We just saw Fnatic get dropped from the tournament, and I think there is no argument to be made that Fnatic was the BEST team of the year for 2023, but they fell short at Champs like the two best teams before them. In 2021 (this could be maybe debatable) I think Gambit was the best team of the year but just fell flat at the finals of Champs 21', and you could say the same for anyone who (mistakenly) believes SEN to be the best team of 2021. In 2022, Optic was the best team of the year, and once again fell flat at Champs 22. Could there be something to being the favorite/top dog coming into Champs, with all the pressure of everyone trying to take you down at the last event of the year, falling flat every single time?

schedule wise it should be in EU every year, but i just want an east coast tourney in america at some point (ascension 24 in boston?) but hopefully EU champs and masters

dont give me hope please with the - marved and + yay

Bro i aint sayin that something popping the fuck off with that 4k on pearl with that shorty isnt AMAZING but it feels like the games arent as good as they were last year like i want a fpx drx game again please

It feels like this year the quality of matches are a lot worse than last year, and the competitiveness of the overall game has gone down a lot. Last year the top 8 were full of matches like XSET vs LEV, DRX vs FNC, and even the group stages had some crazy games with FUR vs DRX, and the 100T vs FNC. It feels like this year all the games have just been very one sided, and no teams are really close to each other. The only memorable group match that I can think of is the NRG stomping and even that wasn’t even a good match because NRG just rolled over and died. Last year it felt like every single team had a chance to make a run at the title, but it just doesn’t feel the same this year. Maybe it’s just the nostalgia talking, but idk. Anyone else feel this way?

NRG cope is CRAZY and I am a fenis lover

C9, although often mistaken for Cloud9, actually stands for Choker9

The roots of this org start all the way back in LOCK//IN, where after dismantling DRX, the Pacific Kings on Pearl, the team threw away Haven, and lost the final map, Icebox, in an embarrassing 13-2 fashion.

Moving on to the VCT Americas Split, Choker9 played very well in the regular season, but in the Playoffs, they revealed their true colors, and lost to a team that barely scraped into playoffs in an embarrassing 5-13, 2-13 fashion. Their legacy would not be tainted, as in the lower bracket, in a match to redeem themselves to go to Masters Tokyo, they would go on to win the first map, but would lose their map pick of Lotus, which they were 5-0. As per the name, they proceeded to Choke, and lost the final map 12-14, losing the chance to go to Masters Tokyo.

That brings us to today, in the VCT Americas Last Chance Qualifier, in which Choker9 could not stop themselves, and against an 0-9 regular season team, KRU, they won the first map 13-4, then lost Pearl in what should have been a 13-0, and choked in the upper finals to a Map 3 Haven. In the lower finals, against Leviatan, it seemed that all would be perfect. C9 was up 2 maps, and on Map 3, split, they had a 6-6 half on attack, where the map was defender sided. Surely they would not choke this away, and the curse would finally be lifted! C9 went down in Split 7-12, but managed to rally back to get to 11-12, where they inevitably choked away the last round, and lost 11-13. As in true Choker9 fashion, they could not escape the curse, and ended up getting reverse sweeped in a BO5, something which (ironically) DRX has been able to do before.

That was the tragic tale of Choker9, and the curse that haunts the org.