[EXCLUSIVE] “It’s great to work with Vanity again” C9 Immi on reuniting with Vanity for VCT Americas 2024

Valorant

15 Feb

Ganesh Jadhav

The VCT Americas Kickoff 2024 is on the horizon and as a prelude to the new season, Riot Games organized a Pre-Season Media Day featuring 1-on-1 interviews and press conferences.

During the aforementioned Pre-season Media Day, Strafe had the opportunity to converse exclusively with Cloud9's new Head Coach Ian "Immi" Harding.

The former G2 Esports and Version1 coach was brought to Cloud9 during the off-season as a replacment for Mathew "mCe" Elmore.

Taking the reins of Cloud9

Cloud9's project also saw the re-introduction of Vanity into the roster, who will re-unite with Immi after Version1. The team also brought in Wippie and Oxy from G2 alongside the coach, adding them to the C9 remnants of Xeppa and Jakeee. With a roster which looks well-synergized, and especially for Immi the reunion with Vanity holds special value.

"I think it’s great to work with Vanity again"

[Interviewer] What are your expectations from the season? Where do you see Cloud9 at the end of the season?

Coming into this, we didn’t really set any expectations. It's just we’re a so-called budget team, we are predicted to be middle of the pack. But the scrims are going really well, we looked really good.

Our off-season where we actually really tried and we weren’t testing things, we looked really good so we’d see how it goes. We could finish first, we could finish middle of the pack. I don’t like to set too many expectations.

[Interviewer] You have worked with Vanity previously in V1, now that you have reunited, how is it working with him again? What do you think about the other pieces you have with Cloud9?

I think it’s great to work with Vanity again. In Version1 it worked really well and then he left to go to Cloud9, since then I never really found an IGL.

I waited but it was always like, always like semi-IGLs, not actually someone that actually leads. I’d like to have someone who believes in me, I believe in him.

He lets me try things I want to try and I let him try things he wants to try and we always find a good middle ground.

As for the players that come along with him, Xeppa and Jakee. They both impress me, Xeppa more than anyone has impressed me as one of the best players I have worked with. He reminds me a lot of Zellsis.

[Interviewer] How are Wippie and Oxy fitting in with the Cloud9 boys?

I think they are fitting in really well. They clicked from the start, they all knew each other beforehand, Oxy did not know many but he’s fitting really well, he’s just a good kid, keeps his head down, does what needs to be done.

What would the META be!?

It has been around six months since the last official and a multitude of agent changes and significant map pool changes. These changes affect how the game will be played and thus establishing as new meta for 2023. One of the biggest change has to be the Skye nerf which may be in effect for VCT Americas Kickoff 2023.

"I don’t think she’ll be picked as much."

[Interviewer] What would the meta heading into the new season? What agents do you think would be mainstay?

I think it's gonna vary, I think there’s a lot of good agents right now. Viper’s still strong, double initiator would become pretty strong because of Gekko. I think Yoru’s really strong right now too.

[Interviewer] The Sentinels category has had a single agent dominating the pick rate, first with Chamber in 2022, then with Killjoy in 2023. Now with the changes to the agents, would we have diversity in the Sentinels pick rate?

I think we’d be surprised if we see a lot of Chamber, maybe the odd team will run it. But many teams would not be running him. But I think there will be a lot of diversity between Killjoy and Cypher.

[Interviewer] What about Deadlock, Can you see her being utilized consistently in a composition on any map?

We tried her at the Ludwig (LxT Invitational 2) tournament, I like her on certain maps but again it’s a very niche pick. You are allowed to use her for one or two games, then you probably won’t be able to use her, because everyone would know how to play her.

But right now, when no one knows how she works, I think it’d be really good for teams to pull it out and use her. But I think as an overall staple throughout the year, unless she gets buffed, I don’t think you see her as a consistent pick. I will be surprised if anyone picks her to be honest.

[Interviewer] The latest patch introduced some serious Skye nerfs, If I am not wrong, you aren’t playing on the patch 8.02?

I am not sure if we are on the Skye nerf, I think we are but [...]

[Interviewer] What do you think about her post nerf? Would she be part of the meta? Do you think she’d be picked as frequently as she was in the past year?

I don’t think she’ll be picked as much. Some teams will be scared of going away from her but using the flash to get information early in the round can’t be used now.

You can’t really waste the flash just like that now, you have to really hang on to your flashes and use them correctly. So I think it is a pretty big nerf to be honest.

[Interviewer] What are your thoughts on the current map pool?

I don’t mind the current map pool, but I don’t like how they took Breeze out, brought it back. It's exactly the same map. Took Icebox out, brought it back, it’s exactly the same. I don’t really like that but the map pool in general, I don’t really mind what maps are in the pool.

Haven was the best map, well they have taken it out, if it gets some changes than fair enough. I like that they take maps out and give them refreshing changes. But bringing them back in and they are the same map doesn’t mean much sense to me.

[Interviewer] If you were to change something about Haven, What would it be? Haven was always a balanced map and everyone liked the map. So what would you change to keep the map balanced but still give it a refreshing look.

I think you are right. Like I said, it is the best map in the pool, I don't think I can change anything.

[Interviewer] Lotus has had some changes that made it more Defense-sided. But do you think it’d change how the map will be approached?

If it wasn’t for the Skye nerfs, I think everyone would stick to the same composition that was being used and it’ll still get played the same way.

Now with Skye gone, people would replace her with Fade but I don’t think it’d change too much.

Yeah it’d help defense a little bit for sure, like there’s some bigger cubbies and stuff but overall the map plays the same.

VCT 2024 - A Look Ahead

Riot Games format and schedule for 2024 was under heavy scrutiny for the lenght and number of games in the season. Multiple coaches and players have openly criticized or supported the format in their own way. Similarly, Immi has his thoughts on the format.

"People are going to be scared to try things"

[Interviewer] The schedule and format for VCT 2024 was a point of discussion earlier this year. What are your thoughts on it?

Yeah I personally don’t think there are enough matches. Players want to play, there is not much room for error, so like going back to like people playing Deadlock, people are going to be scared to try things, people will try to play as safe as they can, because you don’t have the time to try things out, every match matters. I don’t like it, I think there should be more matches.

I also think the season should be longer, so that we don’t have five months off-season again. A long season, yeah you can put tournaments in there, but at the end of the day, this is the one that matters.

For Cloud9, VCT 2024 starts with the VCT Americas Kickoff. Their opening game of the season features MIBR who themselves have made significant changes to the roster. Their group also consists of NRG Esports and FURIA, both of which are formidable opponents.

"I like our group, we have a really good chance of coming out on top of our group"

[Interviewer] You’d be facing MIBR in the Kickoff tournament. What are your thoughts on your opponents and the rest of the group you are part of?

I don’t know much about MIBR, I haven’t played them myself, I was in G2 last year. But I think we should be the favorites going into that game. But again, we haven’t seen much of them.

It’s the start of the season, no one is going to know what people are playing. There’s a new patch, there's a new map. I like our group, we have a really good chance of coming out on top of our group so yeah.

[Interviewer] Is there a team you are looking out for? One team that you think would do really well?

Not really, NRG is really great on paper, but the team I am looking forward to playing the most is probably Sentinels, because Zellsis is on the team.

[Interviewer] Is there a team you think would do better than people expect them to do? A dark horse?

Maybe us. Everyone’s got us predicted like sixth, seventh, around that area, I think we can exceed expectations.

[Interviewer] One opponent to face outside the Americas?

I would like to play Fnatic and beat Fnatic. We lost to them in Tokyo and they have a couple of old friends of mine on that team. Mini is their assistant coach, Boaster is their leader, so I would like to play against them.

As mentioned earlier, Cloud9 faces MIBR tomorrow in the Group A opening match. You can catch the game live on YouTube and Twitch.

Follow the VCT 2024 action on Strafe.

For more information on the VCT Americas Kickoff, check out Strafe Esports' piece on the Format, Schedule, Teams and more. If one of the other Kickoffs catches your fancy, we also have previews for EMEA, Pacific, and China.

As an additional bonus, you can catch the VOD for the interview on our new YouTube channel. Also, check out our tier list for the 33 partnered teams (VCT China notwithstanding) heading into 2024's season.

Featured Image Credits: Cloud9 YouTube