NT to TH, they showed their consistency to making it into so many Grand Finals, I believe they will definitely come back stronger next year.

And for EDG, I'm sure nobody (I purposely put this in) would have thought they were gonna lift the Champions trophy so soon, after Kangkang put them and CN on the map during last year's Tokyo run. Huge congratulations to them, they deserved this title, and I'm excited to see the future for Valorant with 4 competitive regions

yeah mb i automatically went to those that they lost

Masters Copenhagen, Champs LA. Kickoff finals if we are counting that. So 3, I suppose.

Yes, it's a pleasure to see them thrive in chaos but also have great teamwork

LETSGO EDG!!!!!

Last year maybe yes, people were impressed with how he flexed to every role when he was the team's Jett player for a very long time - he went to KJ, Harbor, Skye, Fade etc - I believe many would agree his flexibility was a huge part of the reason why PRX had great standings last year after something joined - 1st in Pacific, 3rd in Tokyo and 2nd in Champs.

But this year his Harbor and Cypher has been minimal and lackluster, nobody really talks about him anymore, as should be with how badly the team performed in contrast to last year.

.

Where you at now?

Haters gonna find everything to complain

Wait...you might be on to something here...

I mean GenG was the obvious carries of Pacific throughout the whole year. DRX made roster moves and they took quite some time to reach their current heights. PRX...I think they went from chokers to jokers at this point. Only hope they will return to prime form next year. Talon looked like they were just here to have fun. Kinda trolling, but ya know, respect them for actually getting into champs.

For the Optic argument, I feel that yay was able to make up for FNS and Victor's poor performance if it happened, and that might have been the reason why yay shone so bright during that chamber meta - because he was really fragging out.

During playoffs last year, Champs had more exciting storylines.

Fnatic was en route to build a dynasty. EG was digging into their villain persona and was going on a run. People wanted to see if Loud could lift a consecutive champs trophy. EDG had an amazing run in Tokyo with KK's flashy plays, and now they were in playoffs with BLG, which, well, 2-0ed NRG. PRX saw Jinggg about to enlist in the military and fans wanted to see if they could lift a trophy before that.

I've been through this too many times. May you come back stronger brother

they feel like 2 different teams on icebox and sunset, and if they are continuing to play like in sunset for lotus, yeah EDG please get through

The way they just keep sending it in onto site is killing me man

Except they always seem to struggle against America teams...

Korea has like 5 body clones or something

Nah I'd throw

Yep EDG looked really good against G2, just unfortunately they couldn't close it out. We shall see if there's gonna be another banger tomorrow.

Ngl s1mon looks like the addition to the team EDG needed, let's see if they can beat the current roster of PRX that defeated them twice

Honestly, I not high on Pacific hopium. They always struggle to play when it matters the most.

Huge W for Sleepybear (and the playing teams)

Depending on map. They did run forsaken neon and Jinggg phoenix + something breach on Abyss and they won DRX. Though I'd say it's more of the surprise factor

TE looks nice no?

I like the respect you guys give to Korea lol

Script:

1st round: Americas vs Pacific, EMEA vs CN -> Outcome: 2nd round

2nd round: Americas vs CN, Pacific vs EMEA -> Outcome: All 1st seeds lose

What's next for the script?

Though I have to say the scriptwriters are cooking though, this champs have a lot of banger games so far

No 1 seeds really taking Ls every region what am I watching

As a PRX fan if china plays like this and PRX continues being sloppy I would be rooting for china teams for the rest of the tournament

Might just not be cooking anymore. First it's the comp issues. For icebox it was mentioned their kayo was changed to sova because they couldn't fight against a defender OP (DRX), but they didn't even try to use any pop flashes to force him off. Without a flash initiator they were just struggling to take space and info when sova dart and drone can be easily breakable, very obvious against G2.

Next they didn't look like they were actively using their util and teamwork to fight for space, feels like they are regressing back to champs 2022 with braindead swings and lack of awareness (so many flank/pinches from G2 caught them unaware).

It just feels like they hit a dead end in terms of innovation. Just from what I see man. The way they introduced and played Reyna Raze on Ascent and Bind last year, and Jett Phoenix on Pearl, were amazing because they were making these unorthodox comps work with their strats. Now they look kinda lost.

Hope we get to see a banger. Actually excited for today's matches after the upsets yesterday

I wouldn't mind if PRX bomb out, if Talon gets through, I need one of them on Friday to get through man...if both Pacific teams bomb out that day it's gonna be depressing

thanks fam but we shall see if they can even make it out of groups...

Because they dont choke as bad as prx (recently at least)

They are slowly regressing back to 2022 Champs PRX and it's hard to watch

Since start of 2022 when they were playing APAC challengers then got into Masters Reykjavik 2022. Their explosiveness was refreshing to watch, Benkai walkouts were entertaining, and Jinggg/Forsaken was making Reyna/Yoru work in pro play.

They had their ups and downs, and now they just look so bad. Like where is the 2023 prx that took Pacific's first trophy, and played so damn well at champs (until choking in the grand finals)?

Yeah honestly at this point I don't know what they really need to wake up, they don't seem to have that drive anymore

Each group would now have Pacific VS EMEA, Americas vs China.

Totally agree with you, it sometimes look like they are just playing ranked once their strats get countered, the strat book looks way shallower than what they were doing in Pacific, and they keep playing with this confidence that doesn't feel justified, though I feel because of that they did managed to string a few rounds together on Lotus.

yeah G2 had so much prepped for themselves, they allowed spaces to be taken knowing they can retake it. Icy's flashes were so crazy when they fight at A, it always doesnt get broken and flashes so many people

They're not gonna recover from this man. Not landing shots, getting ready like a book, and imo sova is a downgrade to kayo in icebox. No flashes really hurts the team when taking space.

Same man, I'm here with you brother. It still stings when they had so much time to prepare but still play like today. But I'm recovering from it as we speak. The other teams and games are definitely more entertaining than what we saw just now.

G2 prepared for this way better man. I knew it would be bad when they changed kayo to sova for icebox. No flashes is so hard for retakes. They had to keep dry swinging into fights, and then they lose them.

For Lotus there were some thoughts but G2 really played their retakes on first half to perfection. Fade ults were always used in tandem with flanks, and their flashes and trades were better.

They had bad strats and bad aim today. Literally got read by a book by G2, especially on Icebox, and couldn't really shoot back for Lotus.

They don't deserve to win. Threw so many rounds man. The strats were bad, and the players weren't really shooting back.

They kept giving sites with no proper utilities to retake. Lev knew that and they were winning so many rounds off a free site

I got a laugh out of that

I think BLG with their 2-0 against NRG can be a wild card (and made people excited), and EDG has the potential to represent CN if they played like back in Masters Tokyo. Generally just excited to see more CN games on the international stage

FPX continue to prove they are worthy on the international stage, even with this loss. GG to both teams, it was a banger BO3

That's going to haunt them once more man

Dude it was like seeing PRX man no cap