Let us acknowledge the fact that TSM are playing really well. Wardell certainly seems like the best entry fragger atm. Man, his FK/FD ratio just gets better everyday. The fans have gone through a lot in the times they weren't playing well so let us not flame them by making unnecessary assumptions. If TSM are consistent, then surely they have a good chance of making it to Berlin.

Another Shahzam thread. What he did in CS was wrong and sometimes his ego can be off the charts but I think we don't need to make multiple threads to flame him. Chat gets a bit too annoying and the mistake he does is he responds to everyone. People claim that he wants TSM to lose so he doesn't support them. However he said he has his favorites and that's the main reason he doesn't support TSM. Also a lot of youtube channels make these clips by inserting only a few parts here and there. These shorts channels on YouTube just get these clips for content and don't know how they're responsible for a lot of things going on Twitch.

All TSM needs is to hope that an NA team wins Berlin. They make it to LCQ if that happens. If TSM can qualify for Berlin then these things don't even come into play. The second though is a long shot coz all the 4 teams are very good at the moment.

I really want Asuna to play on LAN. 100T can choke but they look better than any other team that are coming from Challengers 2. Asuna from 100T, Cned from Acend, Tenz from SEN, Nukkye from G2 and probably other great duelists from around the world in Berlin would be good to watch. Even Mwzera if Gamelanders Blue could make it to Berlin.

The clash of the best duelists in the world to settle the ongoing debates

But since then they have looked solid and yeah XSET and SEN are the top 2 teams NA so yeah losing to them makes sense.

Xset, SEN and 100T

Still a 23-21 score line shows how tough it is to get an attacking round on Split. Even if figured it out, it took them 23 rounds to actually win the game.

Team Liquid or Fnatic have to bow out from the race to Berlin

He was only allowed in Challengers 2 open qualifiers bud. He had a 30% pick rate overall in the opens in NA

I don't think so. GenG played Kay/0 and Nature got 49 kills. The main reason TSM was suffering on attack on split was because of Kay/o.

True. What's the point of having 3 initiators with no duelist to back their flashes? They cannot play aggressive and they get shut down so easily on attack. I think they have not learnt their lesson from Iceland yet.

Hats off, DavidP.

It's not over yet. They play Fnatic or Tenstar tomorrow. Considering these results I think it is going to be very tough to beat either of the two. I think Fnatic go through though

I don't see anything wrong with TSM excepting their bind comp.

What's the point of 3 flash agents if they have no jett or reyna to rush with the flashes. They cannot play aggressive and have to rely on aim duels to win the game. DavidP has read them like a book. It's Split though.

In ranked everyone is a crybaby. I think it's more about Valorant ranked than Davidp.

True. Berlin seems like a long shot because they still have to face a lot of good teams along the way. T1 seems to look very clean right now, and if they beat them they get into playoffs. Xset, NV, Sen, 100T are even tougher opponents but it would be good to see back amongst the big wigs. Shahzam said he wanted to play TSM again since it has been like forever.

You are right about CS having a steep learning curve. However it is highly improbable for a team to do well from the get go. The so called tier 1 Valo pros have taken a lot of time to set in and start dominating. Take a team like T1. They played the game very slowly and depended more on gunplay rather than abilities in the beginning. They were half-decent and completely got obliterated by teams like TSM and SEN who adapted to the game very differently. Do you think it is possible to get the spike down in CS within 10 seconds? I don't think so. Valo has expanded to boundaries which CS can never imagine. A viper can literally camp spawn the entire round and still clutch the round with only her mollies.

The meta keeps changing every 2 weeks with a new patch. By the time a team settles down in the meta of one patch, a new patch is already out with mechanics just to ruin your game. People come up with new tactics every day. Having watched Valo for nearly a year, the difference in how teams play now v/s how the teams played back then is huge. Wall boosts, New lineups for every agent, outplay tactics are being discovered every day. Navi is the best team in CS now, but if they enter Valorant now, a Raze with double satchels and a Judge is enough to destroy them.

Yes truth hurts that Andbox won't even play this year kekw. No need to hate on TSM so much. If they lose, you can make a 100 TSM laugh threads. However, it is better to be quiet and stop making unnecessary assumptions until they're out.

In Masters 2 we got an understanding of how different regions play the game. Since India and mostly SA was not part of it it would be difficult to judge how these teams would match up with teams from KR, JP and SEA. All we can do is wait and hope that some Indian team gets to the APAC LCQ. Never undermine how India could do against these regions. Do not over expect their achievements too. It is better that we continue to support them and hope that they do well. Only when they meet can we really draw conclusions of how they will perform.

True. Sova will never be replaced in Skye as the single initiator. With many teams adopting to a double/triple initiator setup, Skye and Kay/o are on the rise. Breach is shining in regions like KR, JP, and SEA and a little bit in EU. Skye has a high pick rate but in no way she will be preferred over Sova excepting Split and sometimes Bind.

Well that team was the one that went to the finals of masters 2 right ? Unless G2 does something significant(which is possible) you can't call them second best. After EMEA challengers finals, let G2 qualify for Berlin then we'll see. Fnatic are not out yet, so you can't rule them out.

True these brackets look really hard to predict. Any team could be hard to beat on their day. Like you said T1 are performing really good as Dawn and Brax have settled into their roles. If they perform well against V1 or beat them then they sure are a force to be reckoned with. V1 is finally playing with their original squad after months and it would be interesting to see if they could produce a similar run as they did in stage 2. LG, KCP, RISE, are all tough predictions too.

V1 with zellsis is a beast, but expecting them to make a classic lower bracket run. T1 2-1

Most of your takes are good excepting when you backed ABX as contenders for Berlin.You may be right about Tsm though. V1 are playing with their full squad since Challengers finals, T1 look great, GENG were good last time too. There are a few dark horses in the form of KCP and Rise. Tsm have a tough time though. It is possible they go to Berlin, but this will be their toughest test yet. Even if they don't go to Berlin, they have to hope that they atleast get to Challengers Playoffs and get 50 points to get to Lcq. It's Valorant though, and it's NA and just like V1 last time, expect to see some teams like KCP, RISE and TSM to spring some surprises.

Yes playing Sage has restricted Leaf's ability to frag out. The reason C9 shined in stage 2 was because Leaf became the team's primary duelist along with Poiz. His ability to get entry frags and impact frags were huge, so C9 should give him back the duelist slot. C9 could play double duelist on maps where it is viable and Leaf be the single duelist on some maps. I don't know much about Floppy, but he could replace Poiz in the maps where double duelist is not viable.

https://www.vlr.gg/pickem/565bc7e2

Stop with the T2 thing guys. Before the qualifiers many people were trolling Tsm that they wouldn't make it past Ro32, Ro16,etc. Now people just want to give excuses that they made it this far and that's because they beat T2 teams. Let them have their moment. If they lose next week in the closed, then you have the right to troll the fans, until then its better to keep yourself quiet instead of getting unnecessary hate.

You are right. Shahzam is definitely the better oper in Sentinels.

TSM 2-1

T1 2-0.
However these qualifiers are the most unpredictable thing I have seen

Exactly. Many people claimed before stage 3 that Andbox was the team to watch out for and one among the top 3 contenders for Berlin.

Well most people who claim to have the best takes commented after Reykjavik that Andbox would be the team to watch out for in stage 3. Andbox was hyped up so much and overrated before this series

Yay has to be one of the most consistent players and turns up for Andbox when they are in trouble. Tenz is of course one of the best but he himself admitted that Shazz is the main reason for improvement of his play style. The IGL and team's play style, tactics all play a huge role in the way a duelist like yay or tenz functions. The team is the reason why Tenz can put up consistent numbers and 'win' games.

TBH Andbox were overrated before these qualifiers and they didn't do much. Good luck TSM fans, your best chance to make it to Berlin. Hope you can get through tomorrow.

True. Look at NRG today and in challengers 2.

I think TSM fans are more nervous than him atm.

al0rante showing up when it matters the most. God damn, he's good.

C9B 2-0 unless Dre drops 40 in 1 map.

Most of the users hate Tsm only coz of some of their delusional and toxic fans.

He was really underwhelming first half but redeemed himself second half, great rounds to take it to 3rd map.

If that wasn't a throw on round 25 from Tsm then IDK.

Its not over yet baby, ABX wins map 2

If Al0rante can produce a performance against Finest just like the one against NIP, then I think the series can go either way. He certainly made the difference yesterday. Gonna be a really close one though.

Probably 2-1 Finest

True NA does not use a lot of Breach but Skye pick rates have increased since the new patch. Now that Skye's flashes are rechargeable it makes her even better. However, Sova has an edge because he has one of the best abilities, the Recon dart and his ultimate is very good. Skye's Ultimate is good because it recharges with 6 points but it bugs out sometimes and gets stuck behind walls. Kay/o's knife and fragment are good abilities and his ultimate is useful to stop pushes but his ability to flash for the team is weaker than a Skye or Breach. Saw Kay/o being picked up by C9 and NRG as part of a triple initiator setup along with Skye and Sova in place of a sentinel today. I would really like to see his true potential being unlocked by some team.

FNATIC signed Sumn FC, the team that went to the final of first strike EU. Secondly, Fnatic entered Valo in February during the first stage of VCT. Third, they signed Derke and Magnum when they failed to qualify for Masters 1 and qualified for Masters 2. They have been the most consistent teams in EU since First strike and can definitely be called one of Eu's best.

I think some of the players on EZ5 like Dcop, Kanpeki and some members of Squirtle Squad can grab some t1 teams in the upcoming months. We'll definitely see some big changes from teams after Berlin or even the challengers playoffs. The teams that do not have a chance of making it into LCQ, Champions or Berlin will be the teams that make the most changes in my opinion.

Man Al0rante has finally shown his beast version. If he continues his run TH have a really good chance in closed.

TSM made it to the closed qualifier in stage 2 with Cutler and Drone. If the two new recruitments in the form of Bang and Leviathan are upgrades, then they can get through if they click. They've had a couple of weeks to reset and move forward in a new mindset so hopefully they can do well. If Subroza starts doing well again, then maybe TSM can make it to at least closed.

Asuna and Cned are two really good players and probably one among the best in their regions. No comparisons, both shine in their respective roles for their teams. I would really like both of them to thrive on LAN.