Bro also had Zeta above FNC, Loud above DRX, T1 above FUT and TL above Navi.

You literally got everything wrong except this one 💀

He played a lot of KJ on surreal

Sorry bud but Holland is actually the greatest city in the world

Sure, someone with the same IGL skills and better firepower would be better, but it's a team game, and what matters is how the team performs. If the positive effect of their IGLing outweighs the negative effect of their lack of firepower, they make their team better, and that's what matters.

FNC without Boaster and NRG without Fenis would be much worse teams.

A healthy amount of energy drinks is zero.

But riot isn't promoting snus, it was just one guy doing it. Meanwhile they are actually actively promoting redbull, which is also a terrible thing to promote to children.

It's less the fact that nicotine in isolation is comparable to caffeine in isolation, and more the fact that the negative health effects of snus and the negative health effects of redbull (both in regular quantities) are comparable in severity.

Yeah I guess it's mostly about public perception. Redbull is fucking awful as well but they promote it anyway. I didn't realise snus was this frowned upon I guess.

Smoked tobacco a handful of times while drunk, never liked it while sober, never even tried other forms of nicotine.

I don't think caffeine is as severe as nicotine, of course not. I just don't see the justification for banning one while actively promoting the other.

In terms of performance enhancing effects for esports, they're comparable, or are they not?

And in terms of health, clearly nicotine in isolation is much worse than caffeine in isolation. But we're not talking about coffee here, we're talking about energy drinks, which have a variety of negative health impacts that differ from the effects of nicotine, but I would argue are comparable in severity.

I haven't read the literature on this in a few years so I might be wrong, but I also think my point just came across wrong.

Of course nicotine is overall a bit more dangerous than caffeine, but they're both legal, so why does Rito draw a line between them, when their performance enhancing effects are very comparable?

Also it's not like I'm saying coffee is as detrimental to health than snus, but redbull definitely is, there are plenty of negative effects on health that come with regular energy drink consumption, yet Riot actively promotes them while Banning snus, which feels a bit weird.

What would you say is the big difference? Because all I can find are similarities. They are both CNS stimulants that work in similar ways and have similar effects on the body and brain.

They're both CNS stimulants, they both increase heart rate, they are both addictive. Sure, nicotine might be a bit more addictive, but at the end of the day they're quite similar. What would you say is the decisive difference that makes a comparison unreasonable?

he doesn't like NA teams at all

his favourite teams are NRG and The Guard

what does this have to do with anything

What

smokers

Try to read the sources you cite

Junkie org

No way you actually cry about him being "bullied" while calling other people softies lmao.

Consider touching some grass or playing garden scapes

Sob story? What? It's just an underdeveloped region at the moment. Talking trash about significantly weaker opponents is just lame is all.

it's still innovative

💀

Calling it light work when you're playing against a team from a new region where the game has been released for like three days. It's like beating a two year old at chess and then calling him a stupid idiot.

I just think it's kind of low to pick on China. The NA-EMEA banter is fine, go call EMEA trash and all, no problem.

This whole calling China trash thing is just super weird. Kinda like how it's fine for students to make fun of teachers, but if the teachers start insulting kids it's more of a problem.

People acting like nicotine is some performance enhancing drug but caffeine is just a funny little juice that you drink for fun.

Is caffeine banned? Because caffeine has a stronger effect on concentration than nicotine.

I think cheating is clearly unfair tbh

I think there's a good chance they'll make it close, but they just always win those games anyway. I'm not worried at all.

You realise that now?

So is caffeine, yet Red Bull literally sponsors the event

just like me fr fr

SkRossi

I think if you watch a lot of TL games and observe Soulcas, it's pretty clear that his raw aim is one of the best in the world, but it drops significantly whenever there's any kind of pressure. He often hits insane shots in low-pressure rounds (like ecos, or anti-ecos, look at that Bulldog 3k vs Navi in the 2nd defense round for example).

That being said, he has had these issues for a long time, and he hasn't managed to solve them (and I'm pretty sure TL is one of the better equipped orgs in terms of support). At the end of the day, esports is a rough business and I think dropping him could be a good decision. It's a shame because as I said I do think mechanically he absolutely has the potential to be one of the best in the world. He just can't access it.

The playoffs draw is random, with the only restriction being that teams from the same group are placed on opposite sides of the bracket. The position of the group doesn't matter at all.

EDG is a decent team but one decent (not even top 4) run doesn't make them S tier.

I would have said Melser but his new hairstyle ain't it

Watch any NA pro stream and they comm like once every 5 rounds.

Americas > EMEA but EMEA > NA. NA only have 5 teams in franchising compared to EMEA's 10, so of course their average is gonna be better. If you consider the top 10 NA teams, you'd have to include Guard and M80 (both definitely on par with EMEA Tier 1), Moist Moguls (could take a win here or there), and then what? You can tell me FaZe or G2 would beat BBL or TH. Plus EMEA also has some solid Tier 2 teams like Apeks or Acend who would be on roughly the same level as those NA Tier 2 teams. If you consider the whole scene EMEA has a bit more depth.

"A different political view" here being "I think certain people don't deserve human rights". THAT is called intolerance.

It's like going to a public execution and telling the person about to be hanged that their desire to live is really intolerant towards the people who think they should be hanged.

Bless you

A (sort of) esports news source publishing opinions of their editors/writers ahead of a major tournament? How dare they!

It's a decent system for now in tier 1. The current state of tier 2 is abysmal, even Leo Faria says it will change going into next year. It has to.

I believe Riot's long term vision for VCT is a promotion/relegation system starting in 2027, under the assumption that viewership increased and stabilises during the next 4 years. Every decision in regards to the partnership system seems to point in that direction.

For now in terms of building consistent fanbases the system is probably working as intended. KC would never be in tier 1 in an open circuit, but they draw hella viewers. Having some stability is important when establishing a new (e)sport.

If Loud don't win champs, like even if they play well and end 2nd, the team is probably falling apart with the tension between Aspas and Less. A big win might help relieve the tension but without the win I doubt they'll stay together.

S0m is staying 99.9%. He's a huge brand, has been with NRG for a long time, is in good standing with the team, and has played well too. If they make a change it'll be ardiis.

Marved probably stays with SEN tbh, but the team will be broken up 100% and maybe he'll leave. Depends a lot on what SEN's vision is for the roster rebuild.

There is no way in hell mini doesn't re-sign with FNC. For the org it's a no brainer, they'll pay him whatever salary he demands. He's the best talent scout in EMEA, he works together with Boaster perfectly, there's no better option, not even close. For mini as well, FNC is a no brainer. I don't think any org offers a better support system for players and coaches. Even if they bomb out of champs, mini is staying (although his salary may depend on the success).

Ayrin will not get a slot on a partnered Americas team. I honestly think purely career-wise, GE is a pretty good pick for him, but if he wants to go back to NA, any challengers team would be happy to take him most likely (but of course it's a bit of a risk for him).

I mean, it's a valid opinion to think Demon1 is better than Ethan, but it's definitely not undeniable lmao

Throughout the Americas season, both Demon1 and Ethan had identical average ratings at 1.08.
At Masters Tokyo, they again had identical ratings, at 1.09.

Unfortunately for EG, they will get humbled by the best team in the world, FUT esports.

.

And TL beat FNC the last time they played. Does that mean TL should be above FNC?

Banger, and the animation is amazing like always. For me it's not quite at the same level as Die For You, but idk if any VCT song ever will be. Die For You just set the bar so high

The premise of the article is that NAVI used to be a title contender (from winning Copenhagen to 4th at Champs to 3rd-4th at LOCK//IN), but is not a title contender any more.

The question the article raises is can they go back from their current form (i.e. not a title contender) to their past form. Which is not the same as putting them in contention for a title.

allat

I mean it's not franchising, orgs didn't buy their slots and they can't sell them. It's also limited to 5 years, we don't know what'll happen after that.

Ah yes, the only team that made top 3 at four different events (and top 4 at five if you count NRG) was just a fluke

Probably referring to this: https://twitter.com/G2esports/status/1437038327174213637