The Initiator: "Win as many things as we can" — Daniel “vice” Kim, Cloud9’s Cypher main, talks the future of Valorant
Q&A with Cloud9’s vice, T1 releases food and crashies in roster shakeup, 100 Thieves sign veteran Counter-Strike player steel for Valorant roster, TSM’s Myth reportedly teaching Trevor Noah how to play Valorant
By Cameron Bray
Just a quick programming note! The Initiator is going to be adapting its schedule to coincide with the important tournaments and Valorant events rather than continue as twice-a-week, so you’ll be getting this when the news gets interesting rather than the weekly schedule. Thanks for reading!
Initiator Interviews: Daniel “vice” Kim
Last week I interviewed Daniel “vice” Kim, Cloud9’s formidable Cypher main. C9 signed vice as its fifth and final player Monday, Aug. 17, after vice played several tournaments with C9 as a trial member. The most successful of these tournaments were the Pulse Invitational, where C9 finished second, falling to Gen.G Esports 2-0 in the grand final Sunday, July 12, and the PAX Arena Invitational, where C9 came in second again, falling to Sentinels 3-1 in the grand final Sunday, July 26.
During the Pulse, vice racked up 102 kills on 91 deaths (a decent kill-death ratio of 1.12), and he tallied a middling 188.9 Average Combat Score. Vice then left the Pulse with 211 kills on 211 deaths, nearly breaking even on his KD ratio, and tallied a somewhat weaker 177.1 ACS.
Since signing with “TenZ and FriendZ” as an official member in mid-August, vice has taken part in C9’s most recent tournament, Pop Flash, where C9 finished third, falling to Team Envy 2-0 in the lower-bracket final Sunday, Aug. 30. Although C9 failed to make another grand-final appearance at Pop Flash, the fourth and final Ignition Series event in North America, C9 was the only team to take a map off of Sentinels in the event. “TenZ and FriendZ” edged out the opening map (Split) 13-11 against Sentinels to stop the soon-to-be, two-time Ignition Series champion from going undefeated. And vice staged some of his strongest performances yet, finishing with 196 kills on only 176 deaths (a solid 1.11 KD ratio) and a solid 203.5 ACS.
As a Cypher main who’s gone from being unsigned to signed with one of the most popular professional esports organizations in North America, C9, vice brings a unique perspective to The Initiator, and I’m super excited to feature him here.
The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.
Bray: You’re C9’s fifth Valorant starter. C9 announced your signing with the team Monday, Aug. 17, on Twitter — the same day as you and the team were set to compete in the Pittsburgh Knights Invitational Gauntlet Series, where you and C9 finished third, falling to TSM (13-6 on Bind) in the lower-bracket final. However, you’d played with C9 since Gamers For Equality (where C9 fell out of group play with a 1-2 record Wednesday, July 8) and the Pulse. Over the course of that one-month period, what was it like to be playing unsigned with the team? Was it stressful or hopeful, discouraging or promising? And what do you think made the team want to sign you as its fifth?
vice: Pretty hopeful, I would say. I think I’m just a really good all-around player, and I bring a lot of communication and direction in the matches. So I think shinobi [John Abastado] mentioned to me before I joined that he needed someone to, like, kinda help him mid-round call or think of stuff and bring up setups and strats to practice, which is something I do a lot.
You’ve played a mix of characters over your Valorant career, including Cypher, Sage, Breach and Omen, but most commonly Cypher, who’s your main. What drew you to pick Cypher over all those other Agents?
Honestly, there was nothing inherently about the Agent that made me want to play it. It’s just more of, like, the team needed a Cypher. And Cypher kinda synergizes well with what’s the important thing that I bring to the team, which is communication and getting information and kinda how the information will lead to how we wanna play the round — rotations and just overall strats. If I get certain information somewhere, then I have a better idea, or I can give shinobi a better idea of what we wanna do in a round.
So when C9 was playing with you and signing you, did your teammates specifically say to you, “Hey listen, we need a Cypher main” or “We need someone who can play Cypher, and that’s we’re signing you”? Was that why you started picking him and why C9 signed you to its roster? Or did you just naturally sort of gravitate toward playing Cypher while you played Valorant unsigned with C9?
I think it was more of the former of what you said. They needed someone who was solid on Cypher and who was fundamentally a communicative player and would be good at anchoring the bombsites.
That was the main point I wanted to clarify. What does feel like now to have a professional organization like C9 backing you? What was the feeling you got when you went from being unsigned to signed with the team?
It’s definitely awesome, like C9’s a really good org. They treat their players well, and obviously they’re a really big esports brand. So I’m really happy to be associated with them, and, honestly, even more so than the org itself, I just really like playing with the team, so it’s been a really good situation for me.
That feeds into my next question. So what’s it like playing with Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and the rest of the team? How do you all practice together, and what’s your chemistry like?
OK, so, playing TenZ is insane because he has just like a God-given talent that outrivals anyone in North America and maybe even the world — we’ve yet to see that. In terms of the team dynamic, it’s awesome. Shinobi’s just a great leader. Mitch [Mitch Semago] and Relyks [Skyler Weaver] are just like good all-around players as well. TenZ is just like a demon, just like insane at the game.
I think practice is like, we spend a lot of time brainstorming and theory-crafting, so we might be running different comps and seeing how those work. I mean, every tournament it’s been pulling out a new comp that hasn’t been seen before in previous tournaments. I think that’s one that we have over many other pro teams. Like, we’re not afraid to take risks on the comps. And during practice, we do spend a lot of time of theory-crafting, but we try to focus on fundamentals like good communication and playing together, especially with the Abilities. There are unique Abilities, so it’s important to use the Abilities well, combo Abilities, just making sure we’re getting the most out of it.
And timing them with what your team’s economy is looking like, too.
Exactly, yeah.
And what are you and C9 like going into these tournaments? Chemistry during practice is one thing, but what’s your attitude and your morale whenever you go into these tournaments. Do you still have good chemistry and energy?
I think so. I think leading up to tournaments mostly, we have a long week of practice just to get our endurance up. We’re kinda a confidence-based team, so if we start off hot, we’ll just run with it on its own. But if we start off slow, we’ll grind back, obviously, but we’re definitely a momentum-based team a little bit.
What’s your impression of TenZ? What’s he like? And what’s it like having him as the leader of this team?
He’s just like a really cool guy outside of the game. I don’t know. There’s nothing really bad to say about him. I think every player has his own weaknesses, everyone can work on something, so I won’t say he’s like the most perfect player, but I definitely really enjoy playing with him. He’s just a cool teammate outside of the game as well.
No one’s definitely perfect, and I just wanted to ask you that brief question about him. But I don’t want to focus on him too much, because I want to talk about you as a player and the team. Next, I’m going to move on to your performance. During your most recent tournament appearance, Pop Flash, you tallied a strong 203.5 ACS and you racked up 196 kills on 176 deaths (giving you a good kill-death ratio of 1.11). So what would you say went well for you during Pop Flash? And what would you have liked to have done better?
This tournament I felt really confident. I just felt like individually I was playing well, like my mechanics were on point those days. Some days — it’s weird to say — but some days, my focus is just better than other days, and I felt like in those games my focus was really good, so I was able to make a lot of impact on those games. But there are things I could’ve done better.
What would you say are your greatest strengths right now as a player? What are your weaknesses? And what are you looking to improve upon before your next tournament?
So my strengths as a player is I’m always thinking about the team, so I’m able to facilitate better team play and promote teamwork. My game sense is pretty good. I’m able to understand the game and make good mid-round calls. I think mechanically, I’m also pretty good. I think my weakness right now is inconsistency. This game in general is just really hard to be consistent in, unless you’re a really good player. There are obviously some consistent players in North America, but I’m hoping to hit a good level of consistency in the near-future. In terms of things to work, I’d like to work on my Agent pool, so obviously we can be more flexible with comps. I’d like to work on my mechanics. I don’t know. Anything to make the team better, whether it’s comps that I see teams play or other things for other Agents that I could show my teammates that could be really helpful.
Let’s talk about the team’s performance a little. You and C9 finished third at Pop Flash. Your team defeated Envy 2-1 and reached the upper-bracket final, where you fell to Sentinels 2-1. To your credit, you and C9 were the only team to take a map off of Sentinels that whole event, preventing them from going undefeated in Pop Flash. But then you lost to Envy 2-0 in the lower-bracket final — a rematch between you and them. So how would you say Pop Flash went for you and C9? How did it feel leaving before you could reach the grand final against Sentinels?
After we lost to Envy in the lower bracket, we were all really disappointed. I was really disappointed, because I felt like this was the tournament where we’d finally take the trophy. And after so many second- and third-place finishes — just speaking for myself, I was really hungry to get that first place. It’s like kinda frustrating to just keep finishing second and third. So I was really hoping that this tournament was the one, but I think with some perspective — I thought about it, and we played really well throughout the tournament. Even if you don’t look at the scores and you watch the gameplay, you could just tell that we were playing well as a unit and individually. And I’m really proud of the team for that. Just definitely sucks to get another second- or third-place finish, especially in the last Ignition Series tournament, which would’ve been nice to win. But yeah, I’m happy with our team’s performance across the tournament.
You and C9 have now made just three grand-final appearances since release: You placed in second at the Pulse and again at the PAX Arena Invitational; and you won the EsportsDoug x eUnited Charity Clash, which I’m counting. But you finished fifth-sixth in the FaZe Clan invitational and you placed third at the Pittsburgh Knights Invitational Gauntlet Series. So what’s your take on where C9 stands right now as a team? How are you and TenZ and your teammates reacting to these performances?
So I think our team’s strength in relation to the other teams is — Sentinels and TSM are probably like the top two. Could easily make an argument for that. I think we could be top three or be tied for second. I think we could really put up numbers against those top two teams that I mentioned before, even take a series, give them a hard time. So I think there’s a good case to be made for us to be top three, top two.
I think we’re all really competitive. Obviously, we don’t like losing. We wanna get the win. Every day, we’re working pretty hard in practice to try to get better … It’s a weird place to get second and third, because you’re happy — like you’re not happy, happy — but you’re like kinda happy. But you’re also frustrated, because you’re not winning. I think everyone’s pretty driven, everyone’s pretty motivated to keep grinding and keep improving. I wouldn’t say anyone’s complacent. So what we’ll usually do is we’ll watch the VODs [videos on demand] after the matches and then come back to our practices after our days off. We’ll talk about, like, certain ideas, concepts, or things we noticed in the VODs that went wrong, and we’ll try to work on that for the next tournament. I think the process has been an upward-trending process, like we’ve been getting better for sure, even identifying our mistakes, working on them. And we’ve been showing progress in our area of weaknesses.
Do you think you’ll be able to challenge Sentinels or TSM or any of your other major rivals in another grand final in a tournament soon?
Definitely … More recently, we’ve been giving them a hard time and making it hard for them to win. I think, honestly, there are some days when we play against Sentinels and we’re a better team, but shout out to SicK [Sentinels’ Hunter Mims]. That guy’s making so much impact, especially against us. He’s just winning so many clutch rounds. If not for those clutch rounds, we maybe could’ve won the semifinals in the last Ignition Series against Sentinels, and who knows what would’ve happened in the course of the tournament.
So what are C9’s goals going forward right now? And what are your goals right now, in-game and out?
C9’s goals are obviously to win as many things as we can. But in terms of a less abstract goal, I think the only goal that we can work toward is progress, to just keep getting better. If we keep getting better, then the trophies will come. So that’s the only thing we’re focusing on, the only thing we can really manage to do.
In terms of my goals, I think I share the same goals as the team: just to win. I really like competing and I want to be the best, so that’s kinda my goal for now. In terms of outside of competition, maybe to start streaming more, grow my brand, do that kinda stuff, make content, just interact with the community more. I think that’d be really fun and really cool. I'm having a hard time balancing competing, my free time and decompressing, and also building up my brand and stuff.
What inspires you to train in Valorant, to practice and to compete? What motivates you?
I think I’m just a really competitive person. I’m really driven, and anything I do, I just kinda want to win. And that kinda works together with my — I don’t wanna say passion, but I think tactical first-person shooters are really exciting and interesting. It’s a really dynamic style or genre of game where there’s an infinite amount of possibilities for how you can win and how you can play certain situations. I just that’s really awesome. And it’s like, having an infinite amount of possibilities, it keeps me motivated, because it never gets boring. There’s always something to learn, something to see. So I think, combining my competitive nature with that, it makes for a steady fire of motivation inside me to keep playing and keep grinding.
Who’s your role model?
I would say my role model is probably my older brother. He’s been my role model since I was a little kid. He got me into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive when I was like 8 years old or something. I always wanted to be like him. Eventually, I wanted to beat him, so that’s kinda how I got into tactical shooters when I was really young. So yeah, I would say even now, he teaches me a lot. He offers a lot of wisdom. He’s like eight years older than me, so he’s been through what I’m going through in some ways and he knows what to say to me when I’m like when down and out. So I’d say he’s definitely my role model.
Inside of the game or just inside the esports world in general, I take a lot of inspiration from the leaders I’ve had in Counter-Strike. They definitely knew how to set a good team culture, certain aspects of a good team culture, and I’ve tried to that — my history in Counter-Strike — and bring that to the team here. And I think it’s been working out pretty well. I’ll just give a shout out to CadiaN [Casper Møller] and MSL [Mathias Lauridsen] in Counter-Strike, two really good Danish in-game leaders I learned from and really good guys. I think they definitely helped me a lot.
Outside of Valorant, what would you say is your best quality? And how does that quality influence your play style and teamwork with C9 in-game?
I’ll say I’m a pretty reflective person, so anything that happens, I’m always trying to learn something from it, whether it’s straight-up an unlucky scenario or really something that we did poorly and we can think back on and maybe get something out of it to improve on. So I would say that’s my best quality, and I think I do that on an individual level, like I’m very self-reflective. But I always try to bring some insight on some stuff that happens in practice to the team. I think I’m really analytical and able to spot certain things we could be doing better, and that’s a strong suit of mine.
What is something unique about you that impacts how you play Valorant and how you participate with your team?
I think that I’m a player who puts the team above the individual, for sure. So like, I’ll do whatever it takes to win, even if that means I’m playing a certain role I don’t want to be playing but is necessary. Or I’ll be doing the dirty work and go in first … So I’m just a really big proponent of, like, the team is bigger than any individual on the team, so I’m just always willing to make sacrifices for the betterment of the team, I’d say. I think that the way I view the game is that the team wins and loses and it’s not on an individual level … Being a team player, I’ll say.
T1 releases food, crashies from struggling Valorant roster in dramatic shakeup
T1 took an extraordinary step Thursday, Sept. 3, in reviving its Valorant tournament chances: The team released Victor “food” Wong and Austin “crashies” Roberts, two of T1’s young and up-and-coming talents, from its struggling competitive roster.
“Today we say goodbye to [food] and [crashies],” T1 tweeted last week, to the surprise of many, including Sentinels’ Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan, TSM’s Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik and Joseph "Bjor" Bjorklund, formerly of Immortals. “We're thankful for all the work they put into the team and wish them the best for the future.”
In response to T1’s announcement, both food and crashies thanked T1 for the opportunity to compete professionally in Valorant.
“Thanks[T1] for everything you guys have done for me,” food tweeted later that day. “Looking forward to the future and can't wait to be back in the server.”
“Thank you[T1] for the amazing opportunity!” crashies tweeted, meanwhile.” Very hard to step down but felt like it was needed with the way the team was headed. Wishing everyone the best and thank you again.”
T1’s announcement shook the esports world last week, prompting thousands of responses and retweets from fans and Valorant pros such as Sentinels’ Jay “sinatraa” Won.
While food and crashies’ exit from Valorant was cordial last week on Twitter, some T1 fans and Valorant followers have speculated that the release was less than kind in private and much messier than T1 wanted it to seem in public.
Many close followers of the game have suggested that food and crashies’ release could be related to the ongoing situation with T1 and Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham, the team’s absent-as-of-late third.
As ESPN’s Tyler Erzberger reported Monday, Aug. 17, and as Ska himself confirmed a week later, Ska has been absent from the team “grinding to expand” his Agent pool and his “overall impact” with the heavy sniper rifle the Operator.
In fact, Ska sat out T1’s most recent showing, Pop Flash, the fourth and final Ignition Series event in North America, where T1 fell out of group play Thursday, Aug. 27, with a 0-2 record.
As many have speculated, food and crashies’ release could potentially stem from a leaked conversation the two had recently in which they privately criticized Ska’s play style and performance during his leave of absence.
“Ska was holding us back,” food wrote to crashies in their leaked Direct Messages on Steam. “His comms were worse than normal.”
While it’s unconfirmed and unlikely to ever be acknowledged by T1 that the conversation played a role in food and crashies’ exit, their release was unquestionably related to T1’s recent tournament struggles.
Since placing second in the team’s own T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Showdown — the inaugural Ignition Series event in North America, where T1 fell to TSM 3-0 in the grand final Sunday, July 28 — T1 has only made it out of groups twice in all of its subsequent Valorant events.
T1’s first defeat was at the PAX Arena Invitational, where T1 fell to the amateur squad Homeless (now Team Dignitas) 2-0 in a shocking upset heard round the world Friday, July 24. And its second was at the FaZe Clan Invitational, where T1 fell to Gen.G Esports 2-0 in the first lower-bracket round Friday, Aug. 7.
With food and crashies’ release, T1’s official roster now consists of Braxton “Brax” Pierce and Keven “AZK” Larivière, soon to be joined by Ska once he and T1 feel confident enough for him to rejoin the main roster.
While T1 may have been interested in acquiring former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pros Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella and Joshua “steel” Nissan, Brax and AZK’s former teammate from the skilled but disgraced iBUYPOWER squad, both have since been poached by 100 Thieves, which went through a remarkable rebuild of its own last month, releasing its entire Valorant roster except for team captain Spencer “Hiko” Martin.
Nitr0, Hiko’s former teammate from Counter-Strike, signed with 100 Thieves after a lightning-fast negotiating period Friday, Aug. 14. And more recently, steel signed with T1’s rebuilding rival Friday, Sept. 4, after trying out with several top Valorant teams, including T1 and 100 Thieves.
Sam “DaZeD” Marine, another name that has been mentioned and discussed frequently over the past two weeks, is the last available former member of IBP whom T1 could acquire for its new Valorant squad. DaZeD hasn’t yet signed with a team, but he’s reportedly tried out for T1, according to ESPN sources.
In latest high-profile signing, 100 Thieves acquire steel as new 3rd Valorant pro, poaching former Counter-Strike pro from T1
After signing former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella last month to its newly rebuilt Valorant squad, 100 Thieves continued its streak of high-profile signings and acquired Joshua “steel” Nissan, another Counter-Strike pro, from Chaos Esports Club.
“Announcing the newest addition to our VALORANT roster: Steel,” 100 Thieves tweeted. “[Steel] is an incredibly skilled & talented player from the Counter-Strike scene. We’re so excited to start a new chapter of his competitive career with him in VALORANT. Welcome to 100 Thieves.”
The announcement followed steel’s transition to the Chaos Counter-Strike bench last week, hoping for a spot on a top Valorant roster. Over the course of last week, steel tried out for several top North American teams, including T1 and of course 100 Thieves, sources told ESPN’s Jacob Wolf.
Steel, 30, strongly considered T1, which features three of his former Counter-Strike teammates — Braxton “Brax” Pierce, Kevin “AZK” Larivière and Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham — but he settled on 100 Thieves as his final choice.
Before signing with 100 Thieves, steel was one of the two last ex-iBUYPOWER players to transition from Counter-Strike to competitive Valorant. The other, Sam “DaZeD” Marine, has tried out for T1, but hasn’t yet signed with a team in Valorant.
Under the IBP banner, Brax (then known as swag), steel, AZK, Ska and DaZeD saw remarkable success in Counter-Strike before being caught in a career-ending, match-fixing scandal in August 2014. All except for Ska, who refused to cash out, were permanently banned from Counter-Strike by Valve after IBP threw an online match for tens of thousands of dollars in bets and in-game skins.
Despite the scandal, steel continued to compete professionally in Counter-Strike, barred only from Valve-designated Majors. On both Ghost Gaming and Chaos, steel acted as a leader and mentored several of the younger players, including Matthew “Wardell” Yu (now TSM’s star Valorant player), Kenneth “koosta” Suen (now part of Gen.G Esports’ Counter-Strike team) and Nathan “leaf” Orf (still with Chaos).
Now signed with 100 Thieves, steel will join nitr0 and team captain Spencer “Hiko” Martin as they chase championships together in Valorant. Steel’s signing with the team marks a new start for the pro after five years of being banned from the biggest events in Counter-Strike.
TSM’s Myth reportedly teaching Trevor Noah how to play Valorant
TSM’s popular streamer Ali “Myth” Kabbani has been reportedly teaching Trevor Noah how to master Valorant, according to the late-night host and comedian.
The news on this incredible story broke Friday, Sept. 4, as Myth told his fans that he wouldn’t be streaming that day without elaborating why he’d be absent then.
“Hey guys, no stream today. That is all,” Myth tweeted cryptically last week, prompting a quoted retweet from Noah.
“It’s because he was teaching me how to play,” Noah tweeted in reply. “My bad.”
In a subsequent tweet, Myth confirmed the news and said Noah was “low key a natural” at Riot Games’ new shooter.
Noah took over “The Daily Show,” the well-known news satire program, in 2015, replacing long-time host Jon Stewart. While it’s unclear why Noah would have an interest in Valorant (other than entertainment) or why he’d tap Myth as his coach, some “Daily Show” and esports fans have speculated that Noah may have an interest in covering esports for his show.
Regardless of the reason, Noah is one of the latest mainstream celebrities to dive into the growing esports scene. Bronny James, the 15-year-old son of NBA star LeBron James, signed with FaZe Clan as a content creator Sunday, Aug. 30, and Post Malone, the rapper, joined Envy Gaming’s ownership group Friday, Aug. 28.
Following Noah’s introduction into Valorant, gamers will hopefully see more celebrities and fans enter the esports world as it continues to grow in size and popularity.
Cameron Bray is the lead writer for The Initiator, a recently created newsletter about Valorant sponsored by Numlock News. He also contributes to No Bid Nation, a new sports blog about William and Mary basketball. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @spike_cameron or send him an email at cameron@numlock.news.