it definitely will in conversations where people will try to retroactively take away credit from the winners (if they aren't a fan of them)

in the end though debating what could've been is completely pointless. reality is all we have to work with and the inevitable "well fpx/fnatic with no standins would have beat xyz soo" platitudes are actually just a waste of time

i rep albania because they look like the villains in a fantasy show that try to take over the planet

they literally said they would have FPX as first if they could lol

Source: I made it up

some people project themselves onto the teams they support, so if their team is doing poorly they take it personally

you notice it alot with regular sports fans

buzz on jett is better than rb on jett

BUT rb on jett is much much better than rb on sova/flex

and considering that buzz is a very good sentinel as is, i think the decision to shift roles makes a ton of sense.

don't be tricked into thinking they're get rich quick schemes, the only reason he's so high up is because he's competed at a pro lvl in multiple different strategy games before. guy is just built for it, random joe #39920 won't be able to instantly replicate that success

my friend is one of the top players in axie infinity and lets just say his paycheck fluctuates wildly

but when hes doing well ive seen his numbers and they're pretty huge lmao

imo would be egregiously op, having no cast time and instant proc would mean extremely fast pops

not fluent but definitely good enough to play for an english speaking team

he’s said on stream that he’s interested in playing for an NA team hmmmm

real talk tho he’s definitely joining dwg, gets me hype about their rebuild if so

There's no reason to have a tournament only for females because everyone can play in the normal ones already

reread my entire comment

a lot of it will depend on how rb plays on lan, he's had a history of choking in the important matches and now he's playing duelist so his presence is even more relevant. honestly i think they have a decent shot though, even though a lot of people here seem to think they're trash kek

not a hot take just a dumb surface level take that everyone has when they hear about womens esports for the first time

the official "pro" circuit is mixed gender, game changers exists to raise awareness and cultivate a community for women to get into esports because the demographics are absurdly male dominant. they create role models and inspire opportunity in young girls that are interested in gaming, demonstrating that they can compete too

the reason "men are better than women" is because for basically the entirety of esports, its been structurally beneficial for guys to get into it and assimilate into the culture. there is no genetic advantage, its just that the system fundamentally favors guys as is

game changers has bigger influences than just being a female pro circuit, it's literally working to change the pipeline for women in gaming in general

https://tracker.gg/valorant/profile/riot/OpTic%20yay%239901/overview

guard look extremely clean on haven

if they’re actually playing with 2 subs, i don’t care how good h1ber and fearoth are. the odds of them being coordinated enough to beat drx are seriously low

nip on the other hand play just chaotic enough that i could see them brute forcing a win

i aint reading all that

im happy for you tho

or sorry that happened

tl 2-0 to honor fpx's name

laz sugarzero and crow are consistent factors

matches will be decided on whether tennn and dep show up in good form or not

dude you got 2 downvotes in 20 seconds, these threads are being spawn camped i swear lmfaooo

it’s kinda funny, i think a group of ppl here are so adamant that drx are overrated that they’ve swayed opinion all the way to make them underrated again

zeta 2-1 insane amounts of copium intake

Lmao I thought i was the most invested in ZETA but even i doubt they’re making it out of groups

It is more entertaining to make grand predictions than lukewarm takes though i guess

ye thats why i mentioned him, tons of potential. love to see zoomers with discipline

this isn't a "best players" list, its just players to look out for

ive watched a decent amount of games from every region attending masters so these are just my brief impressions. probably will do a more comprehensive writeup later

5) loud -- less
most standout player from vct brazil to me. top level mechanics + able to lock down sites singlehandedly, but his decision making impressed me more than his aim. strong sense of macro play/timings, the way he meticulously takes map control and sets himself up for lurks are basically the backbone of loud's success. has all the makings of a top level sentinel player, curious whether he can replicate that same influence over the map against teams hes unfamiliar against and when the pressure's on.

4) zeta division -- sugarz3ro
ive sung this guy's praises before. imo the second best player in japan (short of his teammate laz, who has to be first because of his terrifying consistency). the entire zeta roster leveled up, picking up 3 players that represent the apex of their respective roles. sugarz3ro is the lynchpin of their evolution, always finding the optimal way to support his teammates. talents of a top level duelist with the mindset of the most self-sacrificing support. viewers will overlook em but any team that underestimates this roster will get a rude awakening.

3) paper rex -- jingg
freak of nature. guy is on the same team as f0rsaken yet somehow stands out. on a man to man level can match any player at iceland and will come out on top most of the time. scary level of consistency as a foil to his counterpart's explosiveness make for a duo that has enough offensive force to break through any teams defense. paper rex have the most individuality out of any team and jingg thrives in the ecosystem of controlled chaos they generate. it's going to be entertaining to see him and forsaken barrel down enemy setups at 300 mph.

2) g2 esports -- nukkye
nukkye is simply one of the, if not the best at what he does. at a surface level it seems like he just goes around running over the opposition every map but in reality he has an exceedingly cerebral and methodical approach to how he plays the game. a monster of consistency, put him in a disadvantageous spot and it feels like he's hardwired to find the most optimal path as quickly and effectively as possible. watching him in a clutch scenario and seeing him procedurally dismantle the enemy team feels like something you should have to pay for.

1) the guard -- sayaplayer
i've been guilty of doubting the guard under the notion of lan inexperience potentially biting them. but if there's one player that is but destined to shine under pressure, it's sayaplayer. he knows what it feels like to carry the weight of his entire team on his back when it matters. only this time, he's accompanied by one of the most coordinated teams na has fielded since valorant's inception. he's already made a name for himself in north america, this is where his name is going to be recorded among the best in the world -- the star that deserved more in overwatch will reap his reward here instead.

broken clock is right twice a day

when it's na and brazil it's xenophobia apparently

its not that deep, he memed it for the apac and japanese teams too

https://twitter.com/yayFPS/status/1510021133738778625

actual pcs pog streams coming soon perhaps

not that unrealistic considering the current state of the emea teams

honestly a minor region winning would be much more entertaining to me though

guy that cried about elige bullying him

if you're gonna fake flag there are so many better options than google translate

guard look great but i can easily see them going down like 0-5 on a map and the inexperience + nerves making them crumble under the pressure

99% of the "drx best team world" fans stopped after they lost to c9 lmao, i wouldn't even put them top 10 rn for annoying fans but all good

bro you hate drx so much LMFAO i see you shitting on them literally every thread

three takes, one with 10% chance of happening, one with 50% chance, and one with 90%

mine for example:

10% chance that grand finals has no na OR emea teams
50% chance that guard choke under pressure and underperform
90% chance that loud upsets a team from na/emea at least once

who knows, i agree that zest is a level below the others in terms of mechanical skill

but i also trust in stax's understanding of the game and if he himself believes that zest is better off as the igl it gives enough weight towards his value

optic vs fnatic
drx vs guard
zeta vs kru
loud vs fpx (rip)

shoxie (cs)
flash (brood war)

ninja (fortnite)

fisker was really poor at masters... like waaay below his usual level. probably pressure + playing against better opponents

choking is always a possibility, and honestly im not even saying they're going to place high. but they for sure will not get stomped like the previous JP rosters, this is a team that will put up a fight against anyone at iceland IMO

said it multiple times already

if you judge zeta based off how JP has done at previous events you're trolling, this team is waaaay stronger than their previous roster. like uncomparably stronger

dropped 2 useless + 1 decent player for 3 top players

player to watch for is sugarz3ro, guy is fuckin insane

they look good but are getting set up for potential failure

first time lan experience for some of their players + pressure to finally put up results for their region is a scary recipe

hope they do well

I'm pretty sure ZETA is at a similar level to prx/xia, people are just assuming they're going to tank because of JP at previous events but they haven't seen how much stronger this roster is

this zeta roster is EASILY three, maybe four times stronger than the one at berlin. literally a dimension of difference between the two teams

rest of the competition is fierce and sure, there's a chance they crash out. but they definitely will impress some people that are writing them off rn

none i hope we get close matches all the way and nobody goes home after getting rolled in two 2-0s

i want to see sugarzero and dep at lan

but i also want to see meiy at lan

damn

pyth had 20 kills at 10-2
now he has 26 at 12-12

havent seen pyth play this well since 2017