Sen have just always been shit at getting first bloods. They've always been good at winning once they get a FB (mostly due to how every iteration was based on mechanical ability), but they've never been great at converting first engements into first kills. Now that they have 1) no role issues 2) an even higher mechanical peak and 3) the best framework in the orgs history, they should be set up better than ever to be a good team.

Daily reminder that Prime Tenz is just Tenz when he converts his first engagements into first kills. He's basically always in the top 3 of most first deaths but when he was referred to as prime TenZ he just went positive in FB-FD. Like, Sen vs Fnatic finals in 2021, Tenz went 19-2 in FB-FD. He's never been put into a good framework to truly succeed.

Last note, THANK GOD PANCADA IS ON SMOKES AGAIN. 2 points here, kinda related. 2023 was the most valuable Sentinels have ever been, and Sen had a bad sentinel, it just wasn't a fit for pancada. Second point, Pancada was one of, if not the single most, useless players. He didn't die much, he didn't kill much, he didn't clutch much, he didn't do much at all. I'd just pack this in as a symptom of the role change. Just getting him more engaged, PLUS the fact that JohnQT is a better player than deph or (hate me, i don't care) marved were in 2023, will allow the whole team to feel way more comfortable and play better overall.

My goat

My goat dropped 32 on the most important map of 2022, including going 12-3 against your goat, topping it off with 7 of the last 10 kills of the map (to win OT).

That's my goat. THE goat.

Zellsis quite literally plays every role and is an amazing emotional leader. He is made to be the perfect 6th man. He's a perfect content guy. There isn't a single 6th man in the whole scene who is at Zellsis' value with the sole exception of screwface.

i was going to say some un-okay things, but thinking about it, he didn't have a great year and I agree that nuking the roster (not keeping k1ng and sylvan) is wack.

The week Evil Geniuses beat OpTic Gaming. Looking back onto this specific match on a random week of NA's second 2022 stage, this match might have defined 2023 as a whole.

Here is the context:

Obviously, this was the Optic coming off an International Lan victory - this was the best team in the world. This team was 3-0, dropping a single map to C9 (Who had just went 5-0 in stage 1, getting 3rd in playoffs - they weren't quite washed yet) and having a relatively easy time against Faze, while bodying Sen.

EG had just gone 0-5 in Stage 1 of NA, winning just 2 maps. They decide to keep their star op-ers in Boostio and Jawgemo, alongside their smokes player, Reformed. They now have c0m and apoth on the roster, but get 9-12th in the open qualifiers - losing to V1 and 100T. Thankfully they make it out of the second round of open qualifers. They lose their first game to C9, 2-0 with an overtime on map 1, but they bring it back and crush luminosity 2-0 in week 2. Now, it was time to face Optic.

Long story short, EG was able to beat optic on map 1 and 3 (with maps 2 and 3 being just a two round difference). Both winning maps were led by Boostio on the chamber, who went +4 against yay in the series.

But why was this match so important? Well, EG was not seen as a good team at this point. Going 0-5 in the first stage and fumbling groups was not a good thing for them. This match made EG the team that beat Optic. Yes, EG only got 5th-6th in playoffs, and went 0-2 in LCQ, but they were still the team that beat Optic. EG only made playoffs because they beat Optic.EG was only considered hopeful once they beat optic. The interesting thing is though, if EG lost to optic that core and potter are likely dropped for franchising. Think about it - a whole year of mediocrity, a whole year where their best performance is beating luminosity. No way that core gets through. Then we don't get the beautiful story of EG in 2023.

Moral of the story: FNS fucking made these kids, pipe the fuck down.

Idk, I almost failed pre-cal cause I played through Paper Mario instead of listening and played more Paper Mario instead of doing the homework.

Play paper mario, great game.

bcj got it and that's all I care about

To quote Leo "Promotion is earned in-game, not out of it."

If Leo and Riot do not want to set a precedent of... whatever... the best solution I can offer is very simple: Replay Top 4 of America's Ascension. This becomes a special situation, and Riot can then cite it as one. Bring back 9z, M80, Union, and the former Guard roster - letting the roster chose their org. If it gives the Union, M80, or 9z another opportunity to win, so be it. If Guard win it again, they DOUBLEY deserve it. I don't think it's fair for "Promotion is earned in-game, not out of it." when Promotion can be destroyed SOULY outside of the game. If he doesn't want a precedent, let them prove it in game. I'm sure the players would rather this than nothing at all.

Even just replaying the final of M80 and Guard, WHO WERE THE BEST TWO TEAMS IN ALL OF ASCENSION FOR THE WHOLE YEAR.

If we can have something, just let them earn it in any way possible.

I think it'd feel worse for NOTHING to happen rather than the team that was neck-and-neck with you the ENTIRE year to get the spot.

I mean, a certain some ones have just been cucked out of franchising.

s0m is the prototype of Demon1, he can play whatever the fuck you need

The most NA week of all of NA

• Win Champs
• Player gets over 100 assists in 2 maps (GC)
• roster fucked by Twitter
• org being sued for being financial rats
• every other pro roster being split in half
• FNS streams

God I love this region.

If Tenz could get the FB consistently he'd be a top 5 player in AM, but instead he's tied with Keznit for the most first deaths on all of AM. Just remember, he went 19-2 in first bloods at Masters 1. Him being at his prime is just winning opening gunfights.

I'm still huffin on my good old Foxy9 hopium

I got school and shit

Who the fuck thinks Tokyo was fraudulent.

EMEA fans like Republicans, gotta create their own oppression.

He had exalt, it's unfair

AM had 50% of its representatives in top 3
EMEA had 0% of it representatives in the top 3

Fnatic heard VLR call them the "1" team in EMEA and they took that too literal.

Until EG beat PRX or Fnatic, I'm doubting them to win a tourney

People didn't get mad at EG for losing to prime Fnatic, so there is no need to make fun of NRG for losing to the goats of the game, the next Champ winners, Bilibili Gaming.

I ask the 1, maybe half, of a Riot Dev who may possibly skim over this godforsaken site that I can ban out a map or 3 in my ranked/unrated games.

We are getting 10 maps total after Champs, 3 of which will be out of the competitive pool. Those 3 maps will likely be Haven, Ascent, and Icebox - 2 of which have been staples of the game since its official launch. With the backbones of the map pool gone, I think it's the perfect time to implement a system of map choice for Ranked and Unrated modes. Why is the 99.9% of thr player base LOCKED into the pro-oriented map rotation? I think that question becomes more and more weak when we consider how (in the next few months) a complete rollout of Premier will be released. THAT is the path to pro, THAT should follow a pro pool - not my Plat lobby games. People who want to play maps they like will do so, players who want to continue practice on the pro circuit of maps will also do so. I don't even need a complicated system, just let me check of maps that I would like to play. Fuck it, make the minimum like 5 maps so you can abuse it for leaderboard or anything.

Now to cover some concerns:

What about new maps or reworked maps? Make them unbannable for a week or two. Force people to check them out and gain experience on them.
What if some maps aren't being played? I feel like that's a positive of this system being implemented - it will provide a much better way to discern what maps are liked or disliked by the community and changes should be addressed based on that information.
What if we never get a ban-system for Val? I might just fucking end it all.

Short Version: We have Premier for pro-map circuit, let me - casual timmy - play whatever the fuck I want in my fun shooter game.

I just don't like the vibes of these socialist fucks.

(Holy shit I want to move to Europe more than anything, but hot damn are they shit at Valorant)

This last week has, in my opinion, been HUGE for Foxy9 - more than even participating at VCT events. Just watching him, he's the most confident he's ever been. He's sharper, he's louder. These are things we know he lacked at certain times in Pacific (Specifically his inconsistency and how much hes been publicly critisized for his small mistakes by his team). I think that this is the first time Foxy9 hasn't felt like he's just competing in VCT, but actually felt like a full fledged player - a pro, beside Tenz and not behind him. Beyond it all, he's just been a kid and a fan for most of his VCT career. Playing- and dogwalking - NA ranked with such a large assortment of pros has clearly improved him as a player, just simply based in his confidence. I don't expect to see Foxy9 at Champs, but I do expect to see the best version of him starting in the 2024 Pacific VCT.

I'm a huge Foxy9 fan, and I'm hoping for nothing but the best for him.

Clearly the best sub-region in Valorant, fully boosting NA.

But fr, Loud hasn't looked this good since Lock//In. Great to see them playing like themselves again.

More importantly, AM is currently 4-1 against EMEA in Champs - I think that is 14-10 now in AM vs EMEA over the year.

Get a 2-2-2-2 for Champs would be HYPE

Plus if NRG win, we're just going to get El Clasico - NA vs NA first round at an international lan.

who can beat fnatic tho

Liquid? All that took was fnatic doing nothing to prepare or add to their gameplay AND soulcas + redgar overperforming.

I feel like this european genes shit started something a few years back...

6" 128lbs

or

183 cm 58kg

If something dropped 35 he would have still been called mid

Do not be out here disrespecting Bilibili gaming, cause bili is fucking gaming.

fut, fnatic, navi all won their first round

China good

China is my goat

China >>> EU, NA, Rest of Asia, the fucking Martians

China is the question and the answer. China is the statement, China is the truth, China is the first interaction and the final boss.

idk what's going on, but I'm like 0% sure there is video footage of Marved hitting a vape between maps. Was consuming nicotine mid-game allowed regionally? Is it just the nature of how snus was used? I'm sure this will cause riot to put out some sort of statement, just to give more information then.

Bro I've gone fucking mad I have no clue why I thought this about marved

Loud winning Champs, less drops 40 every map, dunks on lebron, and MVP's in both leagues. GG.

Cool, plus they soft confirmed 2 international events next year. Here's hoping for 2 masters type events and no bs lock//in style.

of course I'm counting lock in, it was the starter to the season. I'm talking about the year as a whole, so it would only make sense to include.

and, in theory, they can end the year with a POSITIVE RECORD. They'd have to win out every game for the rest of the year, but they could end the season 11-10. Just thought it was a cool little thing and a piggy back off of their LCQ run.

Set play team that saves in any lower-man situations is bad for the hard-entry Jett who is supposed to OP at every opportunity. Crazy.

I think Navi is trash too, but they ran (basically) the same comp on 3 separate maps, of which everyone - except Rhyme - had played their agents 4 OR LESS TIMES IN THEIR CAREER before that match. That's funny. I believe.

I trust in giants for some strange reason. I hate on EMEA teams a lot, but I believe in Giants to do... anything.

That's what I'm saying. Group A the REAL group of death, both LCQ teams looking good.

https://www.vlr.gg/event/560/champions-tour-asia-pacific-last-chance-qualifier

Yes, just like the 2021 Asia LCQ winner.

Group D won a total of 3 matches between the 4 teams at Masters Tokyo.

DRX and Navi has never looked worse.
Loud is on the downswing of their livespan.
And Liquid is historically VERY inconsistent.

Group A >>>> Group D

Nah, I already think group A is the group of death.

Group D is a bunch of has-beens and big names that make us think it's a group of death. COMBINED THEY WON 3 MATCHES AT MASTERS.

https://www.vlr.gg/pickem/2b462b57 ain't nobody ready for this pickem

Statistically, AM is 10-9 against EMEA with Fnatic being 7 of those losses. The other 2 were Kru and Lev vs Navi. However, that was the worst we had seen Kru (mid point from Levi) and the BEST Navi looked all year.