Any particular reason why you rate them?
| Flag: | United States |
| Registered: | June 15, 2023 |
| Last post: | August 28, 2025 at 12:30 PM |
| Posts: | 950 |
I imagine they’ll fight for the 4th slot at Champions then and we’ll get some good upsets during the regular splits. How exciting!
As far as I last heard, the roster is:
Is that correct? And if so, I have serious reservations about Havoc entirely and Heat on Sentinel. The former is a serial underperformer and the latter should be on initiator. Make it make sense to me please.
Really?
I feel like G2, NRG, and SEN are locks for Top 6 for sure. The next favored bunch would be LEV, MIBR, 100T and KRU who’ll fight for remaining slots for internationals.
The rest of the teams will fight for playoffs qualification but I doubt they’ll go to internationals.
So their roles will be:
It’s looking good! Almost like a Brazilian NRG.
Appreciate it dude!
It seems like I’ve put too much weight into the off-season and teams will probably sort out most of their issues once the regular season starts.
Do you think TS would have more success if they referenced Americas teams that have history crushed APAC aggression? I wonder if they could pick up G2’s disciplined style to make up for their lack of star players?
Ah, I mixed up BBL with M8 while going over rosters. When I brought up “floor” I meant what’s the expected placement if their players are performing to their baselines instead of going nuclear. Like I can’t see G2 dropping below top 6 in Americas if they just meet their expected minimum.
I didn’t realize how similar all the leagues are when it comes to how competitive the middle tier of teams are. Everyone has a chance to qualify to Champs. I’m gonna steal your word choice of “scalping”!
I keep seeing excitement for Primmie but what makes this team likely to perform better than this year where they lost out at groups in Champs?
Honestly I’m surprised he’s still competing tbh. I’m glad to see Shao back on initiator but I’m not super high on the roster in its entirety. Send me the hopium!
Interesting take. I can see why you’d put Mibr over Sen but I’m less confident in the new pickups over proven talents of N4rrate and Bang.
Why do you have VIT first when their IGLing is unproven?
I’m surprised you also have DFM over GenG! Where’s the faith in Munchkin, T3xture, and Karon?
DRX is an interesting case. I don’t see them beating their other Korean brethren but I’ve heard that Hyunmin and Freeing are extremely hot prospects. What am I missing that makes you think they could be dark horses?
TE seem like a feast or famine team with great upset potential. Kai and LuoK1ng are heavy fraggers but I’m worried about Biank since he’s so inconsistent.
I don’t really know any of the players in GE at all. What should I expect and who should I look out for? Give me the deeets!
Fracture actually has me hopeful for 100T since they’ve got Boostio and Zikz and their work on Bind proves they’re good for utility abuse and ultimate chaining.
Are BME really good at fracture?
So M8 is Click, RobbieBK, K4davra, Zyppan, and Profek. Who is switching to sentinel and where do you think their floor is? It feels like a lot of teams in EMEA can punch up but I have no idea what to expect from their respective average performances.
I agree with your Sen take but I don’t know why you’re high on LEV. The Demon1/Natank duo makes sense for their roles but I really need to see them at the riot games one tournament to get the hype.
My money is on DFM!
How would you rank the top China teams altogether?
I don’t understand BBLs roles. To be fair, I don’t know their players that well but their most recent match against GX has 3 players on 4 different agents and all 5 played at least two different roles.
Are they 5 Jamppi’s? What do I make of them?
Wow, first mention of Liquid!
Nats, Patitek, and Kamyk give me hope but I can’t get past my doubts for Keiko and Kamo. One of them is swapping roles to smokes but neither of them gave me any confidence on duelist tbh. What am I missing?
TH are pretty special man — more along the lines of 2023 EG. Are their T2 pick ups world class by the eye test or is it just the vibes you’re riding?
I know K4davra was one of their better players alongside Natank but I haven’t kept up with Zyppan since FPX. Wasn’t he on the decline?
Also, what’s the rest of the roster?
I’m still unconvinced by them. Their Shanghai run relied heavily on their uncontested Bind while their other maps were clearly less polished. At the same time, their role swaps are MESSY.
I’ve yet to see a team that has their star player flex 3 different roles with both the flex and IGL also having to flex for 2. It technically works out for their comps but undoubtably impacts their maps where they’re off primary comfort roles.
What makes you confident in them?
So Akame and Jinboong for the hype moments and Art for the cringe haha. It’s always good to get a feel for player personas so I know who the face of the team is!
Good to know that Adverso’s got it! I’m still a bit on the fence about Melser since he consistently underperformed this year but it’s possible it’s due to being the IGL.
Appreciate your perspective! LATAM needs more representation fs.
Do you think that the coaching and support system will be enough for Flor to clean up her tendency to overheat? She has the mechanical talent but lacks discipline imo.
I’m not too familiar with the roster tbh. Saadhak, Suygetsu, and Elite are all good though the swap to smokes is a bit worrying to me.
How would you rate marteen and avez? I think the former is a bit too inconsistent but I know nothing about the latter.
I’ve heard rumors that EG are picking up Icy. Do you think he’s good enough to get them across the line? If not, who else should they consider?
I didn’t know KOI picked up Vitality’s coach! It seems he was responsible for their Split 2 and Champs run, likely with the Sayf/Runner role swaps. He’s got a pretty extensive background huh.
Hearing that RRQ is similar to old PRX doesn’t fill me with much hope. The game has progressed to a point where everyone is familiar with inducing mistakes from hyper-aggression and punishing double duelist comps. It seems like their pick up of a dedicated scan initiator (Kush) might make up the difference though.
I didn’t know that Kr1stal wanted to leave himself but I supposed that makes sense since he joined GE. I’ll keep an eye out for XLG though — any specific player stand out?
Damn you’re a real underdog connoisseur.
I can see the EG Hopium with Yay, Supamen, DERREK and Potter but I don’t see this roster being consistent enough to compete for the top slots of the league. There’s an even lesser argument for 2GE.
I know KOI has two strong pillars in Sheydos and Grubinho but the question remains in whether Filu can translate his Ascension performance to T1 and whether Flyuh can adapt. I’m really hoping that role switch for their KC show match is off-season only though because Flyuh is not a smokes player but a flex instead. Fingers crossed.
I know literally nothing about RRQ. I’ve heard some hype for them from Platchat but it always falls flat. Why are you high on them?
XLG seriously bothers me. They had to choose between their cracked duelist or their cracked IGL and they chose the former. Why are you rating them?
I’ve got nothing to say about DFM and Wolves. They’re obvious Dark Horses by community consensus it seems!
MIBR reminds me of NRG in terms of its roster construction with 3 experienced players and two star talents. My major concern is that I’m unfamiliar with Nzr as an IGL and both Xenom and Cortezia are Smokes players. They lack a flash initiator/flex and it’s possible that Aspas won’t get the support he needs.
GX has potential but I still see them as a feast or famine roster that’s more likely to be the “Dalton Line” for EMEA. If you’re better than them then you have a chance to qualify but otherwise you’re mid. I don’t quite see it man.
I’m not familiar with V1nny’s IGLing but I’ll keep an eye out since you’re good for it. Hoping Dgzin is better too since I think Pancada deserves a solid team after what happened with SEN.
I totally forgot Runner swapped roles and his sentinel play is probably why I’ve been doubting him. You’re probably right.
I’m surprised you’re so high on SPG! Their game against BOOM was pretty close and kinda had me setting them as middle-of-pack team. Do you truly believe they’ll beat T1, DRX, Talon, and DFM and get top 3?
I know Juicy is from Singapore and Mandarin is the most common language there so it should be seamless. Curious what their roles will be though — maybe a full time Iso? Should be exciting!
Hey, appreciate the effort you put in to explain your picks!
How much does their match against Trust in Plug sway you? I know 100T has good talent and a world class IGL but I’m unsure whether the map pool will suit them; fewer Jett maps and Asuna looks rather uncomfortable on Neon. I worry for them given how competitive Americas looks.
If not FUT, who would you have had in your top 3? Also, KC is such a good shout and I know Engh and Saadhak are going to absolutely cook. I’m high on Elite but I’m concerned about Marteen’s inconsistency and how Suygetsu will adapt to Smokes. Maybe they’ll have everything sorted for Split 2?
What do you think makes TS so inconsistent? Some matches they’ll upset favorites and others they’ll just flop. I’ve been high in Invy for a while but I don’t watch enough of them to pinpoint why they just never seem to qualify for internationals. I’ll try to root for them with you though; we love an underdog story!
Keep seeing the Wolves hype! How far up do you think they’ll punch — past FPX?
Sell me the Apeks Copium. I might join you if it’s potent enough!
Second time seeing GX and Wolves.
I’ve got mixed feelings about KRU. They’ve got six on their roster right now but I think they’re dropping mta for adverso right? Who is going to be the IGL and can Keznit, Mazino, and Shyy make up for the other two?
DFM’s off-season makes them look promising but I haven’t had the chance to watch their matches. Which players should I look out for besides Meiy, and who’s the IGL?
Depends on your region and what time of day you play. I’ve found that playing before the evening when kids get out of school results in higher quality matches.
It could just be that your other skills are improving and you’re taking more advantageous fights that don’t require drastic aim improvement. Half of aim is just anticipation dude — maybe you’re just more mindful of the fights you’re about to take?
LOUD has a good core in Pancada, Cauanzin, and Tuyz for sure. I just doubt the other two because Dgzin is known to be toxic and V1nny has mediocre stats. Maybe I’m missing something?
GX has great talent in Cloud, Purp0, and Tomaszy — but Runner seems like a massive weak link to me.
I’m worried about SPG post Neon nerfs. Is Dambi good on other entries?
I don’t really know anything about the Wolves players but I know TMV is super hype about them. Which of them should I look out for?
Jawgemo. Dude is such a goofball and you just know he’s giggling after he styles all over your favorite player.
I don’t have time to follow every region so tell me which teams to look out for. I’m already familiar with the likely top 3 in each region
— but I wanna know who you think are Dark Horses that could qualify to internationals next year!
You can also contest my top 3 picks but tell me why you think your picks are better!
Ah, I misinterpreted your question. Thought you were just complaining about teammates as an instalocker.
Smokes are practically the most important utility in the game. You’re screwed at higher ranks if you don’t have them so either fill yourself or pray your opponents suck.
You’re going to struggle getting out of chokes because of crossfires or stalling out executes on defense. It’s also likely you’ll get hard punished by OPs at a much higher rate and you won’t be able to hold space for post plant. Only thing you can do is look for timings to find picks and snowball multi-frags — you need to be disruptive so the other team can’t capitalize on their utility.
Be the change you want to see. Otherwise you keep your mouth shut because beggars can’t be choosers.
And the team clearly has a culture problem because the org enables them to be complacent. They haven’t been to an international since 2021 and it’s evident that their current style of recycling the same players doesn’t work.
The rot is deep and they need to clean that shit out.
I don’t trust a single thing Immo says. He’s not the type of coach who’d take the fall for his players and he’s allergic to winning.
Genuinely one of the worst NA Valorant Orgs. Screwed over Yay in 2023 and did it again with Rossy for next year. You’d expect a level of professionalism where they talked with Rossy to resolve issues, try to shift him off the IGL role, or even kick him early so he’d have time to look else where — but they just straight up threw him under the bus.
I can’t imagine any potential star player would be interested in joining this mid-tier org when they can’t guarantee star coaching or job stability for a full season.
You realize that outside of GenG, not a single APAC team won against NA?
Because it’s the best player of the year — not a single tournament.
2021 - Tenz/Chronicle
2022 - Yay
2023 - Leo
2024 - Meteor/Riens/KK
Probably a bad idea to make it a habit of checking vlr right before or after matches. You’ll cook your mental with this brain rot.
Tunnel vision or mental strain probably. Play when you’re mentally relaxed but warmed up.
If your mechanics are good but you’re still losing then you’re not getting impactful frags. Keep in mind that Astra is one of the hardest controllers to get value out of at lower ranks because of the required coordination and negative incentives to take early duels. I would recommend you switch to Clove and take as many duels as you reasonably can so that you’re less reliant on your team for impact.
Sounds like I’m a T5 player! Good post
The point of that advice is get players to prioritize practicing their mechanics while gaining experience with committing to duels. That’s the deciding factor at lower ranks — can you convert your 50s?
Most sentinels/smokers play too passively and don’t know when to take risks simply because they don’t actively seek out fights. They also over rely on utility. Getting them to try out duelist helps combat these bad habits but isn’t a sure fire way to get them to climb.
My advice is to use this act to just send it on duelist and then slowly switch back to Sentinel and to start applying that aggression you’ve learned.
Your stats are inflated by your defense halves. You’ve got 2/3 of your FBs on that half and 240 ACS compared to 209 ACS on attack. I’d wager that you’re either a baiter and your team suffers for it or you have awful pathing for site executes.
High individual stats but low win rate has nothing to do with shit teammates over a larger sample size — it just means that your kills have low impact. Either you’re getting them later into the round when you already have numbers advantage or they’re exit frags when you’ve already lost the round. I’d wager you do both since your K/D is so ridiculously high that you take literally no risks.
Also, high stats below Ascendant mean nothing if they don’t translate to rr gain. They’re only good relative to players of the same rank and it’s a clear sign of improper play that you need to identify when VOD reviewing. Blaming teammates gets you nowhere.
For context — my individual stats are far worse than yours but I convert my rounds because of decision making.
Discord