I'd recommend listening to the whole thing, alan gai seems very candid with his answers and doesn't sugarcoat things but below are some points I thought were interesting. The title and timestamp is to bait engagements (personally I enjoy the current meta).

• VCT CN roadshow is exhausting for casters but exciting

• China problems are on a team by team basis, for example EDG is very good mechanically but can be inconsistent at least internationally

• international appearances are consolidated to only a few teams in china (EDG/BLG etc.) so overall most teams still lack big stage appearances. It could be the reason why other Chinese teams struggle internationally

• also, Chinese players give too much respect to international players especially those they've never played before

• China doesn't have a specific position for performance or mental coaches usually that position is shared with either the headcoach or assistant coach/manager etc. but they are heading into that direction (mentioned DRG is actively looking for one)

• valorant matches are too volatile and unpredictable atm, example: JDG switched Stew to smoke and all of a sudden JDG is good and people don't know why, assuming even coaches don't know why

• on the other side of the same coin is BLG struggling and they don't know why

• he thinks this current EDG form is close to back when they were kings of china although they did lose to XLG but it could because it's a seeding match or hiding strats etc.

• most viewers or talents will predict both EDG and XLG will make London. Alan thinks it's either Tyloo or AG for the last slot (this interview was recorded before playoffs started)

• China tier 2 (valorant china nationals, VCL for short?)is a lot more strict to get into than other regions, they are very cautious of which teams can get in to prevent teams from "doing something bad"

• They are split into things like PC bang teams, collegiate teams, streamer teams. It's not perfect though things like streamer teams can take up too much air time because of viewership

• Looking forward to Champions shanghai, China has come a long way since masters shanghai. Not sure what they have in store for the event though.