steel-igl
corey-flex
stewie2k-igl
fleta-dps
bjergsen-mid laner
myth-omen one trick
kennys-double op with wardell
i think these are pretty reasonable, as OWL is gonna die anyway and kennys is benched and bjergsen/myth are already with the tsm org. only unrealistic one is stewie2k, cause he might still play csgo
I really want TSM to take their time and look for some good picks. It's a really long offseason for TSM to test out different players and focus on your support plz coz Wardell as a duelist (really consistent).
Levi - Sova/viper
Wardell - Main duelist
Corey - secondary duelist, Flex and flexible player (Potential Pick)
Subroza - omen/Astra/brim and flexible player
5th player (yet to decide) - IGL, sentinel main and flexible player
Flexible players are those who have a wide agent pool and willing to play any agent if needed
TSM Main roaster needs good support staff around them if they really wanna see success. I hope TSM pick the best players this offseason. In 2022 I want to see them succeed (wardell and subroza on lan stage it's going to be so much fun)
Gonna miss Hazed, but really excited for a fresh roster change. TSM has the money to sign very solid F/As or one from a tier 2 team, possibly even a former/current CSGO pro that intends to switch to Valorant.
New picks/ideal player types could be:
Corey is on the market, but his pickup is not too likely (although not impossible). His playstyle and agent picks are too similar to Subroza (Skye/supporting duelist); TSM has proven many times that they need a flexible player that has their unique playstyle. Corey has also shown to be fairly inconsistent throughout his past tournaments, and I said before that TSM REALLY need a consistent player that can handle top tournaments. I personally believe TSM should stray from flashy duelist picks for more consistent and reliable players who have proven to be worth through experience. Especially now that Hazed is gone, they need someone with experience to guide the team. Whoever the fifth player could be, I think Steel is a perfect candidate for the fourth player with his years of experience, good IGLing on LANs, and role as a sentinel/initiator, the ideal player TSM desperately needs.
I'm sorry but why would you take Levi off sova and put Wardell on sova? Everyone knows that taking Wardell off of Jett only hurts him and the team(except maybe like Sage on Bind or whatever maps he plays it on). Shahz only plays Sova because he has to and he's a shit sova so copying Sentinels on that when TSM already has a good sova with Levi would just be braindead. Also, Steel would be perfect for the team. He played with Wardell and Subroza on Ghost in CS and he brings the experience and IGL that TSM has desperately needed for a long time now and he fills a vacant role. For the last player, TSM would need a smoke main so I think it would be a 2 man race between Rush and Dre. Rush is an excellent teammate and was an excellent support player in CS for a long time and he would bring even more experience to the team. On the other hand, Dre has been playing Valorant since release and has probably been the most improved player in NA, or even the world. Dre is a top 20 player in NA and is a great on smokes and is excellent on duelists. If TSM sign Steel and either Rush or Dre, they will be put back on the radar and will actually be able to compete in events like LCQ.
Good point. I forgot about Levi on Sova. Most likely Wardell will stay with Sage/Jett for the meantime then until Chamber is released. No other agents really fit his Op playstyle unless he plans to transition to mainly rifling, which in that case brings a lot more to the table. Every other niche would be filled temporarily revolving on Wardell as the center focus. In terms of smokes or sentinels, I think any player who can play a lurky/support type of role can easily fit into TSM's liking. I side with Rush over Dre on your second point here. Yes, Dre. is a very good duelist with one of the highest ACS, but he isn't what TSM really needs. I feel like pushing him to a role where he not only is naturally uncomfortable with (smokes) but also not giving him the spotlight he needs on a flashy duelist is really limiting his talent capabilities. Like I said before, TSM needs someone who is not only reliable and experienced but also someone who fits into said niche regarding Wardell. I think that Levi is very flexible and can work on the Astra role, or if worse comes to worst, Steel can fill in for smoke agents. Dre won't get the attention he deserves on a team like TSM where the duelist niches have already been filled; he belongs on another team where the flashy duelist playstyle is lacking, for example, T1 (him on Raze/Reyna). TSM is lacking a reliable support role, and I prefer players like Aproto who not only fits well on support agents but also is very consistent and talented. As for Rush, it is still unclear whether the alleged dealings are actually going to occur, but it is likely he will fill in a support role. Remember, we are looking for a player (besides Steel) who can masterfully fill in the smokes/sentinel role masterfully with not only comfort and consistency but also reliably.
1st off, I also forgot about TiGG who would be another option for TSM since they've been trialing him. Secondly, YaBoiDre is extremely comfortable on smokes and Omen is, statistically, his second best agent(only behind Reyna). He also said that he's "looking to play Flex/ Main smokes". TSM could get YaBoiDre and kind of have him play similar roles to Bang with him playing smokes on most maps but then like raze on bind or Reyna on Ascent and Icebox. Dre is extremely versatile and talented but the only question is his ability to play Astra.
Not sure how TiGG would perform in top-tier tournaments. TSM won't need Dre on duelist on any map, really, as they seem to have transitioned to a 1 duelist comp in that last couple of tournaments; Wardell on Jett most likely. It is likely that Levi or the other support player will play Astra, so Omen may not even be a pick (after all Astra is the most picked controller along with Viper in high-ranking tournaments). This means that Subroza will solely stay on Skye, which I think is not the best agent comp in terms of diversity. I still struggle to see how Dre's agent comp will look for TSM since they need a good IGL and sentinel player, but if he manages to move to a flex role, he may bring more cards to the table. If we decide that Steel is a must-pick for TSM, then the last person should be playing mainly smoke support (preferably on Astra), or switch roles with Levi and play an agent like Viper.
TiGG played great at LCQ and has been playing great for LG in general so his performance in top-tier tournaments shouldn't be a concern. Also Dre only hasn't played Astra because he was the main duelist on LG and it wasn't his role. There's a few months before 2022 VCT starts so he can definitely learn Astra in that time as well. And yes, I'm saying this while also saying that Steel is pretty much a must pick for TSM or at least someone similar to him(Payen or Stellar or anyone who plays sentinels and is a good IGL).
If Dre can learn and master Astra then there is a chance that he will get picked up. As for TiGG, I noticed that he plays a lot of Astra too in his recent tournaments. It'd be between these two for TSM to pick, according to your information on Dre. I prefer Dre over TiGG in terms of pure mechanical skill, but TiGG could prove to be a solid support player on TSM. That being said, it is up to the team to decide who to pick; between these two or more trials to play as a smoke main. I think you still glanced over Levi playing Astra too, which could be a safer approach for TSM rather than signing a new player with little experience working with the team. My main post did not mention that there is a possibility that one of TSMA's members could be promoted up to the main team. Personally, though, I think TSM needs players with experience and reliability rather than the puggy playstyle of the younger talents in TSMA to compete as a top team.
They need 2 players and the sovas available are much worse than the smokes available so why not keep Levi on sova and sign 1 of the great smoke mains available? I'm saying they keep Levi on sova and sign Steel(or promote payen) and either Dre and TiGG to play smokes. If I were in charge of TSM, the Dre and Steel option would be what I would go for at least on paper.
dre is kind of a choker, I would honestly drop levi even though he is good, add corey tigg and steel. I think that steel is easily the best FA and i dont think that agent roles matter too much in this game, levi is good but the xp and igling that steel brings, especially from a team that almost made semifinals on lan , is invaluable, he should the number one FA and if wardell and roza arent little bitch boys, they put their past relationship aside and sign steel, but they just want money from streaming and living their content life, because who cares about winning.
Unless his performance dips to a bad level, I'm sure other teams in eu would pick him up. Even if it's not a top tier team, he can still make a good career in cs if he leaves liquid.
I was just saying that the viewership of the major isn't the reason he's staying, or not switching. His teams qualifications to events and his form still being good enough to compete, is why he wont switch.
Bro, can someone explain to me, why they benched Drone??? that guy is sick, especially with Phoenix... however, maybe TSM should look for another regions, idk, maybe Europeans, brittish players like Russ from Tenstar... But theres players with contract that could be option, like Nature, Aproto, Critical trial in Pioneers. Idk...
Drone was benched because TSM needed a flexible support player. Subroza has only recently been moving to more supportive initiator roles, such as Skye, and Wardell was playing only Jett (maybe Sage). TSM felt like they didn't need another duelist player. At the very end, TSM put Drone on very supportive agents, but his ability to entry frag and get kills was hindered. His overall performance was indeed poor in his last tournaments with TSM on agents like Sova or Brim, so they felt like they needed a new player who could play a supportive role effectively.
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