Since last autumn, Makkaloff has been a key element of Dignitas' VALORANT roster. Last week, he sat down with Michael Kelly to discuss the future of the roster, and how he and the rest of the team are adjusting to changes.

What has it been like to see this roster develop over the course of the few months that you’ve been here?

Makkaloff: We've been able to make some really good progress. I think bringing in our last two players has made it easier for us to address our issues. They've been able to do exactly the job that we need them to do. 

How have Dephh and Psalm been able to serve the team as leaders?

Makkaloff: Dephh is one of the best IGLs I’ve ever played with in any game. He’s constantly focused and as soon as we get into a match, he spreads the energy around. He helps everyone get on the same page and keep everyone focused. And Psalm, he keeps people in check. He comes up with some ideas that some of us CS players typically wouldn’t think of.

What have you been personally able to learn since joining Dignitas a few months ago?

Makkaloff: I’ve learned how to have full confidence in my teammates. Whenever you’re in the tier two or tier three scene of a game, you can easily fall into the tendency of trying to do too much, but since I joined DIG, I can rely on teammates to do what needs to be done.

Valorant has almost been out for a full year now. With that being said, how satisfied are you with the game as a whole?

Makkaloff: I’d give it a 9/10. The game feels really sharp. Valorant reminds me a lot of 1.6 in terms of gunplay and movement and it feels really nice. There’s maybe some small changes that I’d make, but nothing that would make me not like the game.

What is one major change you’d like to see Riot make to the game in the near future?

Makkaloff: I think all rifles need to have 100 percent accuracy as long as you’re standing still. There shouldn't be any variance. If your crosshair is on their head, you should be rewarded for having the mechanical skill to do that sort of thing and get the kill. Players shouldn’t have to be relying on RNG at all.

On the other side of that coin, how satisfied are you with the game’s competitive scene?

Makkaloff: Coming from CS, it’s very similar. It’s just something I’m used to. I don’t really watch a whole lot of other competitive games besides FPSs, but it’s doing well in comparison to those games.

What is one major change you’d like to see Riot make to the overall competitive Valorant scene in the near future?

Makkaloff: I don’t see many downsides to the way that the scene is run right now. I’m very satisfied with the way pro play is being handled. If anything, I’d like to see more tournaments. We have a lot of tier two $5,000 and $10,000 tournaments right now, but if Riot did a lot more tournaments in general, it would be better for the game. The more matches are played, the easier it is for Riot to find their flaws and improve upon them.

January saw the team only make top 8 in one tournament that you attended. How do you guys plan on bouncing back in the near future?

Makkaloff: One of our major issues is communications. We were making plays without saying what we were doing. And that led to us looking like we were either steamrolling other teams or just straight up looking like idiots. But by bringing in these two new players, we’re succeeding a lot more when it comes to communication. Also, we’re looking at bringing in a new coach to help us with how matches should be played. Those additions are completely changing up the energy and helping us flow really well together. In our game against TSM, we looked sloppy, but we lost that match for completely different reasons than we would have with the old roster. So we’ve identified our issues and know how to fix them.

The Champions Tour is obviously a big step for Valorant esports. How do you think its implementation will affect the scene? Do you see professional Valorant growing because of it?

Makkaloff: I think it’s going to take the same route as LCS. Riot has excellent results with League, so they’re probably going to go for something similar with Valorant. What I don’t want to see is Riot have one big tournament at the end of the year and make every other event a leadup to that event. I’d rather have four big tournaments every year — kind of like CS:GO majors. That would keep hype throughout the year and allow for more storylines going into matches.

With that being said, do you see this system of structured tournaments persisting, or do you see Riot taking an approach closer to League of Legends esports, where there’s a full-blown closed league with playoffs and internal tournaments as opposed to an open circuit with qualifiers?

Makkaloff: I think they’re going to keep doing circuits for now, but I can see Riot going more towards the LCS style in the future. They’re going to want to hype it up and make the game more normalized for outside viewers. Making the game go towards a league-based style will expand on its popularity.

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