no clue

Could be Rush, the alleged 5th player TSM was trialing with months ago. No idea what he plays or if he even made it through the trials.

1. Brimstone Gaming
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Brimstone Gaming. They're the greatest Valorant team to ever lay its hands on the game. All its players are insanely mechanically talented, and it has the potential to 13-0 stomp Gambit on all maps. Not even Sentinels can manage to get a single round in. Riot had to disband them because it was illegal to be that good at Valorant.

Then who do you think the IGL is?? Steel is known to be one of the best IGLs, and I highly doubt that TSM passes up on a good pickup with all that money they have. Sure there was some beef between some TSM players and Steel, but that was far in the past. Steel also mentioned in a Twitter post that he was not going to stream for some days because he was busy with something, presumably scrims.

Subroza leaked an IGL and a fragger. Most likely Steel & Corey, Corey is probably confirmed at this point. There is a small chance that TiGG will be the IGL, since there were confirmations of TSM scrimming with TiGG.

Levi may not be mechanically talented as Corey or Dre, but he is regarded as one of the best Sova players. A good Sova player is what TSM has been really needing since the Cutler drop. Dropping Levi may not be the most secure option in terms of reliability. As for Dre, I do agree that he doesn't exactly fit into TSM's Astra needs, but I think he can really prove himself over time. Corey's playstyle is too similar to Subroza's like I mentioned in my main post (Skye/support duelist); his overlap with Subroza's similar roles leaves either one of the two on a role they are less comfortable with, which could lead to potential underperformance. If we take into account that TSM will probably want a good Astra player (since Astra is the best smoke agent for top tournaments), TiGG seems a bit better than Levi/Corey/Dre in terms of Astra playability, but he has little experience on top-tier tournaments and hasn't really proven anything yet. Steel is of course our desired 4th player here. Whether these players adapt to new roles or not on TSM, we will have to wait to see.

Only time will tell...

If Dre can learn and master Astra then there is a chance that he will get picked up. As for TiGG, I noticed that he plays a lot of Astra too in his recent tournaments. It'd be between these two for TSM to pick, according to your information on Dre. I prefer Dre over TiGG in terms of pure mechanical skill, but TiGG could prove to be a solid support player on TSM. That being said, it is up to the team to decide who to pick; between these two or more trials to play as a smoke main. I think you still glanced over Levi playing Astra too, which could be a safer approach for TSM rather than signing a new player with little experience working with the team. My main post did not mention that there is a possibility that one of TSMA's members could be promoted up to the main team. Personally, though, I think TSM needs players with experience and reliability rather than the puggy playstyle of the younger talents in TSMA to compete as a top team.

Drone was benched because TSM needed a flexible support player. Subroza has only recently been moving to more supportive initiator roles, such as Skye, and Wardell was playing only Jett (maybe Sage). TSM felt like they didn't need another duelist player. At the very end, TSM put Drone on very supportive agents, but his ability to entry frag and get kills was hindered. His overall performance was indeed poor in his last tournaments with TSM on agents like Sova or Brim, so they felt like they needed a new player who could play a supportive role effectively.

Not sure how TiGG would perform in top-tier tournaments. TSM won't need Dre on duelist on any map, really, as they seem to have transitioned to a 1 duelist comp in that last couple of tournaments; Wardell on Jett most likely. It is likely that Levi or the other support player will play Astra, so Omen may not even be a pick (after all Astra is the most picked controller along with Viper in high-ranking tournaments). This means that Subroza will solely stay on Skye, which I think is not the best agent comp in terms of diversity. I still struggle to see how Dre's agent comp will look for TSM since they need a good IGL and sentinel player, but if he manages to move to a flex role, he may bring more cards to the table. If we decide that Steel is a must-pick for TSM, then the last person should be playing mainly smoke support (preferably on Astra), or switch roles with Levi and play an agent like Viper.

Good point. I forgot about Levi on Sova. Most likely Wardell will stay with Sage/Jett for the meantime then until Chamber is released. No other agents really fit his Op playstyle unless he plans to transition to mainly rifling, which in that case brings a lot more to the table. Every other niche would be filled temporarily revolving on Wardell as the center focus. In terms of smokes or sentinels, I think any player who can play a lurky/support type of role can easily fit into TSM's liking. I side with Rush over Dre on your second point here. Yes, Dre. is a very good duelist with one of the highest ACS, but he isn't what TSM really needs. I feel like pushing him to a role where he not only is naturally uncomfortable with (smokes) but also not giving him the spotlight he needs on a flashy duelist is really limiting his talent capabilities. Like I said before, TSM needs someone who is not only reliable and experienced but also someone who fits into said niche regarding Wardell. I think that Levi is very flexible and can work on the Astra role, or if worse comes to worst, Steel can fill in for smoke agents. Dre won't get the attention he deserves on a team like TSM where the duelist niches have already been filled; he belongs on another team where the flashy duelist playstyle is lacking, for example, T1 (him on Raze/Reyna). TSM is lacking a reliable support role, and I prefer players like Aproto who not only fits well on support agents but also is very consistent and talented. As for Rush, it is still unclear whether the alleged dealings are actually going to occur, but it is likely he will fill in a support role. Remember, we are looking for a player (besides Steel) who can masterfully fill in the smokes/sentinel role masterfully with not only comfort and consistency but also reliably.

Gonna miss Hazed, but really excited for a fresh roster change. TSM has the money to sign very solid F/As or one from a tier 2 team, possibly even a former/current CSGO pro that intends to switch to Valorant.

• Levi on Sova/Viper (small chance for smokes if necessary, i.e. Astra)
• Wardell on Jett/Sage (possibly Chamber upon release b/c playstyle fits) for Op potential
• Roza on Skye/smokes (Omen, Brim; Astra highly unlikely b/c of slow playstyle for flashy player w/ good aim)

New picks/ideal player types could be:

• Strong igl/sentinel (Steel fits perfectly)
• I've seen discussions of TSM trialing with Rush; coming from CSGO, agent picks for Rush are still a mystery.
• I had hoped Drone would come back since he is a very solid duelist with good aim; Wardell can flex on Sova (similar to Shahz) or a sentinel with op potential (i.e. Chamber/Sage). The likelihood of this is not the most probable.
• Maybe a reputable CSGO pro that retires, especially now that TSM is well off with the FTX signing.
• A lot of F/As are on the market for TSM, but I think they need one that is going to be consistent throughout top tier tournaments (unlike bang)
• Smoke/sentinel players (not duelists); Aproto's aim is NASTY and is a good sentinel player.
• A player that works well with the team and has synergy.
• Corey is F/A but not a very probably pick.
• Sinatraa was an option but with the signing of Levi on Sova (arguably top 3 Sova players in NA), he is also unlikely.
• Most importantly, a CONSISTENT and flexible player with the aim to suffice.

Corey is on the market, but his pickup is not too likely (although not impossible). His playstyle and agent picks are too similar to Subroza (Skye/supporting duelist); TSM has proven many times that they need a flexible player that has their unique playstyle. Corey has also shown to be fairly inconsistent throughout his past tournaments, and I said before that TSM REALLY need a consistent player that can handle top tournaments. I personally believe TSM should stray from flashy duelist picks for more consistent and reliable players who have proven to be worth through experience. Especially now that Hazed is gone, they need someone with experience to guide the team. Whoever the fifth player could be, I think Steel is a perfect candidate for the fourth player with his years of experience, good IGLing on LANs, and role as a sentinel/initiator, the ideal player TSM desperately needs.

Gold lmao. probably the best physics comment I've seen to date.