Ilia “something” Petrov very first created headlines when he racked up 120 kills on Sengoku Gaming on February 19, 2023, through their 3-1 earn more than IGZIST in round a single of the Valorant Challengers Japan Break up 1 lessen bracket.
He broke his individual report in the very same match by racking up 136 kills the up coming day in the second round of the reduce bracket towards FENNEL, location a new history in pro Valorant. In spite of his amazing efficiency, Sengoku Gaming shed 3-2, and bowed out of the competitiveness.
For enthusiasts, this was much more than plenty of for them to rally VCT Pacific teams to signal him.
So when he joined Singapore-based esports organization Paper Rex in March 2023 for the inaugural VCT Pacific league, hardly two weeks following his monster performances — it actually was some thing.
Aside from producing waves in this portion of the entire world, this devoted player even braved by large ping to tear up the North American servers, he tells A person Esports in an special interview.
PRX some thing obtained one thing that other pros would discover tough to do
When one thing hit rank a person on the Japan server, numerous professionals in the location begun using notice of him. Now in VCT Pacific, his track record surged when he nailed a 3K on Pearl with Jett in his debut match that Tarık “tarik” Çelik reacted to. What’s additional, enthusiasts commenced comparing him to Tyson “TenZ” Ngo.
But in advance of all this, he had a further accomplishment unlocked: he hit major six on the North American server, and even played video games that noticed tarik, TenZ, and Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan in the exact same match.
He was so fantastic that some professionals even believed he was cheating.
But here’s the catch — not only did he climb to Immortal, he did so on 160 ping actively playing from Japan wherever he was based mostly. And whilst he does not believe that there’s any magic formula to climbing rank on NA, he did make adjustments because of to the ping big difference.
“If it’s 160 ping, you can’t keep angles. You need to have to only peek,” he shared with A person Esports. “Only peek and then a person-faucet utilizing the Vandal.”
He did all this only using Jett and the exact same gun around and over. He never touches the Phantom — which often needs a player to spray down — for the reason that he doesn’t use crouch, at any time.
“For example, you kill just one, you crouch, and then following this a single a lot more enemy peeks mainly because would like to trade his teammate, and you die. No way you kill one a lot more,” anything discussed.
Of course, some professionals do crouch, which includes a particular teammate on Paper Rex.
“I are unable to spray or play like him. It’s extremely tough. He often crouches and kills, and I say, ‘How?! How you do this? Every single time?’”
Even however he achieved so considerably on the NA server, even ruffling some NA pro players’ feathers, he doesn’t be expecting to do this again — nor have a repeat 120 or 136-destroy effectiveness, which he says came with “a bit of luck.”
“I don’t know… 3rd time? No, it is really difficult. I do not know how. How? How I can do this once more?” he laughed. “It’s very really hard.”
His escalating checklist of own achievements did nonetheless, increase the stress he felt now that he’s with Paper Rex in VCT Pacific. He was perfectly conscious that viewers know him as the professional who had established two earth records in Challengers Japan, and felt “a very little little bit nervous.”
It’s also something’s initially time competing on LAN. The improve in natural environment, getting on stage in entrance of an viewers, joining the crew that concluded 2nd at Masters Cophenhagen 2022, it all added up to what he phone calls a “combo.”
“It’s just a sport. Why am I nervous? Just carry on to participate in,” he tells himself on stage.
Hold up with VCT Pacific here.
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