I just like when there is some sort of counterplay. Like where are you putting your crosshair when you are slowed, there is a Neon jumping around you, and Waylay is behind you. It has to be so tilting.
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| Registered: | June 14, 2023 |
| Last post: | March 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM |
| Posts: | 54 |
I just like when there is some sort of counterplay. Like where are you putting your crosshair when you are slowed, there is a Neon jumping around you, and Waylay is behind you. It has to be so tilting.
This meta is so boring to watch. Waylay dash + slow and then a Neon running at you. If you aren't the best aimer ever you aren't gonna know where to put your crosshair and there's zero counterplay. Like I would rather watch anything else than these overpowered duelists.
Well I think playing in games at an international well give you some momentum. On top of that the Swiss stage teams now are used to the crowd and the pressure. Not to mention most are veterans and have won multiple trophies either domestic or international.
I mean lack of experience + no momentum is gonna ruin their tourney.
AG went 3-2 against XLG and XLG got 4-0ed. They didn't even win enough rounds to win 2 maps. Insert infamous Boostio comment here.
I would argue that he did that as a show of confidence. Regardless of whether he was going to pick them or not, I would say each of the Swiss stage teams were pretty evenly matched when getting chosen by their 1 seed counterparts.
I agree. They have a chance but they will not win.
Furia has the highest of the 1 seeds to win I think. Still wouldn't favor them against a Masters winning PRX.
All of them are new to the international stage and they are going against an NRG team that thrives when they have demos, are previous champs, and are heating up. They have a chance but I wouldn't favor them.
Realistically, do the 1 seeds even stand a chance? In Masters Toronto, every single one seed lost to the Swiss stage winners. In Masters Shanghai, only one 1 seed beat their respective Swiss stage opponent. Combine that with the fact that most of the Swiss stage winners are experienced veterans when it comes to the international stage (excluding M8) and a lot of the 1 seeds are not, I think it would not be surprising to see each of the 1 seeds lose to their Swiss stage matchups. Momentum plays too large of a role, and I would say that most of these matches should be at least 60/40 in favor of the Swiss stage team. What do you guys think?
There are some rounds where it looks good when they are constantly pushing people off angles with both initiators. But most times, I think it would be more beneficially to have another duelist.
I still don't think any double initiator is that good. Especially if you are running a Yoru considering that he has a lot of initiator-like util.
Or any duelist for that sake. I would have Ethan play any smokes and Skuba play Viper.
You don't have to be a pro to have a decent take on the meta and what agents could be good/bad.
Double initiator just isn't good. The whole point of the waylay is to have your second duelist go in and get the free kill. You might as well not run the waylay at all. I think every team should be playing a waylay double duelist comp. I think NRG was good last year because of Bonkar's take on the meta. They will be bad this year because Bonkar has a bad take on the meta.
i would argue that his champs performance was good until he faced mibr and fnc twice. and you stated those were among the best duelists in the world. he did very good in group stage. and it isn't a fluke that he has the most aces in vct while only being there for one year. I would say that mada and brawk are the star players of NRG while skuba and keiko are the more grounded players.
who do you think the star player on NRG is? because i think it is definitely mada or brawk
why would ethan not count? out of the 7 maps in the map pool in champs 2025, ethan played an initiator on 5 of them. the only maps he didnt play an initiator on were abyss and haven where he played omen.
i would argue that ethan is easily the best initiator. leo (as of rn) is probably close second. crashies/trent interchangeable at the 3 and 4. and lastly sacy/riens interchangeable at the 5 and 6.
i would agree depending on what they mean by best. crashies ability to mid round i think is important but doesn't really add value to the "best initiator argument". i think he meant in terms of raw skill and i would say that trent is on par with crashies in terms of skill while riens has been a little lower as of recent.
the claim stated was that crashies is the best initiator after leo. sure crashies has achieved more than trent and i didn't claim he didn't. however, if we are talking about best you also have to consider the times in which crashies was seen as a bad initiator (nrg 2024). trent has been consistently a top 5 initiator in americas since he was on a team and it isn't absurd to claim that in terms of raw talent and the ability to be good, trent is more consistent than crashies (considering both crashies highs and lows).
trent has 3 domestic trophies and a second place tourney and has widely been considered a top 2 player on g2. ethan was playing mainly flash intiator for his two champs wins and his second place at tokyo. riens has two second places (champs and masters) and won ewc playing purely intiator. trent is on par with crashies if anything
realistically top 5. i mean you still have ethan, riens, leo, trent etc
only viper on breeze? in 2026? what are we doing.
demon1 personality not a good replacement for s0ms. you need a vibes guy like neT, crashies, or v1c imo.
crashies can play viper/sentinel techinically.
Who do you think would be the best replacement?
In the event that s0m retires (which seems likely), who do you guys think will replace him? My best guesses are (in no order):
-crashies
It seems like crashies will be coming back to the US (according to FNS stream and his twitter/insta posts). I think he replaces s0m in terms of personality (helping to mid round and constantly hyping up the team) and in terms of role considering he played Viper in 2024 NRG and Killjoy in 2023 NRG (allowing him to fill skuba's role and skuba to go to smokes like he played on OXG). Lastly, I think Ethan has a decent friendship with crashies and would benefit from having a mid rounder on the team (considering that neither of them retire).
-neT
I think neT's contract with C9 is ending, and I think that he would be a good fit in NRG's system. I think he fits similarly to s0m's personality (especially bringing a hunger to win after NRG just won). I think he is good at being the vibes person and I think he puts a very good energy into the games he is in. In terms of role, he would do exactly what I mentioned crashies would do, although it seems like he has more experience on the senti/viper role considering he played it for C9.
-Marved
I'm not sure of Marved's friendship with Ethan after the 2024 stint, but basically he would be added into a winning culture while replacing s0m's role basically 1:1. He had some experience with IGLing so i'm sure he has some ability to mid round. As long as he is grinding (which it seems that Bonkar encourages), I think he would fit well, excluding the personality that s0m has.
-v1c
I believe that C9 is moving forward with v1c, but in the event that they don't I think he would be a great replacement for s0m. He replaces s0m's role at a 1:1 (smokes) and he brings a lot of those clutch plays that s0m did. I think he has some personality, but not to the degree s0m had. Lastly, v1c has an established chemistry with Mada and Brawk considering they all played for MxS.
-bang
I don't know what SEN is doing with their roster, but if bang leaves I think it will be similar to him replacing TenZ. While he replaces s0m's role 1:1, he is missing the personality that s0m had by quite a bit (considering he is usually on the quieter side). Ethan and bang played together on 100T for a little bit, but I am not sure of their friendship together.
-valyn
Probably the least likely one here, if valyn leaves his core to join this one I would be suprised to say the least. However, I think valyn would fit very well being an IGL (helping Ethan) and replacing s0m's role 1:1. He is always up there hyping the team up and making sure he is bringing the energy in order to stay in the match no matter what, similar to s0m.
There are probably more but I can't think of any right now. I know we aren't even a week into the off season but if s0m retires, who would you like to see join in his place?
how has g2 not won an international? this team looks like god's gift to valorant domestically.
oh fair. I thought we meant all ini instead of recon.
No Ethan? He’s playing better than when he won champs 2023.
i hope you mean G2 gets 10 rounds over 2 maps
idk your taste but
love me not - rayvn lenae
tu - maye
problems - arizona
I wonder what they are doing
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