afaik Natank and K4davra are the only french players in tier 1 rn

I bought some off of a vlr post recommending them (generally a bad idea btw), I have no idea how they compare to other IEMs but they've treated me good
They're the EM6L Phoenix
here's a proper review on them: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/161t9ue/simgot_em6l_phoenix_review_an_amazing_discovery/

i dont follow f1 too closely
but this is huge no? he was with merc for ages wasnt he
I remember one of the few races I watched was when he won Silverstone last year and it was absolutely amazing

I'm biased, because OPTC and 23 FNC are (were ☹️) my most favourite teams
but I think they're the only ones who fit in the category, for me GENG getting grouped at Champs is a deal-breaker

Optic were: 1st, 3rd and 2nd (Plus they had a 2nd place in 2021, but they got grouped at Champs 21 so idk if that should count)
FNC were: 1st, 1st and 4th

its just Valorant tbh
the meta and game changes so much, top teams rarely stay at the very top for a period longer than roughly 3-6 months I'd say

That's a cool field, I hadn't heard of it but from what I can lookup it seems really interesting.
Columbia is a great achievement, one of the best unis in the USA if I remember correctly. So doing your postgrad and working there sounds great

I'm doing Aerospace Engineering and NASA is pretty much everyone's dream employer, even getting to work with them through other companies would be great!

oh thats cool
its my dream to work at nasa (although I think you need to be a US citizen to work there)

if you don't mind me asking which uni did you go to?

no mods
it was chaos before

It doesn't always happen, but it is common enough to be a liability. 5/13 losses Boo's struggled
and again, it in theory isn't difficult to fix, he should have no problem sharpening up, I know he's good enough to do it.

https://www.vlr.gg/378829/edward-gaming-vs-team-heretics-valorant-champions-2024-gf
https://www.vlr.gg/371285/team-vitality-vs-team-heretics-champions-tour-2024-emea-stage-2-lbf
https://www.vlr.gg/341821/team-heretics-vs-fnatic-champions-tour-2024-emea-stage-1-gf
https://www.vlr.gg/318919/team-vitality-vs-team-heretics-champions-tour-2024-emea-stage-1-w2
https://www.vlr.gg/303095/team-heretics-vs-karmine-corp-champions-tour-2024-emea-kickoff-playoffs-gf

This is still an amazing roster that can win a title. But your claim that they "are the Astralis of Valorant" is absurd imo

honestly if they stick together I see a bright future. Their team is really young and they have a great coaching setup
my only slight concern would be Boo's fragging (non high impact IGLs are slowly phasing out). But in theory that shouldn't be too hard to fix

But I think you're getting carried away with the Astralis comparison, that'll probably be unmatched in an FPS game, especially Valorant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-RfHC91Ewc

Yeah, they defo do.
I made a post about my current dissatisfaction of how they've split up EMEA.
This is how I'd imagine the leagues to be in a perfect world: https://www.vlr.gg/427989/this-shit-is-so-ass/#23

Yeah, I can see why that could a concern. But honestly with how much of a passion the region has for FPS in general, I don't see there being an issue. Look at how much CIS talent we already have in tier 1, even despite there not being clear pathways for players. I think it's a 'build it, and they will come' type of situation

before reading anything further, read this: https://www.vlr.gg/73510/russia-ukraine

just like me fr

not the 'best' by any objective means
but my favourite: Boaster and Derke 😢

then I hella disagree
Cloud is very good, arguably a top S tier player in EMEA, but Leo is in a category of his own when he plays at full strength

Is 100% because of Leo's health issues?

Name a few teams and i can summarise

https://i.imgur.com/FwSZfV6.png

I think this sums it up pretty well 🫠

therefore I am

multiple flairs pls pls pls
even 2 would make me happy
https://i.imgur.com/TCweFBG.png

I’m cooked
Goodbye it was nice knowing yall

did they register for an academy team with the extra 5?

oh yeah, I remember I thought I was tripping the first time a caster said his name lol
I thought someone was calling my name

who is the EMEA manager
worth sending them a dm on twitter to ask or smth

if you think about it, its kinda what some people do with japanese names
like those names must go super hard in Chinese

yup, idk what the margins are like when they choose to make jerseys 90+, either they embed diamonds in to the cloth or they're purposely trying to not sell them, idk

The most I'd personally pay is like 60, maybe 70 if it's a team I really really like and they win something.
But in reality I think 50 is a reasonable price for NA and EU at least (I can't speak for other regions because I'm not sure what average incomes are like)

I still am! (unfortunately)
I just like Derke and can't have two flairs on

This is how I'd actually refresh it

https://i.imgur.com/i4BCNfE.png OR https://i.imgur.com/LBR4ixW.png

(refresh btw, not redesign. I got no idea how to do that)

I agree G2 look great, they look like they can even contend for trophies.
But I'm talking about regions as a whole, from 1st - 12th

EMEA or Pacific look like the best region right now?
(It's probably Pacific, but I'm slightly EMEA biased)

these guys got dropped after 2 matches

yeah, he edited to clarify

damn... I had this matchup in the upper and grand final

but bro, kickoff isn't even over yet
we haven't even had one qualification game

man some of these prices are whack

he still could
no ones taken kfan
or even better kfcfan

Thanks, I hate it

melons

real friends just tell you how it is bro

don't worry i gotchu
https://www.vlr.gg/437856/worst-username-ever/#26
even before this thread was made btw

Derke isn't retired
but in a way FNC Derke is 😔

so if I changed my name to 'Ayn' I'd be on the list I presume

Gotta give him time, I only remember fnatic scouting going wrong once and the player wasn’t even bad, just mid

vouch, cool NRG fan

Someone’s gotta start a list (someone trust worthy)
(The very first name should be n1cf)

everyone better learn the name of BLG's duelist

oh yeah they did, my bad
I think I confused them with someone else

yeah I agree, historically PRX's strength has been to out aim everyone, which made them play less disciplined, now that mechanics are becoming a bare minimum skill for tier 1 players, they're struggling. In their defence T1 also played exceptionally well.

It's only one map so it'd be wrong to count them out already, but I think the writings on the wall for their playstyle as a whole, it definitely isn't as strong as it used to be