"I Expect Us to Qualify": South Africa Seeks to Emerge as Competitor on the VALORANT ENC Global Stage

South Africa is just one of many countries looking to participate in the inaugural VALORANT Esports Nations Cup (ENC) via the Sub-Saharan Africa qualifiers. Most fans listing the country’s talent export would probably stop at one, such is their obscurity relative to the Tier 1 VALORANT scene. But South Africa (ZA) is looking to change their fortunes by breaking through the qualifiers and making their mark on the global stage in November.  

Ahead of their qualifiers on June 26^th, Strafe Esports sat down with Team Mzansi Head Coach Matthew “Fury” Kruger to discuss everything from his appointment, the challenges and approach he and the national team have taken ahead of the qualifiers, their expectations heading into the ENC, and so much more in this exclusive interview.

*The following interview has been lightly edited for readability.

South Africa's VALORANT Head Coach

Recruited for the upcoming 2026 ENC, Matthew “Fury” Kruger is a South African IGL-turned-coach who has been active in the professional scene since 2021. His notable peak in the local scene came in 2024 when he served as the Head Coach for Ravenguard, culminating in a second-place finish in NamVAL. 

He then moved over to the United Kingdom, where he was first picked up by Royal Esports and then, most recently, Vegaro Esports.

“At the time, I coached the top team in the South African country.” [...] After my stint at Vegaro Esports, I was selected as the head coach for South Africa’s VALORANT team.”

A Chance Encounter Leads Him Down the VALORANT Path

Over the years, South Africa has produced a number of stellar coaches. Chief among them is Marthinus “Ewok” Jacobus Van der Walt, undoubtedly the most well-known name, currently serving as Head Coach for popular North American organization Sentinels. That said, Fury and his coaching crew are established names looking to deliver the Mzansi flair this ENC.

When speaking on his [Fury] rise within the South African professional scene, the 21-year-old went into detail on how he found himself treading the path of the coach at such a young age.

Beginning his competitive journey in chess at the national level, a young Fury represented South Africa in the Commonwealth Games. After stepping away from chess, during the pandemic, he found a second call to compete, this time in Clash Royale.

"So, the strategy was always there, and throughout my childhood, I grew accustomed to being in a very competitive environment of high risk, high reward. [...] When I got into esports later, I started off at the time with just mobile games because I couldn't afford a PC back then."

Competing in the Clash Royale World Championship in 2019 and 2020, he would then move on in 2021 to Rocket League when he got his first PC, playing at the collegiate level.

"And from there, sort of by chance, a friend recommended, have you ever played a shooter game before? And I said no, normally I just focus on in-depth strategy, not very good at mechanics, and I definitely struggled when it came to Rocket League. I couldn't handle the controller very well.

So, I just sort of started playing for fun, got into a few casual tournaments with friends, and started realizing how much more fun I had competing again. And it wasn't just the game that made it fun. It was the fact that I could compete and play against other people and match my skills there." 

Having found his new home in VALORANT, he signed with his first team that same year — Evolved Gaming in South Africa. When his contract was bought out, he was brought into the coaching role to develop an academy roster.

"I was sort of forced into the position of coaching," he admits. But Fury seemed to flourish, immediately finding a level of success while also coming to a realization.

"My mechanics are maybe something that let me down in a lot of instances, and I couldn't hold my own in a server. But in terms of strategy, I could always find my way to outsmart opponents." 

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While you were still competing as a player, was it the burden of IGL and other aspects of the game that fascinated you and took a toll on your mechanics? Or did it ultimately come down to lesser natural skill?

Fury: I think it may have been a lack of talent. But I think it also came from a systemic issue. When VALORANT first came out, South Africa didn't have any servers. The closest we had really was London, and so we were always playing on 160 ping. At that level of ping, you can't really develop mechanics properly. 

Instead, you sort of built muscle memory on just spamming angles and spraying through smokes, run-and-gunning, etc. And as this was my first shooter game, I couldn't focus on the mechanical side.

To compensate, I put myself in positions where I could lurk and flank and outsmart my opponents and shoot them from behind. This made it so I didn't have to quickly react, flick, or focus on crosshair placement.

There are active IGLs in the pro scene who are noted for their poorer mechanics but still find success. Do you think you were potentially pulled out of the player role a bit too soon? Do you think you still have more in you?

Fury: I think I'd like to say yes, but realistically, I don't think so. I think there's also a case that the game has moved on from where it once was. If we were still back in 2021 in the state of the game, I think my level of thinking and what I supplied to the South African region was far ahead of its time in terms of ult economy, tracking normal economy, things that are really overlooked. 

But I think nowadays you see a lot more success from teams with fragging IGLs. The game has gotten so complicated and so high-level that almost everyone is now on the same page. I think with top-level IGLs, the difference between them and an average IGL is a lot smaller than it used to be. Pure fragging power and guaranteeing trades and being good in team fights is far better, at least in this matter, since the start of 2026.

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Fury's revelations aren't unique by any means. The burden of the In-Game Leader (IGL) has frequently been attributed to poorer individual performances. Some of the most notable IGLs in Tier 1 have found success despite the narrative of weaker individual mechanics. For some of these names, the love of the game is sufficient to surge on. But for Fury, he heard a different calling.

"Sometimes I can lose myself theoretically because I'm so focused on the gunfights and I sort of have to pick one or the other. I'm either going to call a really good game or I'm going to shoot to a level where at least I'm getting my one."

"I realized I should just humble myself," admitted Fury. "I still have a lot of time in terms of a coaching lifespan". "Whereas as a player, I felt like even though I'm only 21, I still felt I was getting too old, too old at least to go into Tier 1," he reflected ruefully.

"I didn't have the necessary reaction time nor the physiological standpoint to match up against the top players. And I don't think I have enough time to catch up. So, all in all, I think coaching was definitely the better career choice for me."

Stepping Up to the Figurative Plate

When South Africa was first announced as a selected country for the ENC, Fury spoke about how he had applied initially as an analyst for the team. 

"While I had experience as a head coach, it wasn't exactly my strongest suit. I'm more focused on utility efficiency and effectiveness, working on strats, etc. I didn't think that, with my personality, well... it's not always the most favorable for working with people. I applied then as the analyst. I understood that it wasn't a paid position, but I wanted to be included in the project."

Suffice to say, when the announcement broke that Fury was to be the Head Coach for South Africa's VALORANT team at the ENC this year, he himself was taken by surprise. 

"I was sort of the unknown quantity who was sitting overseas, doing my own thing. [...] I'm not exactly the loudest person on social media either. I don't advertise every team that I play for or work with. So, I was, to say the least, very surprised when I was selected. That said, I have taken full opportunity and grasped it with both hands. I will try my best to drive South Africa into the front seat for the region."

Facing the Gauntlet that is the ENC Regional Qualifiers

There will be a total of 8 regional qualifiers held, with 32 team slots allocated to each. That’s 256 estimated participating teams globally, while the ENC tournament itself later this year will only include 32 qualifying teams.

16 of those 32 team slots to the ENC have been allocated for direct invites and 2 via Wildcard, which leaves 14 slots for regional online qualifiers. For reference, South Africa will be battling through the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) qualifier.

The South Africa VALORANT team is, of course, led by Fury in the capacity of Head Coach. He's assisted by Assistant Coach Daniel "Svalja" van der Spuy, while National Team Manager Michelé "Stickalish" Brondani oversees the entire South African ENC effort.

While speaking with Fury, he listed a remarkable account of manpower that the team was bringing to the fore for the ENC, representing one of the most impressive mobilizations of resources for South Africa in their bid to find success in the ENC this year.

"We have hired international analysts from both the North American scene and EMEA to help with the roster construction as well as further development. Each player also gets an assigned coach based on their agent to develop their agent mastery and fundamentals.

We also have an in-game psychologist, as well as a general psychologist, not to mention the psychologist provided from the ENC. Last week, I spoke with Professor Aaron William from the Royal College of Music, and we discussed how to perform under pressure and get the absolute most performance out of our players.

All this is so we can perform on-stage and cause upsets against the international field. I'm quite happy and proud to be part of a project that is so high-level, on a scale of roster aid that I don't think our region of Sub-Saharan Africa has ever seen before."

While Fury is a key leading piece for the Team Mzansi effort, he has also credited his assistant coach, Svalja, immensely in corralling the roster from the raw clay they began with.

"I'd say he was almost the unexpected puzzle piece to finish off my jigsaw. Both of us, when we first met, we both had skepticism about each other.

I'd always seen him compete at the highest level in South Africa among some of the best teams in the early days. And I think we are very much polar opposites, but the same in some sense. We both have a background in high-level chess, so we could both relate to those sorts of things.

He's also a lot older than me, so he's got more experience in the region and knows a lot more of the older generation of players. While Ewok was still in our region competing, [Svalja] worked alongside him and has a lot of experience from that."

"He's especially really good at getting the players to work together, getting the synergy and timing correct," Fury noted. "It's all well and good that I can supply the correct theory and some really in-depth strategies. But to get it replicated onto the team is something I've never really put too much thought into [...] that's where he brings this additional level of working with an academy team that we've got and how we can try and run against that using different drills. It's not just a 5-on-5."

"He's definitely up there among some of the top coaches that I've ever seen or spoken to. And his knowledge in-game on certain maps is really, really crucial and takes sort of an extra element that I don't normally consider."

"I'd say my coaching style is very reflective of Tier 1 play," says Fury. "I'd take what are Tier 1 team plays, improve it tenfold, and then supply it to my players. Or at least what I believe is an improvement." But he notes his assistant coach ran along a different path, often proving an asset for the team by providing that additional edge. 

"[Svalja] thinks about the game in a very unorthodox way in terms of compositions and how he wants to run things. It works out when it's put alongside what I'm doing so that everything is done with good theory behind it, even if it's something that's never been seen before.

I'll be honest, it doesn't make sense to a lot of us when we start, but then we put it into practice and we can see sort of it bloom and let the flowers show. I mean, I can go on and on about how many times our analysts look at a composition that we come up with together or he does himself and think, what the hell am I looking at?

And then you go in and test it and you play the game in a very unorthodox manner. You don't play it like how you would normally and how you would observe into your one and it catches teams off guard because they're not used to this sort of style of play.

And yeah, honestly, it's quite astonishing to see what he can come up with. I've now learned to just trust him. And, if he comes up with an idea, we should test it first before we tell him no.

And that sort of level of innovation is what sort of excites me in this project, and I think it does for him too. I haven't seen him and I don't want to put words into his mouth, but I don't think he's been as excited for a project as this before."

Is his unorthodoxy a product of the South African region's style of play? 

Fury: Yes and no. I'd say South Africa as a region used to be one of the most innovative regions back when we didn't have service because we had to use utility to our advantage to override the fact that we had to play on 160 ping. 

And so, every time we had to scrim or face European teams and tournaments, we were always at an inherent disadvantage. So, we have to try to fight for other advantages. With him being so experienced, he knew what it was like to out-utility, in a sense, some other teams and use unorthodox things that catch teams by surprise. So, I think in that sense, definitely. 

But I would say most of that is [Svalja]. I wouldn't say that's necessarily a product of the region. I think the state of the region now is very mechanics-focused and very teamfight-heavy, not so theoretical. This thinking of his, it isn't something that he's learned from the region. I think it's his own creativity, and how his brain thinks, and how to apply the theory behind it.

The Mountain that is the ENC Qualifier

Heading into a packed qualifier with only one slot available to qualify for the ENC, South Africa have their work cut out for them. With only one month left to go, a format and live patch that hasn't been announced, and Bo1s all the way to the semifinals, it's a steep and treacherous ascent to the peak. 

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We've seen teams that do rely on unconventional compositions to keep opponents off-balance. The biggest counter to that is certainly VOD-reviewing. What are your concerns regarding that as you make your way through the qualifier?

Fury: So, something we've definitely focused on is getting these players up to standard in terms of fundamentals, really refining them and working on team chemistry. It's all built into the system, and then the comps are just an additional x-factor. 

That said, we have seen with scrim partners and other teams that we play continuously against, is that once they learn how the composition works, they do seem to get better at it. 

But I think what's really beneficial to us is that if you look at the format of how the ENC is going to be run in the qualifiers. It's Bo1s all the way until the Semifinals.

So, as long as teams don't know what we're doing ahead of time, it'll catch them off-guard, and, because of the tournament format — it not being in a league style or round robin, just pure double-elimination — I'm not worried about VOD reviews because I don't think seeing one match of ours and seeing how we play is enough.

We've got enough strategies to go down to 3 matches before we have to start repeating things. There's a lot of depth to our strats, and a lot more than some Tier one teams have because of the resources that we have and the number of analysts that can produce the amount of strats. 

There'll be some maps where we'll play one thing, and you can learn everything you want to. And we'll play the same composition, make it look like it's the same thing, and condition you that way, then turn it around and use it against you. The more teams read into us, the more we're going to counter what they do. 

I also think the other advantage we have is that we're not even a dark horse. We are right at the bottom. I think a lot of teams look at South Africa as a sort of free win. Because we have been in the past. As far as I know, we've never won on the international stage in any regard with a full South African team. 

So, a lot of teams won't be looking at us when they review and prepare. They would rather use the time to prepare for stronger opponents. And we are going to use that to our absolute advantage to try and counter and out-prepare some of these teams.

If we can match teams on synergy and fundamentals, while out-preparing, out-VODing, and out-anti-ing every single opponent, I do think we stand a good chance of having a dark horse run in the tournament.

South Africa is All-In on the ENC Train

Scoff if you will at the level of preparation, Fury is clear on his team's determination to perform at this year's ENC. As discussed, South Africa has taken a massive gamble, leveraging the level of resources it has. It's not for fame or fortune or even the title. It's for recognition as a region.

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What have been the main focuses for you since you stepped through the door? Aside from forming the roster, what have been the challenges?

Fury: From the day I was selected, I spent pretty much the following 72 hours averaging only 4 hours of sleep and eating 1 meal a day just to grind out strategies, prepare playbooks for the players, and design a trial system that is highly competent and highly analytical. 

I wanted to force out the best players, a trial that would not overlook certain factors purely because one player is better-known than the others.

And I do still have a day job, that's how I'm able to stay in the UK. But as soon as that's finished, I'm looking at about 4-5 hours every single night of grinding out either working with the players, doing scrims, dry runs, or we'll finish up a Bo3 scrim and then immediately do a VOD review. And then I spend the extra hour just grinding out preparation for the next day.

A lot of our talent have stepped back from their jobs or previous teams. We have freed up contracts, and they are just grinding out 24x7, taking a strain in terms of health. And while it might be looked at negatively, it can be used to show that everyone is excited for the project. Because South Africa is known as quite a weak region, if we are able to perform on the international stage and surprise/upset some of the teams, I think a lot of people in higher positions in both Tier 1 and 2 teams will start to take note.

Everyone is going on motivation. Not only for the team, but for their own personal careers.  We've taken a big gamble. We aren't pulling in the top-notch every single time in terms of analysts, but we are pulling in talent that can just grind it out. And we are putting time and work and efficiency over almost everything else.

Expectations for ENC: What Would Success Look Like for South Africa?

South Africa is undoubtedly coming into the ENC qualifiers low on the totem pole for expectations. The region has not historically achieved much to garner international attention. However, 3 key factors play in their favor. 

The first is a format change. Originally, the entire MENA region was expected to compete under 1 qualifier. This included North African teams such as Morocco, reportedly headed by Ewok, and Egypt. But the ENC has now ruled that the region be split into MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa as 2 separate qualifiers.

This also leads to South Africa's 2nd advantage. South Africa had originally been expected to compete using the Turkey server, with their players at 160 ping+ for the qualifiers. With the change, a different server will be utilized for the qualifiers, and the expected ping should be around 40, a marked improvement. 

Lastly is the element of surprise. South Africa is not a focus for many teams' preparations. But that is precisely what could allow them to deliver a powerful blow.  

"It's a tough one, because you have to manage goals and expectations, the obvious hype that you want to give to your team. And as my team has been told countless times, I'm a very blunt person. I'll tell you that a spade is a spade and I won't try and change your mind on that.

With the regions being changed, I think it gives us a very big advantage. We're no longer just dark horses just to make it through the qualifiers but actually one of the favorites to go through. I'm very confident against the teams that we have already scoped out. We know who we're playing against, we know what they play like and we have prepared accordingly. So, that would be an expectation for me: to make it through to the finals and qualify."

South Africa is coming to the ENC in full spirit, and there's a cautious sense of optimism from Fury and his team. A victory, of some size, at the ENC would go a long way towards vitalizing the region. 

"I think realistically South Africa is expected to finish dead last without any wins. And, I can't pretend like it's not. But what that does mean is that any wins that we gather on the international stage will be a success in itself.

With how much preparation we are doing, and how much we are going into to anti-ing every team we're facing, if [teams] think they've got a free win and they don't put their full effort into it against us, I think we could ride a train to potentially looking to a top 10 finish at the ENC. It is definitely not an unrealistic goal, and it would be a massive achievement for the region.

Even breaking into top 16, that's the cutoff that we are now above the halfway point. Such an achievement would not just set up the careers of the players on the roster and some of the coaches, it would also set up other players that weren't selected for the roster, key pillars and some of the top professionals that didn't make it through the trials. It would notify coaches and teams across the world that South Africa is not just a pushover.

We have talent. We have a pool of players that should be looked at to potentially bring into Tier 2 and even Tier 1 in some cases. And that I think should be the motivating reason for a lot of the South African top professionals to try and support this team and try to push them forward. Because while this is a great reflection directly onto these players, it is also an indirect reflection of the region, to try to push them forward.

I want to see as many South Africans as possible in the top levels of the game, really competing. We are all very proud of what Ewok does around the region, but it would be nice to not just be known as a region that can produce coaches. Because we have some incredible mechanics in the region. I just need people to put their eyes on us." 

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As a final closing question, heading into the ENC qualifiers next month, what can we expect from the South African team?

Fury: The biggest thing was the Crimson Proving Grounds tournament yesterday. We wanted to involve the community, get eyes on the roster, show how they compete, and anyone who wanted to try their luck against the ENC roster was given an opportunity.

We did face a lot of criticism on social media. While it is just noise, we did want to say: 'Listen, we're not scared. We're not trying to avoid people. We're confident in our picks.' 

The tournament was also sort of the midway point between roster selection and the qualifiers. So, we now have a month to fix all of those mistakes, continue grinding out any further mistakes that are within the play style, and start innovating on some new things as well.

We're also looking to potentially bootcamp down in Cape Town itself for the qualifiers, so all the players can be in the same spot. What I would like to see is an opportunity to also have an extra media day down there with all the players in person,  allow fans to come and meet up with the players, and have the rest of the community come and discuss.

We're also looking to potentially host a watch party in person and have fans there to support their region, to support the country going down. We are hopefully going to have it broadcast across the country, potentially host watch parties in some major cities as well, just for the players, and just sort of get the country hyped to go.

Even if you aren't just a VALORANT fan, but just a South African who might be mildly interested in anything sport-related, come see us compete on the international stage. I think we will have a lot of support, even if they aren't VALORANT fans, because people love supporting South Africa in sports. That's what keeps us going.

ENC Qualifiers Looming

Less than a month remains before the ENC regional qualifiers kick off across the glob,e and South Africa's toils have been made clear by their words. With many teams and one spot, the margin for error is razor-thin. Whether or not that effort bears fruit remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: South Africa is determined not to be forgotten again.

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