Interview with Soul Chains, Valorant Caster, Liquipedia Editor
Yoann: Hey, hello everyone! Today I’m with Soul Chains, how would you introduce yourself?
Soul Chains: Hey! I’m Soul Chains, I’m a Liquipedia editor and caster on the French Valorant scene, and I just started working on the international scene too!
Yoann: Wow, that’s amazing! When and how did you get into esports?
Soul Chains: I started working in esports last year, but I have been following esports since 2016, when I got my first PC. It was mainly the League Of Legends scene back then.
When Valorant came out, I really wanted to be there to witness how its new scene would develop, which I did!
One day, I was hanging around on Liquipedia, and I noticed that the players at Mandatory didn’t have their pictures, so I tried to fix that! I tried messing around with certain edits until an editor stopped me! I asked him how I could help with certain things regarding the website, and that’s how I ended up becoming an editor! Fun fact, Mandatory’s players still don’t have their pictures haha!
Yoann: Maybe one day! What are you currently working on, on the Valorant scene?
Soul Chains: This summer has been the culmination of multiple months of work on the OTF alongside Neka, we got the rights to broadcast the tournament, I got asked to cast some matches, and more recently, to be part of the EMEA Ascension tournament! I wasn’t expecting such an opportunity to come up, it’s a real pleasure being here to help them out! I’m also working on some cool interviews, we have a lot of work this summer!
Yoann: That’s great! You're also the co-founder of "Qui Est-ce?", what can you tell us about this project?
Soul Chains: I won’t spoil too much, but all I can say is that it is a journalistic account where we post news about Valorant, League, TFT esports, and our French players! We will also produce original content, it’ll come out pretty soon, so stay tuned!
Yoann: That’s interesting! Let’s now dive into the Quick Questions part! I’ll ask you 10 quick questions, you'll have to answer as fast as possible, ready?
Soul Chains: Yeah!
Yoann: Phantom or Vandal?
Soul Chains: Phantom!
Yoann: What's your favorite map?
Soul Chains: Abyss!
Yoann: What's your favorite agent?
Soul Chains: Brimstone!
Yoann: What's your favorite skin collection?
Soul Chains: Singularity!
Yoann: What's your best memory working in esports?
Soul Chains: It’s quite recent, working on the EMEA Ascension!
Yoann: Amazing! How often do you play Valorant?
Soul Chains: I watch so much more Valorant than I play!
Yoann: Can you name the nine teams that won an international event?
Soul Chains: GenG, Sentinels, Fnatic, EG, FPX, Acend, Gambit, Loud and Optic!
Yoann: That’s perfect! What's your favorite team?
Soul Chains: LXT Esports, it’s a small Italian team I’ve been following for a long time!
Yoann: Who do you see winning Champions?
Soul Chains: This year I only see GenG winning it!
Yoann: Can you quote a voice line from your favorite agent?
Soul Chains: “Molly”!
Yoann: Amazing haha! Let’s now get back to the standard questions.
What are your hobbies or passions aside from gaming?
Soul Chains: I love watching video essays, it’s always super interesting hearing people talking about their passion, it fascinates me!
Yoann: For sure! What would you change to Valorant if you were a developer?
Soul Chains: Some agents are too dominant in their class, Killjoy has been very dominant in the sentinel class recently, but we are seeing more teams trying other options. The agent I would nerf today would be Omen, even though I love playing him, he’s so strong and polyvalent, that it makes other options such as Brimstone or Astra less attractive. The only map where he is not as optimal is Icebox, and still, some teams are playing him alongside Harbor or Viper. I would increase the cooldown of his smokes for example.
Balancing agents is a tricky and complicated topic, but nerfing Omen in a certain way would definitely help other agents.
Yoann: What are your ambitions on Valorant?
Soul Chains: One of my dreams was to appear on the VCT EMEA channel, which I did! I’d love to keep on evolving to the top of the French and European scene. We have a lot of talented people in France, we have our casters going to Berlin to cast the VCT EMEA splits, but it would be amazing to see a recurrent French talent evolving on the main VCT scene, on global tournaments!
Yoann: What advice would you give to someone aspiring to work in esports?
Soul Chains: There is no defined path to work in esports, as long as you’re passionate, and determined, just do it! At some point, you’ll get recognized on social media. Post your clips, your esports takes, and especially if you find cool stats or facts! It can help casters, analysts, or coaches, they spend a lot of time on Twitter looking for new talents. Your image on social media is super important!
Yoann: Is there anything else you would like to say?
Soul Chains: Liquipedia is better than VLR!
Yoann: Thank you so much for your time, and I wish you the best in the future!
Soul Chains: Thank you!
Twitter (X): https://x.com/ChainsSoul
Twitch: twitch.tv/soul_chains
