After winning 32 of the 33 maps they played this year, with a 29-map consecutive win streak within that, they are back arguably better than they’ve ever been.
THAILAND — Xipto Esports are no strangers to the big stage, the gals who formerly donned the Team SMG banner during last year’s VCT Game Changers Championship have shown that they still hold the keys to the SEA region.
Their notable performance during the 2023 VCT Game Changers Champions stole the hearts and minds of everyone watching, and how couldn’t they, especially after somehow making an accidental 4-duelist mis-pick composition work during their opening match against the highly touted Evil Geniuses; everybody was on the edge of their seats to see who these gals are, and what else they’re capable of.
While last year might’ve proven to be their announcement tour to the global stage, this year they come looking to claim what could’ve been theirs after ending their 2023 run at 4th place during the VCT Game Changers Championship in 2023. But the 2024 calendar year has proven to be full of new challenges; A new format for the Game Changers circuit, as well as integrating new but familiar pieces to the roster.
Though, has that changed how the well-oiled machine that is Xipto Esports operates? In a team full of stars, we talked to 2 of them, two seemingly best buddies in & out of the server; Alexy ”Alexy” Francisco and Odella “enerii” Abraham, to ask them how they’ve dealt with those challenges, and their thoughts leading up to their opening match of the Game Changers Pacific 2024.
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Changing Their Game
One thing Xipto Esports has going for them is their experience, particularly in the global setting. Make no mistake, there are players in the Game Changers Pacific 2024 that have played on the Champions stage in the past; players like Curumi from FENNEL Hotelava, babytz and poly, who were teammates on the previous X10 Sapphire team, and suzu who is now on DIVISION GC, just to name a few; But the Xipto Esports squad are the only roster who still maintain their core from last year. And so when I did ask them about how that could be an advantage of theirs, this is what their star duelist, enerii, had to say:
enerii: I think in my opinion right, because we’ve already experienced a very international LAN and there was a lot of pressure so we know how to handle the pressure, we know how to like reset ourselves instantly and we just know the feeling of being nervous and how to overcome it so I think that’s the edge we have over other teams.
Alexy also notes that the team decided to stick together, including keeping their coach, as they felt very connected to each other and that their chemistry was great. But that still meant they had to find a new fifth player coming into this year, and that they did, in Ryona “Tara” Tan. Tara actually has played with this roster quite a few times, as she’s been a sub/6th on the former SMG team, so that definitely helped in incorporating her back into the roster. What makes her so effective to this team? enerii shares that:
enerii: I think for her, she’s like, because she’s very, she knows the situation well and she’s a very experienced player and I think in general she kind of brings a very good vibe to the team so I guess she’s the “vibe merchant” also and she gives a lot of like angles to different opinions because we are very aggressive.. all 4 of us are very aggressive players, but for her she’s a bit more passive so we kind of have like a good mix of both play styles.
Though, integrating Tara into the starting roster was only part of the challenge for the team this year, as the 2024 season also came with a very new format, as the Pacific stage of the Game Changers circuit was announced, it’s brought new opportunities for teams to gain insight on the region as a whole through experience, as well as it’s more great VALORANT to look forward to.
enerii: I think, personally, for me right, it gives us a pathway to like meet East Asian teams like Japan, Korea, and then it gives us like a chance to meet Australian teams also which like, if we wanted to meet them we might have need to meet them at champs, which was quite a long journey. So I think it’s nice for us to like meet other teams, because it kind of gets boring when you go against the same players, same teams always in Southeast Asia. So I feel like it’s very nice and we get to meet a lot of new players, it’s a very fun experience.
But a new competitive format will also require a newly refined approach to the competition. This new approach has also largely contributed to their consistency, as Alexy shares :
Alexy: I think for me, our team right now is very disciplined in terms of sleeping habits, training wise, and training individually, but my past teams that I’ve experienced it’s just like mostly playing for fun. But right now, we are all serious about the game.
Alexy: We always [keep each other in-check] and our coach always reminds us what to do almost every day and in terms of training wise, we all always compromise on what to do on every mistake we’re doing. So yeah, I think that’s the, what this..
Eneri: ..the biggest contributing factor.
Alexy: Yeah yeah.
Eyes On The Prize
Coming into this year the team was feeling confident, and how couldn’t they? After making headlines by not just winning, but dominating a map against Evil Geniuses with a 4-duelist composition, which is something you’d only ever see in maybe your own unrated games. Yet they did it during the 2023 Game Changers Championship, the pinnacle of the GC circuit, in view of many, and brought awe to us all. That, coupled with their impressive run, has certainly turned many heads and eyes their way, wondering what’s next. And so, I just had to ask, should we look forward to more unexpected, mis-understood hijinks this coming Game Changers Pacific?
enerii: Uhmm.. [Alexy chuckles] I think, no, we never have any thought of trying it again because it was a lot of pressure on us. Like we didn’t even think we were gonna win that map we were just like, okay, just try to win the second map and go to the third map. So I don’t think we want to go do that again
All jests aside, it’s clear that the team is laser focused on winning it all. And that’s potentially what may be fueling the fire within this team, as their confidence is at an all time high. This was evident with how they view their upcoming match of the Game Changers Pacific 2024 versus Fennel. A fearsome team in their own right, yet Alexy seems unphased; however it isn’t necessarily just at Fennel, if not the rest of the competition in Pacific entirely, as enerii adds afterwards in regards to which team might be their biggest challenge;
Alexy: We’ve scrimmed them (Fennel) a lot of times since we were in SMG so we know our capabilities against them, I guess. Yeah. So we are very confident against them.
enerii: For me there’s no team that gives me any challenge right now, or us I would say. So no, not a single team.
Yet, don’t mistake their confidence for animosity against any team, as enerii shared earlier how they look forward to the opportunity to play against other east asian teams, but also, the fact that many of their former teammates from their preceding rosters are now on different opposing teams in the tournament. This is evident with how elated they were to see those former teammates again back in competition
Alexy: For me, I feel like I’m so proud of my ex-teammate since she made it also here with me.
So I’m so excited to be against her in the future, if ever we’re gonna be against each other.
So yeah, I’m just happy with her to be here.
enerii: For me, I feel familiar with my ex-teammates here. At the same time, I’m very happy that they made it here also. But I don’t know, when I’m in-game I just see them as their agents and not their names. So it really doesn’t matter for me if I’ve played with them before or not.
Still, friend or foe, they can set that aside and remain fixated on the end goal, as well as the steps to get there; first Game Changers Pacific, and then a shot at taking the crown at GC Champs. Ultimately, that’s always been the end goal of any competitor, to win it all. The prestige and respect that’s given to those who are crowned champions, is something that only comes to the ones who earn it. Yet, as glorious as that may be, that usually isn’t the sole motivation for many competitors.
For Alexy, she shares that it’s about showing her skillset to the global audience, stating “I think for me, I’m trying my best to show the world that I can win this. Like I can show to the world that I’m a very experienced player in this game.”
But for enerii, it’s about redemption. A vindication of what could’ve been hers. During the 2022 season, enerii was once again the star of yet another great team, that being Alter Ego Celeste. A team that dominated and won all four APAC Open stages that year. They were looking like the de facto representative for APAC, up until they lost in a hard-fought grand final during the APAC Elite tournament against X10 Sapphire, which went a full 5 maps, and would send X10 qualifying into GC Champions 2022.
Game Changers Champions is once again returning to Berlin this year, just as it was during the 2022 season. For enerii, having the chance to qualify to another Champions tournament in Berlin, which she barely missed out on 2 years ago, feels like a potential full-circle moment.
enerii: I think for me personally, two years ago, the venue was at Berlin also, but I unfortunately didn’t make it even though I had a long win streak and stuff. So I think it’s just a chance for me to prove that I can qualify for Berlin and I can still keep up my win streak. And I guess in general, it’s more to prove to myself that I can do it and I have the capabilities to do so. So yeah.
I guess it’s a motivation for me, but other than that, I also have like an ego to myself. I have like my own standards that I keep up to. So I think I’m not trying to prove anything to other people. It’s mostly to myself.
The Power Of Friendship
Even the best players are unable to win it all by themselves, it is a team game after all. Being able to get 5 different individuals to be cohesive at such a high level is already difficult in and of itself, but getting them to do that not just willingly, but happily? That’s a challenge not every team is afforded the luxury of. When you have a team like Xipto Esports, composed of players who have proven to be some of the best in their half of the globe, it can be easy for egos to clash against one another. Yet, Xipto seem to have evaded this problem, and part of that is because who they have as lead figure, that being their coach, Kenneth “Colbat” Ho; As Alexy attributes part of their cooperative harmony to him, expressing:
Alexy: I think for me, because all of us are well experienced already so we know how to balance the fun and discipline, and I feel like one of the reasons also is our coach.
He managed to like, balance our attitude to each other, and our habits.
That attitude and mentality towards one another, as helped reinforced by their head coach, is crucial for almost any successful team to flourish, as it’s much more difficult to work towards a common goal if there’s any internal animosity within a team. But that’s much easier said than done, especially during the stressful moments that competitive teams face. For these two, they recognize they can’t just always rely on what they’ve rehearsed, but in some moments also letting their teammates’ energy lift them up collectively during trying times; as they both share when asked about who they find helps drive them and the team to push through any challenge.
enerii: I answer first? I think maybe for me it’s Alexy because she’s very loud on LAN so you kind of feel the hype. I’m not a very ‘hype’ person, I mostly stay quiet but when I see her like shouting beside me I guess it kind of makes me like, oh wow, that’s, like, it’s so fun you know I guess.
Alexy: I think for me it’s (Kamiyu). She always hypes me up, even if I’m loud already.
So she’s adding up more energy with me you know.
Although, watching this team for the past 2 years, and the players individually for many more before that, it’s clear to us and many others as well that this team just has great chemistry; not just in the server, and not only for team & competitive reasons, but personal ones as well. They all generally get along with each other, and seem like each a dear friend.
And so of course they’re always hanging out with one another, not just because they have to, but cause they seemingly want to, as they share about how they normally bond together as genuine friends, and what else they maybe look forward to do together as a team in Bangkok, where Game Changers Pacific is currently taking place:
Alexy: I think every time we finish scrimmings or training, we always go out and hang out and
explore some food, which everyone loves, and I think it’s like a very fun way to de-stress also with the team.
enerii:I think for me, personally, I want to try, like, all the mango sticky rice in Bangkok.
And maybe I want to try, like, authentic pad thai because I haven’t had the chance to try
It. And I think I just want to explore the food here, and the local shops here are also very
nice, so that’s what I want to explore.
Alexy: For me, I just want to go to the biggest night market with my team because I wanted to eat
the – what’s that? – the jumping salad.
enerii: The dancing shrimp!
Alexy: Ah the dancing shrimp, yeah. And the – what’s the squid one?
enerii: The live squid.
Alexy: The live squid, yeah.
And we definitely can’t start talking about friends without talking about the power pair themselves, our titular featured dynamic duo, Alexy & enerii. They’re friendship is undoubtedly one of the driving forces of this team. Whether Alexy is setting up a play for enerii as an initiator-duelist combo, or even when they both decide to play duelist and lead the charge, they complement each other’s play styles just as well as they do their personalities, a brief talk with them and peek at their post-game scoreboards will make that clear to anyone who doubts the fact. And if you don’t believe me, then you can hear it from them yourselves, as they can only point to each other, giggling, when asked who their best friend in the whole world is:
Obviously as best friends do, you’d wanna share a bit of your own culture to your homie from another home, you know? With Alexy being from the Philippines, and enerii from Indonesia, you can bet they helped teach each other their favorite Bahasa Indonesia and Tagalog Filipino words. Though I was half surprised and entertained at how they had some rather.. colorful choices of words learnt from one another, and after hearing them, I’m not sure I can let ya’ll hear them either, so beeps it shall be. I must note that Alexy insists enerii didn’t learn it from her, and vice-versa, but I’ll leave that up to you the reader to figure out.
enerii: I think I cannot say my favorite phrase – my super favorite phrase in this interview, but…
Alexy: Are you sure? Just say it.
enerii: I think my favorite phrase in Tagalog is “[redacted]” I think.
Alexy: It’s not from me, it’s not from me.
Alexy: I think for me, it’s “[redacted]”. It’s from her.
enerii: It’s not from me, it’s not from me.
enerii: No, no, no. It’s not a good thing to say [chuckles] No, no, no.
What else is there to say about Xipto Esports, as they’ve got it all; a winning history, great team chemistry, bonds that keep them tight-knit, and a great story behind them. From where they’ve come and where they’re projected to go, they look poised to show what they’ve got in the upcoming Game Changers Pacific 2024. And that’s why they’re inspiring to many aspiring professional players, and fans alike; of which they had these final words to say:
enerii: I would say to aspiring players who want to go pro is to just keep working hard and don’t use motivation as a way to improve.
You need to be realistic and you need to put in the hard work because motivation won’t get you far in esports. So just be realistic. Just keep grinding and keep your head low, I’d say.
Alexy: For me, for all of our supporters, I just want to thank you and most especially Xipto Esports for giving this opportunity to us
It’s an infectious energy they bring to the stage, one that they’re about to step on once more in their upcoming opening match at the Game Changers Pacific 2024 competition. The road to Champions begins there, and we can only watch to see if they can run-it-back, and do it again, as they seem to believe so.
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Cover photo courtesy of Adela Sznajder/Riot Games
