the comp seems kinda all over the place
interested to see what they'll cook

1. because it is (seems like most agree)
2. this is the second time C9 have dropped someone when most if not all other teams have had their contracts finalised, effectively screwing over the player's tier 1 prospects (especially if he wants to IGL)

surely there's no way C9 survive the partner review in 2027

edit: its official https://x.com/C9VAL/status/1863768084621766684

I never said any of this anywhere (In fact I say the opposite in the second line, in bold)
you're looking for someone to say these things for some reason

What I'm saying will be equally true for Bangkok, even if FNC win it

I never generalised SEN fans so why are you generalising all FNC fans?

Yeah 100%
I've thought about this too
and honestly the only way I can think is to copy the Worlds playoff format (see #16)

Sure for #1 (100k is still a lot) but the rest of the prize pool trickles down to the rest of the teams

on avg Madrid teams made less than Shanghai teams (500k/8 vs 1000k/12)

Yeah I agree with you on that
The distinction between Champs and Masters 2 should be clearer.

This is a completely separate and out there take but I think Champs should be Bo5 Single Elim for playoffs

shanghai and madrid are equals

this is not an objective fact though, sure I agree the trophy holds the same value, but the event doesn't

I just completely disagree with your take on events

You think only the top teams matter at international events matter, and that the lower teams are insignificant.
Also your point on seeding's pretty shoddy, we've seen lower seeds do well and higher seeds flop.

Those lower teams are still important in my opinion, sure they're less important than the top teams but they're not so insignificant that they deserve to be cut out.

Upping the prize pool and increasing the number of teams won't make it the 'most expensive' event. Yeah it will drive up the cost on Riots end but it'll make orgs more attractive to invest in it'll likely increase viewership and therefore bundle sales. The VCT ecosystem will be better off

Also what is this about not wanting an answer? I want to argue, that's why I made this post. We are arguing. If you don't want to argue fine, don't

edit: also you can still have variety, in fact you should have variety. Just not with Masters, but with Champs

Madrid was 500k and Shanghai was 1M
Seoul was 2.25M

Sure, maybe G2 wouldn't have. But how do you know they or another team didn't have it in them?
I never said the best teams don't win, and I am not downplaying the winners of Masters 1 (cmon, literally the second line of the post, in bold)
If 'who tf cares' what's wrong with trying to make the format more consistent?
This post is about the event itself not the winners, I think you've misunderstood

imo that's fine
in fact I think it should be that way (similar dynamic to MSI and Worlds)

but surely Masters should = Masters right?

That's not the point
For Madrid, we had GSL style groups with seeding
For Stage 1 we had half a round robin

meaning that if you lose two games it's a gg at kickoff
the top teams will get through regardless of the format, but it completely kills off teams who have the potential to win events, but need a bit to find their footing when the season starts (Take G2 for example, I think if we had 3 slots + a stage format they would've easily qualified)

I'm assuming you're not against 12 teams

from here on out?
Prefacing this by saying: I am not claiming Masters 1 is mickey mouse, or that it isn't a commendable achievement

It seems Riot have settled on making the decision to have Kickoff qualifying for Masters 1 and Split 1 for qualifying to Masters 2. imo this is really bad, I think it should be consistent.
Kickoff is a cool idea, but I think there's just no place for it (LCQ is a very similar, but more fitting imo).
The prize pools for 2025 haven't been announced yet afaik, but going off of 2024: Masters 1 is worth half of Masters 2. This actually makes the difference between Masters 1 and Masters 2 very similar to the difference between Masters 2 and Champions (outside of different group formats). Honestly to me this really makes it look like Riot are pushing for Champs > M2 > M1 when it should be Champs > M2 >= M1

Speaking of consistency we have to talk about the number of teams, 8 is far, far too few and I'm frankly surprised I haven't seen more people speak about this. It should be 12 teams, the exact same as Masters 2. The only plausible explanation is that Riot wants to save money, which I understand, but 8 teams really undermines the title of 'Masters winner' imo

tl;dr: Both Masters have different ways to qualify, Prizepool is very different, M1 has 8 teams only

so real, I think he really must've inspired the up-and-comer next to him
I'm sure he'll go on to do great things

Genetics + prolonged and consistent practice

yeah I feel like people overrated them a bit, but because of that it might make a lot of people feel like they were more disappointing than they actually were

yeah my bad

here

Kuronami Vandal
but it's also because I mostly use the vandal

wow

I agree with your jinggg take
but honestly with all things considered imo PRX still had a decent year

2nd Kickoff
3rd Madrid
1st Stage 1
5-6th Shanghai
3rd Stage 2
and then grouped at Champs (Yeah this was disappointing, but I think they had a hard group in hindsight)

is marved or kirya first

I think just play more consistently
and more in general

then you should be good

I think duelist as a pro player
since as a pro, everyone has cracked aim, you can't (outside of a handful of exceptional players) rely on your aim to carry you. You have to make small micro decisions which let you outplay your opponents.

I think it's a lot like early PRX

They'll succeed against teams who don't anti-strat or have a lower quality of anti-stratting. But against teams who will review their VODs properly and prepare for the players habits I think it'll become a lot harder for them. Especially because they're running (pretty much) the same comp on every map.

I think it's harder to see right now because they're new and there are no VODs to go over (This exploits the concept with some of the one-and-done comps we see in tier 1).

With that being said I really hope they stick together and try and fight to ascension, since I will 100% watch their games

no way this guy is back again

https://www.over.gg/16654/revive-the-website

they tried

over.gg ahh post

yep

as someone who's been to both extremes (of not warming up at all vs spending more time to warm up than playing):

I always go in the range for 3-5 mins, if I feel like I'm aiming fine I queue
if I don't I play deathmatch until I feel more confident (sometimes it's taken like 4-5 deathmatches)

pathing is key
I realised a few days ago that it wasn't my aim which was holding me back, but my pathing, I started watching Jinggg VODs for raze and whoever for Jett

https://tracker.gg/valorant/profile/riot/Aayan%232005/overview

learning how to effectively peek is super key and goes hand in hand with pathing, I found I was overexposing myself to multiple angles instead of clearing them one by one, which often caused me to die

I was not planning on watching NA tier 2 next year
but after seeing RANKERS play their last few games, I'll definitely be watching their matches

bros probably burned millions just by being in esports

just let bro be happy 😭

Frankfurt is the most balanced, you will get the worst (and best) of every other server
Paris stay away
London is hit or miss (depends if you get toxic French people)
Warsaw I haven't played but I've not heard good things
I've heard Stockholm is the best but I haven't played since it's like 50 ping

always knew something was fishy

wherever I go it haunts me 😭

thanks
although I've been told its a bad thing since it means I don't spray enough

maybe I was just stuck there for the longest but plat was the worst in my experience
https://tracker.gg/valorant/profile/riot/Aayan%232005/performance

diamond is easily second worst

I just tuned in,
he hinted that he's trying to bait the streamsnipers since he has early access to reporting streamsnipers

When I make my lists I try and aim for 5 teams in S
Rule 2 kinda goes with that

ehh nah idk about 3 seems too restricting

here's the last one I did: https://www.vlr.gg/425156/another-tier-list
only thing I would change on this list between then and now is to put Trace C tier

20 bucks DFM win
to a charity of my choice

if LEV win 20 from me to a charity of your choice

I agree with your point
not with your reasoning

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC-BJToSgmR/?igsh=MTVpbjFvNmNybnVnZQ

settings > bettervlr > second option

using bettervlr to disable stars >

https://i.imgur.com/ZBRmOEq.png

W gaming is so back

it happens again
one match too late
its happening before this
or who knows maybe rapid lofi are the new nrg kryptonite

December 13th
be there

the western saying is 'pot calling the kettle black'
wok is a fun variation though

easy for mongolz