Only way I can watch esports in games I'm not playing/invested in learning about are co-streams. You just miss the hype of certain moments otherwise and it just isn't satisfying.

I just hope they actually have someone locked in and they aren't just being used as the 'bargaining chip' org for players to get better offers at the orgs they are actually looking at. NA's partner teams are looking hella dangerous I hope we have a roster that can do damage.

think you might've forgotten to not copy paste to the alt account brotha.

They are already joking about not praccing. I hope they do as well cuz with these OQ games it's obvious their ceiling is very high. Based on some of the stuff they said this stream they are at least going over notes and shit that FNS is prepping for them off-stream even if not fully praccing.

omg

FNS probably didn't have time to do anti on WU like he did against counterfeit, if WU has a good read I could see it being close, but with how on point Masterclass looks I think they take it easily.

He needs money to start oping, they are getting farmed, there's potential for a 13-0 on a qualifying round

When your heart's not in it your heart's not in it. Gotta remember this is s0m after he's had a long break of just streaming and enjoying himself. They probably would've still been a strong team but it's hard to say how'd they match up with the other teams that also leveled up last year.

I definitely see the potential of this team, both Subroza and S0m have really good reads on the game. If they actually practiced consistently and didn't have all that drama/laziness at the start I think they could easily be one of the best OQ teams. But their comms are still pretty messy and Subroza overcalls a lot of S0m's calls when he has his own play in mind. Hopefully they make it through OQ and we can see them a bit cleaner and actual strats.

This is only the start of how messy open qualifiers are about to be.

Eeiu was performing too good to not get a T1 offer, so not too surprised he got picked up. As much as I wish we got to keep the squad for another go around, I don't blame them for changing after a great but not exceptional year. Hope Brawk is successful wherever he goes.

They aren't showing their real comps or any of their strats. They basically played comfort agents and just got reps in, same with the other team which was just a pug team. So there is still potential for stuff like that but considering they only have maybe 4 more days of practice who knows how experimental they are going to get.

A lot of these guys have competed in streamer tourneys and similar events, so I think they still have that competitive instinct you'd expect to have outside of ranked. But if they aren't scrimming then I think it really depends on what FNS cooks up for if they can go far. But there is also a lot of players that just got released from the partnership system that have so many reps on them that I think they'd need a miracle to make it deep in the bracket.

Nice Nice!

Congrats 100T, the individual form + game-plan reads were very good, idk if they look as crazy as they did during EWC & Stage 2, but they look dangerous enough to make a run. As far as the match, I saw a way for NRG to win the 1st map, but 2nd map was super clean from 100T. And considering how they got dismantled by Loud on Summit I doubt we would've closed that out even if we managed to get there.

I'm sure the boys probably wish they had a stronger showing for their last time on stage this year but I'm so glad they stayed so consistent all year. It has been a fun journey having this team to support w/ multiple chances of lifting trophies. Wish we could've managed to win one of them with Keiko but that's just how it is sometimes when everyone is leveling up. Now I can just relax and enjoy the last matches without the stakes of caring about ppl tossing game-changing rounds. GL to the Thieves.

I'm not mad, more in shock. Individually Loud look insane rn tho, and they are capitalizing on NRG's misplays very well, WP to them.

They lost a couple aggressive plays early, then started playing back and luk xo just started walking over them, skuba realized it but there's still a lot to adjust in a short period of time I'm definetely worried.

As long as we keep improving on the map, Anti can only do so much. I believe

Bro what is this jinx shit, we look good on a map we haven't won all year, we had chances to bring it back on Haven from 9-3, our map pool is looking strong. This is a champs winning map pool rn I am so happy.

Prx has been so close to greatness for so long, sucks seeing them go out like that. I hope they at least manage to keep a core of players for next year, but losing like that is rough.

The 2 odins weren't even the problem, the problem was s0pp missing every op shot. They had an op and 2 odins and lost the round cuz s0pp didn't connect on 2 free shots.

One thing I respect about XLG is they were playing to win, they weren't playing not to lose. Even though it led to some dogshit pushes, bringing it to 11-13 twice is crazy compared to what most ppl expected. There's actually a world where they win 2-0 if a couple individual plays go their way.

Bro can we relax with some of these fun facts, I wanna be able to enjoy the chance of Ethan getting the 3-peat without having to worry about jinxes.

YES YES YES

I'm pretty confident we take it 2-0 or 2-1, but I think it will depend on how well we fixed our weak maps during the break. KC will definitely try to take advantage of that, but all the boys look in form rn.

I'm just glad mada's hand injury didn't lead to him not playing well at Champs, at least so far.

I just hate picking that shit up after I kill an enemy.

If any of the CN teams can win their opening match, w/ the crowd buff I believe they can do some damage and build momentum. With the form these teams are in though if they aren't winning their opening games idk if I'm confident on a team outside of EDG making it outta groups.

If you look deep enough you can find unethical and shitty stuff supporting any platform. Kick has some much more obvious negatives like some of the streamers they promote, connections to gambling etc. If you are just looking to watch a specific streamer I don't think you have to worry that much just watch, enjoy and move on.

#NRGWIN Bonkar do whatever you need to do to make sure the team is in form please.

They've won 2 recently (1 being an offseason event)... what has Sen done recently?

Bro who do I have to pay to change that group bro

Yeah hope he recovers. Not knowing the recovery time also can't feel too bad if they look shaky on some maps going into it, since they'll most likely have to practice without Mada while he recovers. I think if we make it out of groups I'm confident NRG can win the whole thing, I'm just worried all these unexpected factors might lead to a worse showing than we expect.

Considering his most recent tweet: https://www.reddit.com/r/ValorantCompetitive/comments/1w8ftl8/mada_injury/ , I think you are probably close to the truth. But think it's mostly just additional tilt knowing that mada isn't playing his best that also plays into it.

GGs to Loud, glad they are going to champs with what they showed. But seeing NRG take 2 tech pauses for Mada and him constantly trying to heat up his hands and rotate his wrists mid match had me worried. Hoping it doesn't end up being anything serious and he has enough time to recover and put up a performance for champs.

They took 2 pauses for him, only thing we heard from casters was something about cold hands. I hope it's nothing too serious.

classiC

Loud played really well. Although momentum is with NRG, I do feel if Loud manage to beat NRG on Lotus they would be in a position to do really well at champs. This kinda Bo5 for a rookie team has to do wonders for their mental.

Now he just needs to learn how to not team flash.

Yeah without knowing Bonkar/Mitch's thoughts we probably don't know exactly but my guess it's probably targeting mental/momentum. NRG feels like w/ their experience they will still be playing to full potential throughout all 5 maps, so they are fine playing their worst maps early. While Loud might start making more mistakes later into the series. Idk if it'll actually play out that way but I'd say that's a pretty reasonable thought process when facing a team of rookies with more on the line than your team.

I think people are overreacting saying NRG is throwing/not trying, but ppl also gotta realize NRG's map pool got exposed yesterday by 100T. Them starting with their worst two maps is probably one of their best chances to win. They made changes to those maps to try and improve their chances to win and Loud just outplayed them. It's a two birds with one stone thing, they are testing their worst maps and trying to refine their ideas b4 champs, and they have the confidence to win the last 3 maps. If Loud wasn't so clean/clutching on the first 2 maps there's a chance NRG won one of the 1st 2 maps and then there would be no talk of throwing. Loud is just playing out of their mind, and they have the crowd behind them.

My problem is I can't tell if we are on the right track with improving our map pool. If Keiko/mada are farming I think the comps are alright, but when they get neutralized we don't seem to have strong answers to challenge aggressive teams like 100t/lev. But idk if they have enough time before champs to do a complete rework v.s. just getting more reps and improving what they already have.

NRG just looks uncomfortable unfortunately. Was hoping the time they had off skipping play-ins would help but they still don't look fully comfortable with the roles they are playing on these maps. Also there are small things that 100T are taking advantage of that are single-handedly winning them rounds. Just on Sunset there was an angle that mada failed to clear twice that if he cleared it NRG possibly could've gotten back into the game. Hopefully this loss gives them a bit more context on what they need to improve on.

Losing here v.s. losing in champions would ofc be better, but personally I always want NRG to win. Think momentum is super important in this game and I think the confidence of winning regionally would play well into their chances of getting a back-to-back champs.

100T look strong, and the amount of clutches they had I'm not that concerned about the scoreline. I'm more concerned about how uncharacteristically NRG played some of the clutches. Like that brawk clutch where he knows there's only 1 guy and he's jiggling from the window, Brawk almost never dies there but he gave Vora the kill for free. Idk if they just don't have enough reps on Abyss yet but they could not regain momentum at all after 100t stole it from them round 2.

For me it's less about the regional v.s. international title, I just want them to win a title with Keiko on the roster. I think it'll put them in a good mental headspace for champs.

It's possible but a lot needs to go wrong for them. But none of the teams left have perfect map pools and 100T is strong enough to beat NRG in the upper bracket to start the 'nightmare scenario' for LEV.

Yep. The passion Japanese casters have for their teams make some great moments. It'd be a shame for them to have no representation in the final tourney of this era of partnership.

Varrel for sure, I'd love for a Japanese team to make it to champs this year.

Form won't be the excuse if they don't win I feel. They've been looking pretty good. I think it mostly depends if they have strong answers for some of the stronger double duelist teams. A strong double duelist team once they get momentum is hard to beat, even for a team as resilient as NRG. On a good day they can beat LEV, 100t, NS, etc, but doing that consistently over the course of a whole tourney could be rough.