The Pop Flash Valorant tournament has officially begun with one of the most unexpected upsets since the beginning of Riot’s Ignition Series.
Dignitas’ newly signed Valorant squad — formerly known as Homeless — demolished tournament favorites TSM 2-0 in their debut match, winning both maps in convincing fashion, with a 13-5 on Haven and a 13-4 on Bind.
Is Dignitas just that much better than TSM? Probably not, but this game is a textbook example of how important game planning and scouting your opposition is. On both maps, Dignitas seemed to have an uncanny ability to know exactly where TSM would be, and what they were about to do.
Here’s how they did it.
On Haven, Dignitas knew that TSM likes to run fake site-take strategy with James “hazed” Cobb throwing out all his utility to force opponents to over-rotate.
Instead, Dignitas played smart and waited for TSM to walk into their line of fire while the rest of their teammates positioned themselves for the site-retake.
Dignitas also ran a devastating double Operator setup with dephh holding the site entry points, while Shanks showed his prowess as the team’s Jett main by sniping targets in close range.
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On Bind, TSM struggled to gain any type of map control, as Dignitas repeatedly caught them out of position. They were able to do this because they knew exactly where to hold, how TSM likes to rotate, and even which corners they check first.
In this next clip, Ryan “Shanks” Ngo completely shuts down TSM’s rotate by standing in the perfect spot to catch TSM rotating out of Hookah, then mowing them down one by one.
In pro Valorant matches, collecting enemy information and properly communicating it to your team is crucial to any team’s success. Dignitas were incredibly well prepared for TSM, but it remains to be seen if they can pull off similar results against other teams.
As for TSM, this game should serve as a reminder that they can’t get complacement and just rely on raw skill to win games. They need better game plans and backup plans for when they’re getting countered.
TSM will have to defeat Gen.G in their upcoming elimination match on August 28 at 12:00 am GMT+8 if they plan on advancing to the playoffs and defend their title as the best team in North America.
Fans can watch the matches live on Flashpoint’s official Twitch channel.
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