I was rooting for NRG not only because of Sam and Ethan, but, for Riot devs finally to get shaken up on how broken their game mechanics are. They call it an "FPS" game easier and brighter than CS, and look how you can abuse your way out of it.
List of things NRG did to win: Judge, Odin, AWP (scope maybe a stretch but still). Out of the current map pool, Sunset is the only map where Odin can't be abused that much. And Bonkar realised that. Kudos to him for that.
It's been long enough that everyone wants these guns to nerfed (Outlaw sometimes as well). After 2023, every change riot has done to Valorant has been exploited in a negative, and it's not something that is really difficult to fix. How can devs be so dumb that they fixed ascent and introduced an entire map which only has paper thin walls?
And the argument of why other pros like DFM Art couldn't abuse it is because of the map pool. That's the loophole. But, still using Odin does need skill, but it's a lot lower than using rifles. Otherwise, bronze lobbies won't be using it. FIx your damn game.
Some other things:
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Brawk might need some security in Paris.
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High chances of FNC winning Santiago if Boaster retires and Chronicle starts IGL-ing. Neg 35 on a GF is blasphemy, even as an IGL. I used to defend him. But not anymore, it's the 3rd time this year. It's gonna be ironic, since, NRG won in a single split after FNS retired.
And about that, FNS + coach was the reason why NRG was so bad.
(NRG were down in the gutters throughout this entire year till FNS retired. As soon as he retired, a rookie who actually knows how to shoot back and hold down sites changes their entire team dynamic. This is a proof that igl > aim, which was a discussion prior to FNS retiring, isn't that valid.
The reason is the new dynamic and meta of the game. Teams and players have learnt to counter-strat most of their opponents' play styles. Plus, their too much that goes on with util alone nowadays. So, focusing on a kill as an anchor before dying to some blasphemous util dump is becoming more prevalent. This is why rookies are having a great year. Almost every team has some kind of counter-strat to answer back.
And NRG's wincon is their coordination. They are always in sync now. Before, FNS used to die and the rest of the team would pick up his scraps. And, as the game becomes more crowded with util and Riot keeps on cramming new agents, aim is gonna become even more important. The objective would become how fast will you be able to get a kill or win a 1v1 before dying to some util combo.)
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Ohne is truly the most entertaining watch party streamer after FNS when he's watching a PRX game. He stole the entire viewership of the val community and brought some new CS only viewers. Hope he does it more.
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Ethan should be the MVP. He's the true savior. Without him, my stripper would be crying right now.
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