Pansy on EMEA’s Champions 2022 chances: “There’s every chance EMEA could do a back-to-back”

Aug 26, 2022

Lauren ‘Pansy’ Scott, VALORANT EMEA caster, has a wealth of experience across several different games, and she knows a lot about all things competitive. Ahead of the tournament, Riot chatted to her about all things Champions, and we asked the question on everyone’s minds: can EMEA take home the title two years in a row? 

The power of Paper Rex

APAC representatives, Paper Rex, exploded onto the scene during VCT Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík, whipping out controversial Japanese Agent, Yoru, at a time when others would laugh in your face at the idea of the Duelist being played in the professional sphere. 

At Stage 2 Masters, they shredded through many Western teams, including Fnatic and OpTic Gaming, two orgs that were tipped to take home the trophy. While they eventually lost to FPX in the final, Pansy marks them as one of the teams our EMEA representatives will need to watch out for. 

“Their playstyle is so explosive. It’s so high tempo that it really works in LAN environments because it tests any element of nerves, any calm issues - any issues at all will get stressed by their playstyle,” she states. 

“Coupling that with the fact they have Wang ‘Jinggg’ Jing Jie who is just this hyper-aggressive player who can work incredibly well if you can facilitate him, and then the fact that you have arguably one of the best players flat out in there [Jason ‘f0rsakeN’ Susanto] - Paper Rex have a lot going for them. There’s depth to this team and they’ve proven it - they haven’t just had one event where it’s that Cinderella run; they’re constantly proving they are incredibly dangerous as a team. Their playstyle genuinely works against everyone.”

Equally, she highlights the likes of 100 Thieves as potential underdogs, noting “I know how much they’re going to prep going into this,” and also spotlights DRX as being “dangerous early.” Funnily enough, they’re both in Fnatic’s group, so EMEA is going to have to fight hard to make the playoffs.

FPX, Fnatic, or Team Liquid?

While FPX emerged victorious from Stage 2 Masters, Fnatic is nothing to smirk at. Delving deep into playoff territory, the boys in black and orange are still incredibly fierce contenders, and Team Liquid is also in it to win it post-LCQ. Of EMEA’s three titans, Pansy believes FPX is probably the best contender for the top spot; but it’s not an easy choice.

“It’d be amiss not to say FPX,” she states, “but they’re in the position now that OpTic and Sentinels have been in: they now have a target on their backs and everyone’s going to put the extra time in. No one’s going to be going ‘oh we didn’t have that full plan in mind for this map.’ So that’s the question mark for FPX for me, but I’d still say they’re towards the top end, and in their group, I think they should be okay.”

“Fnatic should have had some time to buffer things out, and they’ll have a little less attention on them because everyone’s eyes are on FPX, so I’d probably say they’re second in my mind, and then maybe Liquid coming in as a third - but Liquid at LAN, there’s a chance it’ll meld together.”

What she does note, though, is that teams will have had a lot more preparation time - the days of jetlag nerfs are gone; everyone is in top form. “Teams have had time to look especially hard at Fnatic and FPX, and if they haven’t grown in that time that’s when you’ll start to see those issues really come through.” 

Can EMEA emerge victorious two times in a row?

Of course, we asked Pansy the question that’s been playing on repeat in our minds; can EMEA win Champions two times in a row? With a (possibly pained) chuckle she comments “by all accounts they have every capability to do so, yes. Will they do it? If Fnatic make it out of groups and they top the group cleanly, it’ll 100% be a deep run. FPX, I don’t think we’ll see any issues in their group stage; issues are more likely to occur in the upper bracket - I think they’ll make it through to quarters pretty comfortably.”

“On paper yes,” she concludes, “they absolutely could with a couple of caveats. There’s every chance EMEA could do a back-to-back, but it’s all down to prep now.”

What’s most important for Pansy, though, is that she “genuinely just loves good VALORANT.”

“Some of my favorite teams to cast have been OpTic when they went on their run, DRX in the past, too. You’ve got Leviatán - I love getting to see them play. For me, if a team smashes FPX, Fnatic, and Liquid, sign me up for it! They would have had to have brought such an incredible level of VALORANT to smash them, so it’s going to be a good game no matter what.”

VALORANT Champions 2022 kicks off in Istanbul on August 31, where Pansy will be casting alongside a plethora of VALORANT’s most famous faces. As we draw ever closer and the hype continues to build, we can’t wait to see if her predictions emerge true - but don’t worry, Pansy, we won’t judge you if they don’t!