Roster changes happen all the time. The best players may join the best teams, but sometimes do not find success. Likewise, the best teams who succeed aren’t always necessarily made up of superstars.
However, Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks is one of the best Valorant players in the world, who somehow keeps finding himself on the best Valorant teams in the world.
For the 2023 debut franchised season, ardiis joined NRG Esports, an org that picked up most of the former OpTic Gaming roster that won Masters Reykjavík 2022 led by Chet “Chet” Singh. They dropped to the lower bracket after losing to Evil Geniuses 2-1 in the first round of VCT Americas, then fought for tournament lives until they finally got revenge on EG in the lower bracket final before getting swept by LOUD to finish second.
Last year on FunPlus Phoenix, ardiis won Masters Copenhagen and finished fourth at Valorant Champions 2022. And before that, he and the Óscar “mixwell” Colocho-led G2 Esports squad won practically every Valorant tournament they participated in, including First Strike Europe.
At Masters Tokyo 2023, ardiis shares with ONE Esports in an exclusive interview what he looks out for before joining any team, and why he’s had such a positive experience on NRG Esports this year.
Ardiis and the best Valorant teams in the world — name a better duo
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For ardiis, the first thing he does is ensure that “there is a good core.” He isn’t sold on putting a bunch of good players together and hoping it’ll be a good team. Neither does he believe in joining a team for the brand or to play with friends. Instead, he looks for experience.
“When I joined G2 Esports, I was looking for Mixwell because he had experience. When I joined FPX, Kyrylo ‘ANGE1’ Karasov was the IGL. This was a no-brainer. Now with NRG, I join Pujan ‘FNS’ Mehta. He’s one of the most consistent players last year. It was a no-brainer,” he told ONE Esports.
Besides IGLs, he also attributes his consistent success to his luck with coaches. “With FPX, it was Erik ‘d00mbr0s’ Sandgren, and then with NRG it’s Chet. They are two of the hardest-working coaches I’ve ever worked with,” he said. “They work 12 to 15 hours a day.”
According to ardiis, Chet drinks at least four Rockstars every day. And because of his strong work ethic, he sets a good example for his players as well.
The addition of Killjoy to his agent pool is an ongoing a challenge
This high praise goes both ways. In a post-match press conference at LOCK//IN, Chet said that the team took in ardiis because he’s a flexible player capable of playing a variety of agents. Ardiis too, characterizes himself as someone who’s open and energetic, which helps team dynamics.
Chet and FNS would usually voice their inputs on what he can do better, what he shouldn’t do, and explain their reasoning thoroughly. When disagreements happen, both sides are given the chance to explain their perspective and give feedback. This is a contrast to other teams where leaders may tell players not to do something simply because they don’t like it, says ardiis.
“It was very similar to d00mbr0s. Now this is what I expect from a coach,” he added. “It’s just a high standard that they have that I expect from everyone.”
His head coach also told him that he has to play Killjoy on Lotus even though he was convinced she shouldn’t be in his agent pool.
“Chet said we’re just going to see how it goes during official matches, and every time we play her in an official match on Lotus, it has been one of my best matches. I’ve been averaging super high ACS,” said ardiis. “I just feel super comfortable on Lotus on Killjoy… but don’t expect it any more than two more maps.”
To improve his Killjoy, he watches general setups. To improve as a player overall, he watches Edward Gaming’s duelist Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang.
What he took away from Edward Gaming’s Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang
“I’ve watched certain players on certain maps. I watched Kang Kang a lot because the guy is crazy,” he shared. “The guy is just running around killing everyone. I’m starting to steal a few of his stuff.”
“Kill everyone. Just kill everyone. That’s all he’s doing,” replied ardiis on what he’s learned from watching him.
At the start of Masters Tokyo, NRG scrimmed them and already he thought they were very good. “They were decent in São Paulo. And now they’re just incredible. Everything they do just works,” he said. “I think they’re playing the best they’ve ever played. I’ll be surprised if they’re in the same form in Champions.”
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