org investment has been terrible and the top teams have been getting repeatably poached by tier 1 the past 2 years

monk

the world's your oyster, man. do whatever you want

the management actually knows what they're doing on the coaching side of things. Fire3 is an insane pickup

wouldn't want it any other way
#AGWIN

cn
EDG Trace | They'll maintain their top dog spot though it might not be as dominant
NOVA & XLG | I would say wolves but everyone expects them to be good already
FPX | If they don't start hot I worry they'll fall off
TEC | I don't think they'll crack playoffs until they completely rebuild around rb. I doubt Haodong and After are enough to outpace the rest of the middle-pack

From the roster video (if it's to be trusted) it seems like LSN will be igling, so that's great! I'm excited for Fire3 because if his stint on IMAY is anything to go by then he's excellent at developing and training talent. Yet again my big question is who's going to be on duelist, since K1ra also flexes Omen, but I'm still going to assume that DeLb is going to flex onto it too whenever they want to go double controller. Things actually seem to be looking up for the long term!

which league has the best potential longevity from what we see currently in their respective tier 1 and 2 ecosystems?

well they definitely see something in him, so hopefully he can trade blows or call well if he is igling :)

i was hoping they'd cut the fat and they did, so good for them. all I'm hoping for now is that their igl situation doesn't implode

He's basically Icy with better mechanics, but he just so happens to be in the region where explosive mechanics are the standard. He does his job perfectly fine but he has a tendency to never really give his team a significant advantage with his plays against decent teams. Overall DeLb can probably fill his shoes fine if he switches to duelist

Okay ykw this is chill I like this roster. I have no idea what to expect with Lsn but if they're trying to go with the Crossfire experience igling I'm not too against it. Just have at least one of Bunt and Monk alongside K1ra and you can cook. The only problem I see is who's going to play duelist but I assume DeLb's gonna take it up and if he does then they definitely have a solid roster individually

They have a 10 man roster, academy team, and a tier 2 team they're partnered with (Qing Jiu Club). So all in all a lot of players are gonna be in their ecosystem

I'm pretty sure they removed X3B as a starter for TZH since they were trying him out on initiator. If I'm not blatantly wrong and they blindside the obvious decision it's gonna be TZH K1ra Lsn Bunt and Monk. I assume X3B didn't go very well behind the scenes

yeah I'm not arguing against that but literally my original point was saying that comparatively the fundamental standard of the game rises every year from the top-down. 2022 was so much worse than 2024 from an individual and team standpoint that it's not even funny. the game itself hasn't changed significantly: everyone is just generally so much better now

doesn't really apply to a team that is indisputably one of the best of the year (idk why I included Sentinels but whatever). If a team can't get past a map rotation then there exists problems that are more than just "meta shift lol". We're talking about top tiers of a given season not just 'good teams'. 2022 was fundamentally different than Champs 2023 much less 2024

the only circumstance where powerscaling makes sense is when the fundamental gameplay is different. for instance if 2021 SEN or 2022 Optic were dropped into 2024 Shanghai or Seoul they wouldn't do well against the top tiers because the game has fundamentally changed so much. but that really only applies when the timescale is very noticeable (like more than 2 years)

no shot they don't field alphabet man & eren. they were both probably their only outliers last season

we live for the warranted ezeir glaze

AG will most likely be DeLb, K1ra, Spitfires, Monk, probably X3B if they don't sign NizhaoTZH
Bunt was spotted with JDG (RIP) and unless Sword9 comes back I don't see X3B not being the igl they go with

sad but they go next into spit 1 2025 🫡

by 2 favorite split 3 teams facing elimination 😔

No on the contrary I think FPX has a smidge of a chance to defy expectations and make top 3

Tyloo is weird because they traditionally have firepower but zero teamwork. It's likely they'll bomb out but they could ruin some pickems with unlikely upsets against some middle-pack teams

your biggest CN unknowns is FPX and Tyloo outside of those two teams you pretty much have the expected results

would have to be SEN

Foxx aren't going to be feeling SWELL after this 🗣️

Rushia 2025 rookie of the year fr

NOVA destroys AG... is what I would say if I wasn't an all gamers SUPERFAN
NOVA 2-1
Edit: alright we got the best starting roster possible. a decent showing is actually possible

AG have always been an org that's philosophy is more or less to prop up more underrated/underappreciated players. They've been like that in LoL and Crossfire and it's more or less how they've been operating in val too. It's a fun ride

we can only pray for another matchup at Champs this year 🙏🏻

LMFAOOOO

THAT'S MY GOAT. THAT'S MY INTELLIGENT CONTROLLER GOAT

Rushia is probably the best replacement available considering the only known quantity FA's were Flex1n (who left them) and a bunch of mid tier 2 players (with the exception of slowly but he's playing for tyloo)

I agree. being completely honest I was just hoping to see some general improvements but to see them actually play the map well (with some fumbles) makes me so hopeful

Bail is an angel sent from the heavens to elevate God's chosen ones from zero to hero!

this is actually a banger wtf

nope. at least delight still has Luca to carry them

at least we still have Luca

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

historically Knight

i'd blame Rushia and Levius' inconsistency on the fact that they're new tbh. Knight I can't excuse and honestly there are probably better options right now ¯_(ツ)_/¯. growing pains early into their development but i wouldn't be surprised if other teams outpace them

go to sleep brah don't fumble finals week

yeah why do you think Bail's been trying to make them more structured. last season teams like AG early season would legit out-kill them and clutch. to be fair though they've been progressing pretty well compared to champs

nah Neph's been here since split 2 last season

brought in their 2 academy players, Bail's been overhauling their gameplans, and they've been overall working on their discipline and bootcamping like crazy (all the CN teams are)

they legit provide all of the structure they were lacking in 2024. they're way more disciplined than Flexin and Yosemite were last season

"one of"

nah like deadass his kills have been a little lacking but his util is NASTY

Rushia's one of the smartest controllers in China. his util impact has been pretty damn good the entire offseason

NOVA 2-0 GuanG masterclass