The intangibles that Zellsis brings to the team are very important, which is often overlooked in roster construction.

Semmler is such a weirdo.
He's just doing anything to try and stay relevant.

He claims to want to the support the womens/gc scene despite being very openly against it from it's inception.
It's obvious he doesn't care about the scene at all and is only saying controversial statement for engagements.

Why do you keep posting these cookie-cutter ass posts

I kinda forgot spoons actually sells food.
Every time I hear about someone going to spoons I automatically think they are going there to get plastered.

Champs Port Talbot.

It would be very immersive when someone viper ults

Kicks rookie of the year

Don't think you can have a rivalry with how infrequently these teams play each other

Flor I think.
I feel like what Flor was doing this year in this meta was more impressive.

it's literally in the settings?

The event just needs to be bigger.

I mean it will be fun to see the crowd favourite in the grand finals

It's all good.
The role swaps breathed life back into the roster but it wasn't enough this time.

how?

Bstrdd and saadhak erasure

It's hard to tell what time period that valorant number is. (maybe because im not making a bloomberg account)

CSGO in september 2023 has 26.4m unique players
and in october 2023 it had 31.46m unique players.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16QeEjwY39INiVnji75yfQotMW9eqqfpUl47rnKhQ7jY/edit#gid=380683446

Both games are probably achieving similar numbers now that valorant is released in china.
and hopefully both continue to provide healthy competition.

Classic Latam-best222 jinx

Although it makes sense when thinking about the region geographically, those 3 nations (south-korea/china/japan) probably have the majority of the structure and investment in asian esports.

For example 3/5 riot studios in asia are in those nations, not to mention the amount of infrastructure riot has in korea with the LCK etc.

SEA is a also pretty undeveloped sub-region in terms on PC esports.
These nations aren't very prevalent in LoL or many other PC shooters.

Riot wanted franchised teams/regions to fit these three criteria:

1. Be competitive region / shown competitiveness in valorant or other shooters.
2. Have fans and engagement
3. Be financial stable

Not many apac orgs could fill all three criteria.
Whereas you look at South Korea who have a strong history of be competitive, being popular and be somewhat financially viable. (especially when thinking about LoL)

I mean props to them, they started this project almost a year ago.
They have been playing in almost every event they can.

Yeah SR are looking way too good atm.

Petra looking like a natural duelist.
Some really smart decision making aswell.

I don't think Cned was the "problem".

I think some of Navi's issues were the way they would prepare for each game.
Constant tinkering and changes.

Would Ardiis fit this "style" better than cned? Yes.
Will this style win Navi a title? Unless the key members are on top form.. no.

He is seriously not as bad as some people make him out to be.

SMG versus bbl/sr will be interesting.

Feels like g2 has lacked firepower since mary retired, though they are still very strong strategically.

How would a geng flair effect anything?
They don't even play in international events?

I actually just watched that, really cool stuff.

The only thing I would comment on is that the impact rating only including kills which could skew the data.
It would reward players for taking risks however there would be no punishment for dying.
Calculating the impact like this would benefit prx and players like jinggg in particular.

Also some of the fnc's players stats would be "crunched" due to the sample picked. (only champs + tokyo included)
Their underperformance at champs would impact the data too much.

Yeah Apeks should be able to easily get into any vcl league.

This just changes T2 emea up a lot.
Polaris (well we don't even know what might happen to the league) has just lost a key competitor/org.

East will now be a lot tougher. Acend + apeks + some of the regional teams. It will be exciting.

I mean that is a great roster.
A good mix of VCT players + t2 talents.

This would mean they would have to buy a VCL east spot.

1. Saadhak
2. Boaster
3. FNS

4th and 5th are more up in the air.
Stax has incredible consistency but has yet to make a grand final.
Boostio has had two great events in 2023, including winning the biggest event of the year, however he lacks any other achievements.
Redgar: A top igl in 2021 but has not had the same success since.
Ange1: A tinkerer, constantly changing things... maybe too much. Has won a trophy and remains a regular at international events.

Changes were needed in Talon.
Placing 9th in Pacific and winning 1 game in the LCQ does not warrant a roster staying together.

You could argue that these might not be the right changes but it is way too early to tell.

This is how I see it.

The partnership system has created an awkward environment where T2 orgs are protective of their players due to the immense rewards of ascending and player values in general (which is normally fair in most cases).
Where as some partnered teams are unwilling to fork the money out for the buyouts due the lack of pressure from relegations and the current esport climate etc.

Would talon be able to get thai players on the same level as ban-lenne-governor with no buyouts? I don't think so.

At the end of the day it becomes a tight middle ground in fielding a competitive roster, cultivating regional talent and remaining sustainable.

close enough.

just either say something funny or smart/useful.

I have almost 9k posts.
Also I don't post like an idiot (anymore)

Thanks!

Can you do mine please?

🗿 you better pump up those numbers during gc champs

mortadelo.

https://imgur.com/a/h2OqPBg

I know, it wasn't a serious suggestion.

CBLOL is in a healthy spot right now.
The viewership is still pretty good (although its down from the previous years)
It actually has an academy structure, unlike the LCS which just deleted theirs.

Just wait until they try and merge the LCS , LLA and CBLOL together.

Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians are no longer in the lcs

https://x.com/LCSOfficial/status/1726661693395349754?s=20

The LCS will shift from a 8 team league to a 10 team league.

Best: Lock//in (was really fun to watch all the new teams and comps) or Copenhagen (one of the most competitive tournaments)
Worst: Tokyo (Fnc were such overwhelming favourites, only eg had a chance of beating them)

Personally it's the opposite.

In terms of IGL's there aren't too many that can replace Boaster, especially in emea.
If we consider languages and roles there really isn't any clear replacements.

Derke is a very pivotal piece to what fnatic does.
The first kill involvement numbers that he has produced in fnatic is actually incomparable to any other duelist.
With 6/7 events he's played in Derke has been involved in over 40% of the first kills/deaths in fnc games.

That is not the fnatic core.

Having a core without an IGL doesn't really work considering how influential an igl can be to a team's style and performance.

Fnatic map winrates were pretty nuts and very strong for almost the entire year.
Though they were a little bit inflated because some of those emea teams were trolling.

EG's map pool got really strong towards the end of the year.
In tokyo they had 3/4 really strong maps which helped them reach the final, for champs they expanded their pool and changed a few comps and strats up.

Fnatic map winrates 2023 VCT:

| MAP      | WIN% | TOTAL GAMES |
|----------|------|-------------|
| BIND     | 71%  | 7           |
| HAVEN    | 85%  | 13          |
| SPLIT    | 82%  | 11          |
| ASCENT   | 63%  | 8           |
| ICEBOX   | 100% | 5           |
| FRACTURE | 71%  | 7           |
| PEARL    | N/A  | 0           |
| LOTUS    | 87%  | 15          |

EG map winrates 2023 VCT:

| MAP      | WIN% | TOTAL GAMES |
|----------|------|-------------|
| BIND     | 50%  | 8           |
| HAVEN    | 29%  | 7           |
| SPLIT    | 38%  | 13          |
| ASCENT   | 73%  | 15          |
| ICEBOX   | 0%   | 1           |
| FRACTURE | 85%  | 13          |
| PEARL    | 58%  | 12          |
| LOTUS    | 56%  | 9           |

FNC LOSSES IN 2023: 3

EG LOSSES IN 2023: 11

even your stats say eg is better.

I don't know what stats you are talking about because i've held the opinion that fnatic were the best team in 2023 for a while.
https://www.vlr.gg/268629/top-10-teams-of-2023

The consistent high level performances FNC had throughout the year simply puts them above EG.

EG are 100% the most improved team and deservedly won VCT champions 2023.

I mean he's arguably the best oper in the world right now.

https://x.com/MikuFps/status/1725671364319756497?s=20

The main issue is her trips, compared to her counterparts (chamber/kj/cypher) the trips are way worse in holding map control.
Plus they are prone to contact plays.

Give her trips a small activation range.
When you are inside that range it can detect player movement.
When you are outside it returns to only detecting audio.

Personally I am really excited for Vitality.
Great mix of current talent and upcoming talent, sayf is a huge pickup and seems to be a pivotal piece in the team.
The Vitality coaching staff is also very under-appreciated, big fan of Salah in particular.

Liquid I have high hopes for.
As an apeks enjoyer, mistic/enzo/keiko were great to watch play and watch how they blossomed into top players.
They should be a stable contender in emea pushing into a international contender.
My only concern is the coaching setup, this year is make or break for me, we need to see a well structured and organised team on both defense and attack.

I am not as high as some people are on KC.
Despite me being a big Tomaszy fan, there is so many moving pieces and questions to be asked about the roster.
The gap between the ceiling and floor of this roster is probably the largest we have seen in emea.

Overall, I am really happy with the majority of roster moves.
Most of the teams have made clear improvements, if that is talent wise or cohesion wise.