maybe FNC would have a chance but it think we can fairly safely say EG are pretty good. I think they would beat TL and probably Navi. But Navi is such a question mark of a team. They have the potential to not lose a single map but they just lose against team they should never lose to.

the level of disrespect the silver players on this forum post is insane. These guys struggle to get 10 on the medium bots and at the same time talk trash about guys that could comfortably kill them 100 times without dying in 1v1s

cool story bro

tbh i think on a different team he would be considered an absolute goat but PRX just have 5 insane players. Slightly overshadows his brilliance

nah, it had some good storylines and some great rounds but it just wasn't even remotely as tense and PRX getting closer to potential the first APAC major winners is also an insane storyline especially given Jingg

true, forgot about that one. EDG PRX was also pretty insane

Don't think i'll see a better game for a long time

best round in the tournament

yeah, they need to balance the sentinels soon. KJ is just better than cypher on pretty much every map at the moment. DL and Sage i think they just need a meta shift before they can become good. Maybe a small chamber buff but i don't think changing that character drastically is healthy for the game.

nah, it's pretty much entirely down to how well each teams preps for the others at this point. Could see anyone of them winning it although it will be the easiest for the upper bracket finalist due to the bans.

If EG win then I could see them taking the trophy just because of fracture. For PRX the map veto matters a little less imo since they are just all cracked players and their style is the bigger reason why they win. Fnatic or Loud both have a reasonable chance to win. I would say Loud has some of the best prep especially after watching the fnatic game. And Fnatic are Fnatic.

Really it just comes down to who plays better on the day at this point.

we're too busy watching the game

nah, i swear they went out like top 8 no? That's a fairly reasonable considering none of the ever won anything. Right now they are probably just a bit shook that Loud and DRX have both destroyed them(and on different maps)

I mean, they will probably beat FUT. I could see them making it to the lower round 3 and losing to Loud or PRX. Maybe they recover from this though and make it to the lower finals at the very least.

tbh all i see these days is bait posts and people crying in the comments about which region is better. Almost seems like nobody cares about the actual valorant being played just the title

They are so fun to watch. As much as i enjoy a slow paced game with 3 minutes of waiting for Ange1 to pick A or B at random, a quick pace PRX game scratches an itch Navi could never satisfy

To some extent you will always care more if your region wins. These people in some way represent you. Not personally of course but in a general sense they represent the entire region.

However it is just a game, it's not like regional supremacy actually matters in anyway. So what if fnatic won Tokyo, that has no actual affect to my day to day life because it's just a game.

Idk if this helps in anyway but that's my perspective

I've heard he use to put up insane performances on Raze, but i've only seen it once and if i remember correctly he did fairly well. I've heard people say he was better before the vanity incident in their match against V1

Cloud is a good player, defo not top 3, even just within EMEA but he's still an exceptional player. This is his first lan so he's probably just nervous and playing worse because of it. If you look around on yt you could definitely find some insane clips from him during the EMEA circuit.
As for Crow I think he's fairly good, he has nothing on Leo or any of the other top teams' initators but he's not a bad player by any means

Looking at Astralis and their win streak I would say either internal changes like a player leaving or if they have to take a break for too long. Alternatively other teams could just improve to a point that they are a similar skill level

Here is the play. If you have the choice you should always go for team over lineups. Often using a molly on the choke point they flood through is better for winning rounds, alternatively use them to clear corners like cubby B bind etc.

Lineups are situational but here are a few times i would use them.
A) Free site from a fake. The additional delay from their rotation makes lineups really strong here but you need your team to play with you.
B) Eco rounds, often you need something special to win these so using your lineups can really help turn a loss into a thrifty
C) If you are down players

Really any situation where they can't reach the bomb till your lineups are effective or if you need to clutch a 'lost' round
hope this helps

TL-Loud: no clue but im leaning towards 2-0 or 0-2
FPX-T1: I think FPX might be slightly stronger based on how well they did against EG but could go either way.
PRX 2-1 EDG: only match that i think is somewhat predictable, PRX just look insane and EDG-Giants was quite close. That being said I think that was Giants playing well not EDG playing bad

having seen them play I would agree they totally deserve to have 3 slot. Can't wait to see EDG play. I imagine it's going to be insane

was quite typical CIS region slow default style. I quite enjoy it tbh but i guess for the average viewer it isn't flashy enough. Also some of the round were a little bad

that would be one hell of storyline

Astralis did it in CS and fnatic almost did it in CS. It wouldn't be too surprising if some other teams do it in val. It just takes a good coach and some cracked players that are all motivated to stay at the top

some of the more recent wireless equiptment is basically as good as wired, but yeah in general unless it's made for gaming wireless is trash and slow.

underwhelming for sure, but probably still better than Gekko. I could see some coach coming up with some insane executes, and she defo has some good 1v1 outplay opportunities

yes his aim is a little lackluster however you have to remember he is playing against the best players, not the best collegiate players. Also if his IGling could be replaced so easily then he would have been dropped ages ago. His numbers have never been that impressive, what is impressive is his gamesense and understand of when to do certain set plays. He has one of the highest clutch win% in Tokyo so he can't be that bad.

He understands what the enemies want to do in a round and he exploits it. For example see the 100T game where the fade + brim ult combo got them a free kill.

according to world geography its both, one of the key geographical landmarks which is used to split the landmass into two different regions is the Ural mountains, which are in Russia

Hard Cope, both teams clearly are on similar levels to the top NA and APAC teams

TL have shown progression every match they played. Clearly all 3 regions have at least 2 good teams which could win Tokyo

It wasn't even that important of a match, they both have secured a spot at Champions and good seeding for Tokyo. This game was just for the trophy and bragging rights

Nah, i think he was just having quiet day. He was playing out of his mind for most of the other matches.

nah NAVI 100% qualify, liquid just had good reads on them this game, and NAVI fixed things too late. Most other teams would have crumbled after getting 4-8 in both maps.

it was the 5th map no? I swear FPX won bind, lost icebox, won on the next map lost ascent(i think) and then won in breeze

I think people forget how good he was and just remember the last few matches he played where his performance was underwhelming

im talking about the contracts they sign not buyout

could be a money thing, soulcas probably isn't too costly for them to keep but buying sheydos, nAts, redgar and sayf at the same time would be very expensive

Look up BBL, they almost always win on Ascent but just don't win other maps. I've seen them lose maybe 3 times before. And they even beat Fnatic and DRX recently

I wouldn't call them bad, just inexperienced. The level they need to play at to beat Fnatic or Loud is much higher than they are use to so they just aren't prepared at the moment. They have won maps which is a good sign for the future.

not gonna lie, i haven't broken out the habit i just don't have the same things going on in my life anymore. Even like a few months ago i was struggling to submit work on time I just have my last deadline a week ago. I guess i did that with a little time to spare but that was because other people were pushing me to get it done.

One suggestion i can give is to fill your time more. In my experience if I have a lot of things to do then I manage my time better.

EMEA only has 4 slots because fnatic won, honestly i think NAVI and FNATIC are the only good teams but i could same the same about DRX in APAC or LOUD in Americas. IMO most of the teams that qualify never have a chance of actually making a deep run in masters tournaments because of the double elim format. It favours teams like NAVI and Loud which are the most resilient.

i use to regularly drink large amounts of coffee and just power through my work when i was in similar positions. It's not fun

ngl i think MCE is just exceptionally good at getting the most out of his players. He takes tier 2 talent and coordinates then correctly and then later once they have the fundamentals down, they then become strategic powerhouses. I'm not saying these guys aren't exceptionally talented, but i think the coach is doing more than just finding good players.

it's not harder apart from maybe on breeze, but even then you can just avoid mid and you are chilling. Phantom is just as good as vandal for like 90 % of interactions and is better at close ranges

roasters will likely change fairly regularly, i can't see many of the teams that don't make it to Tokyo staying together for next year

If keloqz was consistent then TH would probably be up there with them. He just seems to drop 40 kills 1 map and 3 then next.

Honestly i think they just need time which they sadly don't have. Having this weird mix of Sayf and Redgar IGL clearly isn't consistent. Soulcas gets way too much hate for a support player. He has like the most average assists per round in EMEA. Honestly their problem is just their strats. If they fix their strats and work out how to mid round as a team then they could get to and potential go fairly deep at Tokyo. If not then i doubt they make top 4 with how well BONECOLD is igling for VIT and how well FUT is playing.

honestly i think Vitality, FUT, Liquid and maybe Giants (once we see then play the other teams) are all really close in skill and could make it to Tokyo. There are 4 slots so realistically we should expect 2 of them to make it unless one of the other teams seriously improves before next week.

idk about that. The teams are probably the closest in level in the americas whereas EMEA and APAC both have very fast drop offs from the top teams.
But Fnatic, Navi and DRX are all just as good as the top teams in the americas.