"Hello franchise teams, watch out. sScary is back."
Imagine being able to clutch up in an impossible one-versus-four scenario, while also getting off the spike plant with 0.35 seconds left, and then proceeding to win the round. Now, imagine doing that while on map point on the grand final stage, in front of thousands screaming your name. He was right when he said that he is back because Nutchapon "sScary" Matarat pulled off what was arguably, one of the greatest plays of the season.
That map point win secured Bleed eSports the first game on Haven, which they would then proceed to steamroll over SCARZ on Bind and Fracture. With that 3-0 victory in hand, Bleed became the VCT Ascension Pacific 2023 champions, which also earned them a slot into the VCT Pacific League next season.
It's worth pointing out that sScary turned down multiple offers from various franchise teams to sign with Bleed in the off-season, only to bring them back to the pinnacle of VALORANT esports in the APAC region. And when it mattered most, sScary would end up being the only local representative in the grand finals of the VCT Ascension Pacific held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Known as one of the best controller players in Southeast Asia, sScary was instrumental in Bleed's run in the playoffs. However, it is worth noting that Bleed played only six maps in the playoffs due to finishing first in the group stage, which granted them an automatic bye to the semifinal. Nonetheless, sScary still topped the charts in various categories.
This includes having the highest rating of 1.42 amongst all the players in the playoffs as well as the third-highest average combat score (ACS) of 234. But in terms of his ability to get kills on the board and coming in clutch for the team, that is where sScary thrives. He had the highest kill/death ratio at 1.67 alongside a kills per round (KPR) average of 0.86, the highest in the playoffs alongside Gary "BlaZek1ng" Dastin of BOOM Esports.
sScary is also the second-highest in assists per round (APR) at 0.52, which goes to show just how involved he is with his role on Bleed. He is also the fourth-highest in average damage per round (ADR) with 144.9 while his teammate, Cong "crazyguy" Anh Ngo comes in at third. sScary also ranked second in highest kills in a single map with 26. The highest was 29, which was shared between Đinh "YESicaN" Đình Đạt of Fancy United Esports as well as Maksim "Jemkin" Batorov and Savva "Kr1stal" Fedorov of SCARZ.
But it was also more than just the numbers he put up. He played through 22 clutches, only coming out on top on five different occasions, which is still the highest in the playoffs. This goes to show the level of mental fortitude a player must have in a high-stakes tournament. And it wasn't only in the grand finals did sScary pop off. During the semifinals against BOOM, sScary recorded a quad kill on three separate occasions, a successful three-versus-one clutch, and three critical one-versus-one clutches.
His overall performance during the playoffs of the VCT Ascension Pacific was enough reason to see why Bleed signed him. And given the magnitude of the occasion, being the only Thai representative in an international tournament held in your home country, and coming out on top the way he did, was beyond just your typical fairytale ending. It's only just the beginning.
