Memoir of a comeback - The Final: Melser talks about KRU esports triumph over Cloud9

After their win over Leviatan, there was only one top team that KRU esports hadn’t faced yet and it was Cloud9. The North Americas Giants made waves during the regular season and have to be the toughest team to face in the LCQ. In their previous encounters, KRU barely lost to Cloud9. Starting on Ascent, Cloud9 annihilated KRU, shutting down their attacks and winning the map 13-4. It seemed as if Cloud9 would stop KRU’s undefeated streak. But KRU recollected themselves and answered back. 

On Pearl, KRU went on to win twelve rounds and forced a third map. Such a dominant win after a bad first map was a testament to KRU’s new found mental strength. They continued the momentum and secured the final map to win the series. With the series win, KRU esports qualified for the VCT Americas LCQ grand finals. After going 0-9 in the league, KRU made it to the grand finals of the last chance qualifiers. After their win, Strafe interviewed KRU’s Marco Eliot “Melser” Machuca Amaro. In an exclusive one-on-one interview, KRU Melser talks about the Cloud9 win, performance, Chamber pick and more.

Q. Congratulations on making it to the finals. What are your thoughts on the undefeated run?

KRU Melser: “I am very happy with the results especially after how the league was. Cloud9 played especially well and I am just happy with the results.

Q. Were you worried about the series after the 4-13 Ascent(first map) loss at all?

KRU Melser: “Personally, I was not worried. I never doubted the team, for me, it wasn’t that Cloud9 won but that we lost the map. It was a bad map from us, we didn’t keep our attitude, we didn’t keep our calm and didn’t show what we trained and practiced for.”

Q. What was the one thing that was missing on Ascent which you later found on Pearl and then went on to win the series?

KRU Melser: “Firstly, the little key details in the communications were missing. We were playing a bit shy, a bit reserved, we were letting Cloud9 do whatever they wanted. It was just the nerves taking over us on the first map that we overcame in the second.”

Q. Did you realize that you were 12-0 up or it was just a round-based thing for you?

KRU Melser: “I wasn’t thinking about the future, It was just round per round. What happened in the last round of defense is that our anxiety shot up, once we realized it has become a problem, we addressed it and calmed ourselves and went on about the game round per round taking our time, playing our game”

Q. What was the thought process behind using two Sentinels on Haven?

KRU Melser: “In using the two Sentinels, we wanted to make a more neutral composition to counter the current meta and the Cloud9 picks. We were using Chamber as a lurk, Secondary duelist, second entry sort, just trying to get ahead of the meta.”

Q. What do you think about Chamber as an agent currently?

KRU Melser: “Right now the Chamber is not really good enough. We just are able to make him work with the pieces we have”

Q. Now that you are in the Grand Finals, what are your thoughts on the team’s performance throughout the season?

KRU Melser: “We have been playing really well. We’ve had really good games thus far and we were able to show what we learned and what we trained for as individuals and as a group. I have complete faith that we’d make it to Valorant Champions”

Q. Who would you want to face in the Grand finals?

KRU Melser: “Leviatan, Obviously”

Q. Which team would be the hardest to face in the Grand finals?

KRU Melser: “I think Sentinels are the hardest for us to play against. We played the scrims last week and they are very strong against us”

Q. Anything further comments, or a word for your fans?

KRU Melser: “The fans really uplift us. I want them to keep supporting us, keep believing in us and thanks for being there.”

After winning against arguably the toughest team in the LCQ, KRU esports cemented their place in the top contenders in the tournament, proving everyone wrong. The win especially proved KRU’s control over their mental as they recovered from a 4-13 loss to win over their opponents in Cloud9. With their exceptional performance and amazing run, KRU has managed to amaze everyone. In the grand finals, KRU continued their winning ways, defeating Leviatan once again to secure Valorant Champions 2023. 

After going 0-9 in the regular season, no one expected KRU to come any closer to Valorant Champions. They were far from even the list of possible winners of the tournament. But through sheer dedication and efforts, KRU turned around their season, coming back from the biggest deficit and doing it in style, fearlessly and playing their own style of Valorant. KRU isn’t a stranger to upsets, but a comeback of this magnitude is nothing short of a miracle. KRU didn’t let their regular season define them, and took the “last chance” and made it to the biggest tournament of 2023. Kudos to KRU esports. Let’s see them win some more at Valorant Champions. 

Credits: Riot Games // VCT Americas

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You can read the complete series on Strafe here.