Can OpTic Gaming rediscover their magic at VCT Masters Copenhagen?

Since the start of the professional Esport Scene in Valorant, Optic Gaming has been the team to watch with their unique style of play. The team has made so many maps their own and have team comms named after them. What makes them so special, and will they be able to win two Majors back to back?

Starting with Masters Berlin (as Envy) last year, they have placed consistently at the top in international Majors. After VCT Masters Reykjavik, OpTic really began to shine, and cemented themselves as the most consistent team in North America. They are currentlyranked 1^st in the North America, with a win-loss record of 92/45.

The Optic Gaming roster looks unstoppable

While mostly recognized for their Call of Duty shenanigans, OpTic is suddenly becoming a household name in Valorant as well. During the most recent VCT Challengers NA Playoffs, Optic Gaming finished runner-up to XSET, but in our book they are ranked higher in the overall Power Rankings. Such a high standard is expected after winning Masters Reykjavik.

Currently, the players in Optic Gaming are as follows:

• FNS Captain
• Victor
• Crashies
• yay
• Marved
• Chet(Head Coach)
• Jovi (Analyst)

Their play style is quite different from our previous spotlighted team, Paper Rex. OpTic has a play style consisting of heavy control and site executions as soon as possible. While noting that this might be a straightforward style of play, they tend to fake their plants and fake utility extremely well. Most opponents are quite easily lulled into confirmations that a plant will take place. Instead a fast rotate took place and planted in the site which was left free. By doing over and over and over again, most teams don’t know where the final execution will occur, and start rotating off pace way too many times.

Expectations from OpTic gaming at VCT Masters Copenhagen

Due to not winning the North America Challengers Tournament, Optic is forced to play through the group stages of the tournament. In the eyes of many, this could be a spot where the team could lose their cool. Due to the fixtures of these group stages, there will be a lot of pressure on each team to be able to qualify for the playoffs. In their first game, they are facing off against Guild Esports, potentially followed by LOUD or KRU.

The problem here is not their ability to win this matches, but the threat of revealing too many strats on their way up. Pujan “FNS” Mehta (IGL) can play various roles as either a controller or initiator, yet may lose “ideas” on how to execute rounds if their strats get too repetitive.

Crashies as the main initiator for the team is where the bulk of our expectations are placed to get opening frags or engagements and create favorable rounds. In the past, Victor used to take up that role but currently will only pick Kay/o. Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker also consistently picks Chamber, so at least two picks are always identical. Last but not least, Marved is the main controller of the team. While not exactly a team fixed in their ways, OpTic’s Agent compositions may become a tad one dimensional. However, even with the “same” setup, each player had an average ACS of 160+ during the North America regionals.

Being the reigning and defending champions, it only fair to state that Optic Gaming is the current favourites to win the tournament in the eyes of most fans. We just want to see more from them in terms of strategy, we all know exactly what they will bring to table in terms of Agent picks and playstyle. Only time will tell if they can still keep their title with them following the end of VCT Masters Copenhagen.