pretty sure Pacific specifically dealt with really long tech delays at the start

Generally not horrible, but still. Come on man these issues are too frequent for the high standard they hold themselves to.

I think taking the NRG comp with the double duelist + sentinel makes the most sense. As you said, adding in the Yoru to be the secondary duelist in place of KayO makes sense on that map for the quick rotations and playmaking ability. I feel as though a cypher is still pretty necessary on that map considering how hard it is to hold down sites and the plethora of good trips.

I'm aware Trexx is gone yes.

I’d argue Trexx and Sheydos were the only 2 keeping that team competitive. I also hate the fact that Sheydos isn’t playing flash initiators as much as he did on gambit anymore. I think teams would greatly benefit from putting him on that role.

oops, didn't realize

thanks for the correction.

2 things:

1. If split goes through they (Sentinels) need to win it.
2. Zekken needs a good start the first map.

GenG Ban: Sunset
GenG Ban: Bind
Sentinel's Pick: Split
GenG Pick: Ascent
Sentinel's Pick: Lotus
GenG Pick: Breeze
Decider: Icebox

A few things:

1) I highly doubt he was their second choice.
2) Those North American stats are kinda inflated in favor of Poised because he plays in A LOT of mickey mouse tournaments.
3) I think the general experience of johnqt and synergy with Kaplan brings him over even if they're similar IGLs.

It's just like EG fracture and FNC lotus last year where teams thought they could beat them on those maps. They got away with it for so long because each team they faced came in with the same mindset of "we'll beat them on this map".

you must live with your mistake

Has any team played the current SEN split comp before in VCT? If so, who was it and how much success did they find with it?

I agree entirely. Jinggg was a key player in enabling the chaotic aggressive style they’ve built a reputation for as a team. So much so that many of their comps were built around his Reyna, Raze, and Phoenix. With him gone, and no one close to replicating his level of aggression and skill on Raze, it would be wise for them to modify their tactics. I think they should keep Monyet but there’s so much pressure on him and his Raze because of how good Jinggg’s was for their style that it just can’t be met. I think he is bettter suited for the controller role for this team. Which is why I think they should lean into double controller comps. Alternatively, if they continue to run double duelist, I think they should try something’s Raze combined with forsaken’s Yoru on some of these maps considering what the meta looks like. In the world where they want a Raze that can even come close to Jinggg’s Raze, they’re gonna need someone like Jawgemo (who they won’t get because he’s signed) so most likely going to have to scout out Raze talent similar to how they recruited something and then bench someone to make room (honestly don’t think this is likely though).

clear gets cleared by MOCKING

This is really cool

Interesting theory

Assuming they play that same comp again, what would he play instead?

Those Jett maps are going to be scary.

Slightly modified. Nevertheless, your list is pretty good.

1) Loud
2) Heretics
3) Karmine Corp
4) Fnatic
5) NRG
6) GenG
7) PaperRex
8) Sentinels
9) NAVI
10) Leviathan
11) 100Thieves
12) EG
13) DRX
14) Vitality
15) T1
16) FUT
17) MIBR
18) G2
19) Cloud9
20) Team Secret
21) Zeta division
22) KOI
23) KRU
24) Furia
25) GiantX
26) Team Liquid
27) RRQ
28) Gentle M8
29) BBL
30) Talon
31) DFM
32) GE
33) BLEED

It’s a brand new roster.

Do you think NRG will want to play it considering their comp has been leaked for split? OR will the amount of footage they have of SEN on that map outweigh that issue?

Agreed.

It could be a map they’re probably working on right now. Hopefully cooking something up.

This could go a bunch of different ways considering that Sentinels have played every map except icebox while NRG have shown only three (Ascent, Sunset, and Breeze). With that being said I think this map veto makes sense for a few reasons. With the first two bans, NRG have consistently banned Bind and have also had their comp leaked for that map. SEN need more time to improve their Breeze so it would make sense to ban it since NRG are good at it. I’m guessing NRG will want to play SEN on a map that they’ve played a lot (for anti-strat purposes), which I think split makes the most sense considering NRG haven’t shown it yet. For SEN, Lotus is pretty safe since they’ve only played it once (less anti strats against them) and were really good on it. NRG have also consistently banned Icebox and SEN probably don’t want to play NRG on Sunset considering how much they’ve played it. So my final theory is that they’ll allow Ascent to go through and bring out the triple initiator comp that’s been rumored. What are your thoughts?

NRG ban: Bind
SEN ban: Breeze
NRG pick: Split
SEN pick: Lotus
NRG ban: Icebox
SEN ban: Sunset
Remains: Ascent

Alternate:
NRG ban: Bind
SEN ban: Split
NRG pick: Lotus
SEN pick: Sunset
NRG ban: Icebox
SEN ban: Breeze
Remains: Ascent

The rumors have been that they’re not playing the traditional ascent comp. I’m guessing the reason for this is probably because it’s a map they’re struggling to play. I’m not sure how well their ascent scrims are going but we’ve seen how much they’ve struggled playing the traditional comp. I will say though that we haven’t seen them play this comp with their presumed new roles for this map (specifically Zellsis on KayO and Tenz on Omen). My guess is that their non traditional comp for this map is probably a triple initiator comp. It’s a comp Johnqt has experience with while he was on M80 and a comp both Tenz and Zellsis have experimented with back in 2022 LCQ. Personally I’m not sure about the long term viability of this comp. But we’ve seen teams like DRX have a lot of success with it before, so if it means it has the chance of improving the team’s Ascent then I’m all for it.

criminally underrated in my opinion. Solid IGL who can frag and can play both secondary duelist and initiator. I think EMEA teams should heavily consider picking him up. He would fit in well with his skill set and could be a serious game changer for a struggling team.

Kr1stal

This is absolutely sick. Keep up the great work and continue to make adjustments as needed.

I’d say Zekken and Cryo are both fantastic is their own ways. However, I think Zekken is a lot better suited for most teams for a few reasons. For one, although Cryo is arguably a better Jett player and oper than Zekken, the fact that Zekken is able to play Jett and Raze (with his Raze being at least top 3 in NA), he just adds a lot more value due to the flexibility. This ties to the second reason which is just pure flexibility beyond duelists. Zekken has a large agent pool making him incredibly valuable when metas shift. I think Cryo has a lot more to prove in this regard.

I’ve had to play this map a lot in ranked recently and I think that the issues for the map with hall coming back is similar to the issue in VCT. The fact is that with hall coming back Breeze A site reverts back to an impossible situation for the defense since now attackers have 3 points of entry and the defense has no where to hide forcing them to play behind the container near bridge. From an agent comp position it would also mean that you pretty much need a sentinel to watch hall and attempt to lock down A. I’m curious how a double sentinel comp on this map would play out. Maybe something like a deadlock, cypher, skye, harbor/viper, and jett.

I agree with this list

Thanks, NA is an interesting region to talk about for sure.

Oh I think I misinterpreted what you said

5-8 minutes

I watched all their games but I think there's some misinterpretation of my post. The basis of what I'm trying to say is that I think Sentinels are in a better spot than 100T were last year because their players are flexible enough to adapt to a possible drastic meta shift. No post match results or stats from these games were needed for me to come to that conclusion. Nor was any analysis of their strat book or approach to various map needed (strats will prob change anyways since more teams have seen them). I promise you I'm not trying to be an analyst here lol. Again, apologies for causing you any annoyance but I just enjoy dialogue.

that's a fair point and I don't disagree

nice try pushes glasses up. but everyone knows chat gpt 3.5 was last updated January of 2022.

I really don't think it's as deep as you're making it out to be. I'll concede that my post may be a little too in depth for me to make as an average viewer. I just figured it would be interesting to discuss with everyone as a topic. So I apologize if you're personally insulted by it. It wasn't my intention.

You're correct in that my opinion is more speculation (valorant astrology) based on what we've seen. But to be clear when I mean "looking at the game in similar ways to them" in this particular case I mean I hold the same views regarding the importance of flexibility. In no way can I analyze the game to the degree of an actual professional analyst.

I prefer open discussion as opposed to armchair analysis. although as a fan of some content analysts I enjoy looking at the game in similar ways to them.

Although I understand your point, I have a few points to counter:

1. I agree that aspects like site executes and teamplay (strats + comps in general) would change in a meta shift since it mostly changes the optimal agents compositions a team would play. But I would argue that if this were to occur, Sentinels could adapt to this change better than most team given their flexibility (keep in mind meta change doesn't just effect Sentinels).
2. I'd also argue that, although 100T ran double controller in the last season, they fell short in how well the managed to use the omen + viper comp on ascent + lotus and entirely failed to find success with harbor + viper on Pearl. I'm also arguing that it got awkward role wise whenever Derrek had to fill in the extra role when sova, fade, or breach wasn't needed.
3. I'd generally characterize 100T approach as more underperformance due to factors such as un-comfortability with comps (which goes back to the issue of adapting in general) + again lack of quality coaching but that's not really Mike's fault more so just circumstance

I agree with you that that there's always a possibility that Sentinels could just end up not making any changes to their strats and I do believe this would destroy the form we see them in now. But the comparative analysis between them and 100T leads me to believe they'll probably be a slightly different case.

I have a few but I also enjoy talking about Valorant on vlr. Trust me it didn't take a lot of time to write this.

doing homework at the same time. but I type pretty fast when I have a good idea of what I want to write so I decided to post this.

I feel like it's a reasonable claim to make solely based on the flexibility of the respective players. Sentinels currently have 4 players that can flex around multiple agents of different roles. zekken - has played a lot of agents at a high competitive level, johnqt - has played a lot of agents at a high competitive level, zellsis - has played a lot of agents at a high competitive level, tenz - is now in the process of expanding his agent pool to include more initiators and smokes. Comparatively speaking, you can't really say the same about 100T with the exception of maybe Asuna and Bang. The point I'd make is that even if we are headed toward another drastic meta shift, it would be easier for Sentinels to figure out given how flexible their team has become with the addition of 2 new very flexible players.

I wanted to analyze how the 2023 100T roster began and ended and use it to understand how this 2024 Sentinels roster may end up. During the offseason leading up to the 2023 VCT, 100T saw massive success making one player change (will->cryo) as seen during the red bull home ground. They particularly benefited from cryo's chamber but also the fact that a few of their players we're also doing really good (specifically Bang and Derrek). I would argue a major aspect of their success off season success was because of how the meta worked in their favor, specifically allowing cryo to play jett and chamber while also letting Derrek play sova, fade, and breach (we'll get back to this point). Moving to the start of VCT with lock-in, they managed to beat EDG and FUT before getting eliminated by Fnatic (which makes sense given that it's Fnatic). Then at the start of VCT regular season, the first game they played against Sentinels was a loss. I would argue this loss was in part due to the meta shift away away from chamber and more towards double controller + skye, for instance fracture comps for most teams changed since chamber was no longer viable (which meant no neon + kayo + breach + chamber + brim) a comp 100T saw a lot success with. Throughout the season they sort of fell in the middle of the pack yet still beat respectable teams like Lev and Furia. I think people forgot how good teams like NRG, Loud, and C9 would end up being because all the attention was placed on 100T during the off season. Also on the point of Derrek's agents, since the team overall moved toward the meta of double controller and single initiator, he definitely took a hit since he had to play skye (which isn't as good as his other agents) and if Asuna played skye Derrek filled the extra role (agents he evidently wasn't comfortable at). Also important to mention coach Mikes was probably overwhelmed with everything he had to do alone.

Now lets compare this to Sentinels. If we assume Zellsis is actually going to be starting, then here's what we can know:

1. 2 player changes during the off season (-Marved (IGL Controller), -Pancada (Controller), +johnqt (IGL Senitnel/flex), +Zellsis (flex)
   • an experienced IGL who can play sentinel (johnqt) who has worked with coach Kaplan before
   • an addition of a well-rounded player (Zellsis) who has been on Sentinels before, can play a wide variety of agents at a high level, and brings incredible energy to a team
   • the new roster is better equipped for meta changes which the 2023 100T was not
2. they just beat multiple new good looking teams in the off season
   • beat G2 twice (expected to be a top 5 NA team in 2024 season)
   • beat PRX twice (2nd place at champions and also got beat with Jinggg in play)
   • beat DRX (historically consistent top team at international tournaments and also expected to be top 3 in pacific 2024)
   • beat Team Liquid (solid team all around)
3. Sentinels setting meta standards for maps
   • Bind comp: Yoru, Raze, Skye, Viper, Brim
   • Sunset comp: Omen, Raze, Fade, Cypher, Breach

Ultimately, I agree with FNS when he says the performance of Sentinels depends on how much they're able to innovate and improve their strats

johnqt (strategy, fragging, flex, fundamentals) + Zellsis (fragging, flex, team energy, morale)

in short: better team chemistry, cohesion, and calculation thanks to these 2

1. Brimstone: MaKo
2. Phoenix: Jinggg
3. Sage: cNed
4. Sova: Leo
5. Viper: nAts
6. Cypher: Alfajer
7. Reyna: something
8. Killjoy: Less
9. Breach: Chronicle
10. Omen: s0m
11. Jett: Aspas
12. Raze: Sayf
13. Skye: Cloud
14. Yoru: Forsaken
15. Astra: Monyet
16. Kay-O: Ethan
17. Chamber: Demon1
18. Neon: Leaf
19. Fade: Shao
20. Harbor: tuyz
21. Gekko: cgrs

They're the only team that runs yoru, raze, skye, viper, and brim. Paper Rex used breach instead of skye and a fade instead of viper. 100T used yoru instead of raze and a harbor instead of a viper.

AMERICAS

1. Demon1
2. aspas
3. Less
4. s0m
5. kiNgg

EMEA

1. Leo
2. Alfajer
3. Sayf
4. Derke
5. Chronicle

PACIFIC

1. something
2. f0sakeN
3. d4v41
4. Jinggg
5. MaKo