Interview With Content Creator For Acend Thinking Man's Valorant

Yoann: Hello, everyone. Today I'm with Thinking Man’s Valorant, content creator on YouTube.

TMV: Yeah I am Chris from Thinking Man's Valorant and I make videos mostly about Valorant esports, breaking all down. I've been doing it for a year now. 

Yoann: Were you posting or the Internet videos before?

TMV: I actually did have a small YouTube channel before that, I probably started around COVID time. It was only like a small channel with a couple of thousand subscribers. But yeah, then this obviously kind of took off and became my job.

Yoann: Yeah, that's good. What made you start making Valorant guides?

TMV: It's a good question, I started watching and playing Valorant, and I noticed that I was copying some things the pros are doing in my games and then realizing that worked really well. 
Obviously if a pro is doing it, it's pretty good. So I was kind of doing that and I was like, Oh, maybe I'll show people, some of these things. And then it just evolved slowly.

Essentially, there's enough games that go on that you have a full week's worth of content. 

Yoann: Cool. So you have been a content creator for Acend since June. So what has changed for you since then?

TMV: Well, the people of Acend have been very nice, and it gives you a bit more status, an org signed me, so I'm doing something right. It was the first time I kind of realized, Oh my God, this is actually serious now. Before that it was kind of still a part time thing.

Yoann: So do you actually play Valorant in your free time?

TMV: I definitely watch more pro games than I play games. I'm generally not a massive fan of the Valorant solo queue experience. I'm sure most people can understand that. But if my friends are playing, I'll play.

Yoann: Right. And when you play with your friends, are you the In Game Leader?

TMV: Oh yeah! I'm the one who's like, yeah let's do this. And again, I literally will just take ideas from pros.

Yoann: What's your favorite team to watch play?

TMV: That's a good question. I think I would have to say Paper Rex just because they play such a crazy style, just because they're so unique, so wild.

Yoann: Who do you see winning the first event in Brazil next year?

TMV: This might be the toughest question because I genuinely do think there's probably about ten or so teams that legitimately are going into that tournament thinking they are the favorites, which is crazy.

There will be a new map and a ton of agent changes, and a lot of rosters have changed as well. So it's going to be pretty insane.

And I feel like there's so many question marks to so many teams that it is very, very difficult. I'm just going to guess Team Liquid because I like nAts.

Yoann: Yeah I agree. What's your favorite map in the game?

TMV: I think I'm going to say Fracture. The devs took a big risk with Fracture, I kind of appreciate what they've done.

And I still feel like there are things to be solved with fracture as well. So it still has a bit of mystery to it as well. 

Yoann: Right, and what about your favourite agent?

TMV: Again this is a tough one. I've definitely played more Viper than anything else. But I wouldn't say she's my favorite agent. The best design I think is Yoru. Just a pure fun fact.

Yoann: All right. How do you feel about a brand new meta that just released this week?

TMV: I think that this is a good change. I think that when you have an agent like Chamber, played on every map, that when that agent gets nerfs, that's like a big power vacuum. And all of a sudden it's who's going to take that place? And the thing is, right now, I think there isn't a real answer to that.

I think this might be like the dawning of a new age where it really is completely up in the air. And you can really play a lot of different stuff on a lot of different maps and still be fine. So I think that going forward, this is going to be pretty good.

Yoann: Would you change anything to the game today in terms of agents, gun balance, map?

TMV: Obviously I would add a replay system or different game modes.

Off the top of my head, I can't really think of anything other than adding stuff to the game, which I think they should do. And just buff those weakest agents in the game, we don't know what's going on at the top of the game, but at the bottom I still think there is like a clear collection of a couple agents where they could be brought up a bit.

Yoann: Paper Rex’s coach told me that Harbor could be a very good agent for them because he’s the only controller to have 3 line of sight denial abilities.

TMV: It's interesting because when Harbor first came out,  my initial reaction was, I'm not sure this is too good, but I actually did say I can definitely see Paper Rex using it. It fits their style, this kind of more proactive, aggressive style. 

Harbor's playable. Yes. But I think you have to play a certain style to make him work.

Yoann: Yeah, and talking about Paper Rex, Alecks, the coach, told me that: “We just try to break the game, find some combinations that don't make sense and kill people”. What do you think about it?

TMV: I think this is very typical, they just have this style that is just so unique. They take it way further than anyone else. And I think I think that that's honestly one of the best things about Valorant right now.

I don't think anyone has really figured out the best way to play. Which is really great because it means that you can get a bunch of different styles. 

Yoann: What do you think about this past November Game Changers event?

TMV: There's no way you could have imagined that it would go as well as it did. I just thought it was a massive win all around. The level of play was really good, the storylines were interesting, the teams are interesting, the players are interesting, the games are interesting.

Now, I think most people who watch that tournament be saying, yeah, we want another one next year, but make it bigger, have a bigger audience, have more teams, you know, make it a bigger event.

Yoann: And what do you what do you think about the difference between male and female valorant right now? I've been talking with Misfits Kxtieoh, and she told me that it would be a bit difficult, but it would be a nice learning experience to get better and get closer next year or the year after.

TMV: Yeah. I think right now, the best women's teams would probably be in a tier two scene. I know that Cloud9 White have been involved in quite a few open tournaments  and they generally tend to finish around that mid-tier level.

But there are certain players who definitely could definitely be a tier one player. There's no doubt in my mind that they have the talent to do it. 

Yoann: Right. Would you like to become a coach one day?

TMV: This is a question I get quite often. And the answer is, well, if they paid enough, probably, you know, if they really wanted me to be the coach, I'd be stupid to turn it down. But if it was paid like a bit more of what I’m making currently, I'd probably say no because there isn't a pressure, there's no stress, it's just me, I am my own boss.

But if someone wants to break the bank to sign me as a coach, I would listen!

Yoann: All right haha! Thank you for your time, I wish you the best for 2023!

TMV: Thank you for having me!