehta failed to check the spike.

With round scores of 13-10 on both Icebox and Ascent, XERXIA comfortably won the series and pushed OpTic Gaming to the Elimination Match against KRÜ Esports. While sScary was crowned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) on Icebox, Surf was named the MVP on Ascent for his stellar performance on Jett with 20 kills and a KDA of 1.6.

Following this, XERXIA went up against Team Liquid from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, a team that came into the tournament as a replacement for FunPlus Phoenix. This series was a real entertainer that tested the grit of both teams. However, after three long games, Team Liquid defeated XERXIA in the series and became the first team to make it out of Group B.

Team Liquid took a decisive victory over XERXIA on the first map split with a 13-7 score. Following this, Team Liquid slowly faltered on Icebox and XERXIA managed to rob Game 2 from under Liquid’s nose by winning 13-11.

The series decider was played on Ascent. Despite having an early lead at the half, XERXIA could not retain it. Unrelenting, XERXIA pulled things back together and forced overtime. But, Liquid was able to secure the overtime 17-15 against XERXIA.

Now, XERXIA will move on to the Decider Match and play either OpTic Gaming or KRÜ Esports, whichever team wins the Elimination Match on 12th April. XERXIA has to win the Decider Match to keep its VCT Masters hope alive and to play against other world-class teams.

Zeus said XERXIA’s team members initially did not have a particular team in mind that they wanted to take on. But after G2 Esports’ Oscar "mixwell" Cañellas Colocho posted on Twitter that he wanted to cook some “sushiboys” at the Masters’ event, the team is now looking forward to playing against G2.

VCT APAC Challengers One was a rollercoaster ride

The VCT 2022: Thailand Stage 1 Challengers sends three teams to play in the APAC tournament and as the winner of this Thailand regionals, XERXIA was seeded into the Group Stage of the APAC circuit. The team was seeded into Group C alongside Bleed eSports, ONIC Esports, and NAOS Esports and was deemed as a formidable opponent.

In the opening match, XERXIA was against ONIC Esports. Zeus stated that it was XERXIA’s favorite match. “We were able to come back from ONIC’s lead and we won the series 2-1. The team felt the need to be synchronized to win this.” added the coach.

Moving on, the team was vying for the number one spot in the group and went head-to-head with Bleed eSports, but unfortunate circumstances played spoilsport in the team’s chances of winning.

XERXIA was forced to forfeit its match against Bleed eSports due to a power outage, dealing a massive blow to the Thai squad. Zeus said they requested a postponement of the match, but the team was given only 30 minutes by the tournament organizers to reset and prepare for the match again. Sadly, the team could not show up on time because of the power outage.

Addressing this, Zeus said that he did not want the players to feel bad over losing a match that they did not play. He added that he took the team out to dine together and also played board games to mentally reset and get them ready for the next match. “I felt that it is better to move forward than constantly think about what just happened.”

With the forfeited series, Bleed became the first team to make it out of Group C and XERXIA was pushed to fight ONIC again in the Decider Match, which it convincingly won.

In the Knockout Stage, the first-place teams were matched up against second-place teams from other groups. In its first match, XERXIA was taking on BOOM Esports, which it beat with a scoreline of 0-2. Following this, the Thai team was staring at Paper Rex. However, it lost the series 0-2 to Paper Rex, and was pushed down to the lower bracket.

XERXIA now had to win every single matchup in the lower bracket to make it to the finals of the VCT APAC Challengers One. The team did just that and surged through the lower bracket with convincing wins over both Persija Esports (2-0) and BOOM Esports (2-1).

XERXIA had a “full-circle” moment when it was posed with the opportunity to go head-to-head against Bleed eSports again in the knockouts lower bracket finals. Bleed eSports, after losing to Paper Rex, was pushed into the lower bracket. Meanwhile, XERXIA was in full throttle as it dismantled all the opponents in its way.

The matchup between Bleed eSports and XERXIA lived up to the expectations of fans and was a barnburner of a series. According to Esports Charts, the lower bracket final between XERXIA and Bleed eSports was the most viewed series of VCT APAC Challengers One with 99.5K peak viewers.

XERXIA was dealt a defeat in the first map against Bleed when it went 10-13 on Ascent. However, it bounced back strong in the next two maps and was victorious. Following this, it moved on to the VCT APAC Challengers One final against Paper Rex.

Zeus said the team did not feel any stress after they fell into the lower bracket. He said, “We live in the moment and focus on the current match. We want to win against every single team that we take on and this mentality made us feel really good that we could finally win against Bleed.”

Sadly, the finals’ result was not in favor of XERXIA. The team fell short in its matchup against Paper Rex and became the second seed to represent APAC in VCT Masters 2022.

As a coach, Zeus said he always supports the team right after a loss or after situations like the power outage that rained on their parade. He explained that he preferred to discuss the things that the team could improve upon.

XERXIA swept the competition back home

Xerxia only entered the Thai competitive scene of Valorant in January 2022. It signed the entire roster of X10 Crit, a team that had a phenomenal run in 2021. The former X10 Crit roster won many laurels and also participated in the Valorant Champions 2021, where it went all the way until the quarterfinals where it was beaten by eventual champions Gambit Esports.

Following this, the team went into hiatus and did not compete in too many tournaments. The members were released by the organization and XERXIA pounced at the opportunity of signing the roster, including coach Zeus. But, star player Patiphan “Patiphan” Chaiwong, returned to the pro scene of Overwatch to play for the LA Gladiators. In his place, XERXIA roped in 17-year-old Surf who has proved his worth on the roster.

The VCT 2022 Thailand Challengers One event was pretty straightforward for XERXIA. It finished the group stage strong by going 3-0 and won all the matches in a clean sweep up until the finals against Made In Thailand. Despite losing a map, XERXIA bested Made In Thailand with a score of 3-1 and became the winners of the regionals, and took home prize money of $7.6K USD.

Now, in the VCT Masters 2022 tournament, XERXIA looks to play against teams from North America and Europe. Zeus said, “We want to gain experience and improve our skills. The other teams also have the same goals since all the teams want to become the champion of the tournament. This is a good opportunity to play against world-class teams.”

Zeus, on behalf of all the members, thanked the fans for supporting and cheering on Xerxia even amidst unfortunate circumstances like the power outage. “Please look forward to the VCT Masters tournament. We will do our best,” he added.

Zeus oozed confidence when he said that the Thai teams’ strategies were better than other teams. He said, “We have been aiming for VCT Masters since the first season and we really want to play teams from around the world.”

To the opponents, Zeus said, “Don’t underestimate XERXIA because we have shown our potential throughout the competition.”

You can catch XERXIA in action at the upcoming VCT Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík 2022, where it will be going up against the best teams in North America, Latin America, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) for the first time.