If you’ve followed the campus esports scene for the past few years, chances are you’ve seen the name “Xavi8k” multiple times already.

Xavier “Xavi8k” Juan is the most decorated collegiate Valorant player that brought back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back (Yup, that’s five total!) championships for De La Salle University’s Viridis Arcus – one of the ten (10) pioneering Alliance organizations in the country. He’s a star, a legend, and possibly the greatest of all time in collegiate VALORANT; but that’s when he’s playing as the in-game leader and duelist for his team.

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Too Good to Play for UAAP… apparently

Due to Xavi8k playing for professional teams such as SunSparks, Bren Esports, and Oasis Gaming, he was not eligible to play in the inaugural UAAP esports. That didn’t stop him from stepping up as coach. “Everyone can shoot in the game, that's not the hard part. What's difficult is finding someone with no attitude and who is willing to learn.” he said.

Systematic from the get go, Xavi8k set sights on coachable talent, rather than those with raw talent but inflated egos. Viridis Arcus mainstays who have competed in AcadArena Alliance Games such as Fission, Guelson, and Realist were fielded paired with the rookie trio of Schanpii, Secre, and Banunu who later joined the team by September 2023.

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Yet Another Collegiate Valorant Championship

“We came into the tournament prepared and confident we could win. We went flawless 3-0 in the group stages and only lost a map vs UP in the playoffs.” Xavi8k said, blaming overconfidence as the culprit for their single loss in the tournament. After that semifinals bout against UP Diliman, they went on to win via sweep in the finals against University of Santo Tomas, stating: “We breezed through UST in the finals because their playstyle was one dimensional.”

Xavi8k credits the entire squad for stepping up when they have to, giving special mentions as well for Fission who became the new leader of the team in his absence despite simultaneously running for summa cum laude. When asked what made the team strong, “The biggest strength the team has is the trust we have with each other.”  Xavi8k stated that there’s no superstar mentality in the team–and that every star duelist has a strong supporting cast of utility that secures the frags for the team.

Viewing the landscape of collegiate VALORANT, and how DLSU Viridis Arcus had dominated majority of the landscape, Xavi8k channeled his inner Kanye West by saying, “The results speak for themselves, people keep asking what La Salle would do if we didn't win, I guess we’ll never know.”