XERXIA Esports’ young star Thanachart “Surf Rungapajaratkul is having an explosive start at Masters Copenhagen. While his team ultimately could not overcome FunPlus Phoenix, Surf still made his mark on the stage, showing off fearless aggression and monstrous aim on the Operator.

On Chamber, the 18-year-old knew exactly how to get the most out of the French sentinel’s Rendezvous teleporters, holding aggressive positions with impunity and refusing to be dislodged from pesky angles.

With an Operator in his hands, he found multiple kills without being punished, denying FPX crucial space on Bind.



Surf shows how you should really be playing Chamber

In Round 17, Surf pushed up A Short on defense, landing a crazy flick on Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov’s Brimstone, even though he wasn’t expecting him to appear from the left.

He then teleported away to A Heaven before he could get traded, finding a second kill on Pontus “Zyppan” Eek, who had pushed onto site from showers. With their Brimstone dead, FPX were also unable to deny him vision from Heaven, and he picked up a third kill on Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky.



Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks attempted to flank him from vents, but Surf was more than ready. As ardiis pushed around the corner, he was already scoped in and waiting.

In the next round, he moved to play the B site instead, pushing up aggressively to pressure B Long. He was instantly rewarded with an early pick on FPX in-game leader ANGE1 once again, forcing Shao to use Fade’s Nightfall ultimate and Prowler in an attempt to force him back.



What followed was a perfect example of why so many pro players have insisted that Chamber is the most broken agent in the game. Secure in the knowledge that he still had an instant escape, the XERXIA player did not back off from his position.

Despite being deafened by Nightfall, he pushed forward again and took down Shao, a bold play that probably would not have been possible on any other agent.

By this time, ardiis had wrapped around to B Garden from Hookah, but Surf was still able to catch him out as he attempted to jump back to safety.

The French weapons expert allows players to take risky positions without fear of being punished, and Surf exploited that beautifully. We may only be on the second day of the group stage at Copenhagen, but Chamber is already the most-picked agent at 73 percent.

However, despite their young prodigy’s heroics, XERXIA eventually fell 2-1 to FPX. They will face Japanese squad Northeption on July 13 at 12 a.m. GMT +8 | July 12, 9:00 a.m. PT.

All matches can be watched live on the official Valorant Twitch and YouTube channels.

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