After a strong performance in the VCT Pacific League that resulted in an easy victory over longtime esports rivals T1 last week, Gen.G’s star player k1Ng talked about his experience in the Pacific League so far.
One of the biggest differences between the three franchised VALORANT leagues—Americas, EMEA, and Pacific—is each league’s weapon of choice. While the Americas and Europe are still heavily favoring the Vandal, players in the Pacific actually prefer the Phantom.
Speaking with k1Ng after Gen.G’s dominant victory over T1 last week, he wasn’t so convinced that higher usage of the Phantom is indicative of anything more than a personal choice.
“I think it’s just individual preference,” k1Ng said via a translator on April 16. “Since I play Viper a lot, I personally use the Phantom more.”
K1Ng has been rotating his agent picks between Killjoy and Viper, depending on what map Gen.G play, but what has made him stand out in a league full of new talent has been his Viper. Even at the very beginning of the season, when Gen.G were tasked with the arduous challenge of facing VCT 2022 champions LOUD in their very first match, k1Ng played phenomenally on Viper.
Though he prefers the Phantom, especially when he plays Viper, k1Ng offered a reason as to why the Vandal is still popular across the other VCT leagues.
“From my personal experience, the Vandal has a higher ceiling since you can one-tap enemies,” he said.
Since most professional VALORANT players have pixel-perfect aim, the potential of getting these easy one-taps is irresistible. In EMEA, the Vandal is still being picked at about twice the rate the Phantom is, according to The Spike.gg.
Either way, k1Ng seems to still be convinced that which gun a player uses is based on their own preference. And using the Phantom seems to be going very well for him.
Last week, the VCT Pacific English desk even brought up k1Ng’s name as one of the best Sentinel/Controller players in the league. With Gen.G’s boosted roster, their confidence seems to be growing as well. But their toughest opponent is lurking just around the corner.
Related: Phantom vs. Vandal: Which is the best rifle in VALORANT?
DRX remain the only team in all three VCT leagues who haven’t dropped a single map. While Gen.G have the same winning record (4-0) as DRX, they lost a map to Japan’s Detonation FocusMe in the second week of league play. This seems like an odd blip in concentration for a team who otherwise have seemed easily second-best in the Pacific.
With both of the teams yet to tally a loss facing off this coming week, the Pacific League is preparing for a match of incredible VALORANT ahead.
“In terms of confidence, I am just as confident about the DRX match as I have been for all of our previous matches,” k1Ng said.
Gen.G and DRX will face off, no doubt with Phantoms in hand, on April 22 at 6am CT. Note this start time has been moved up one hour from the previous weeks of the VCT Pacific League.
