Hanche from AG (i'm sorry) is the clear choice to anyone who bothered to watch all the CN games (I did). he doesn't deserve to be in tier 1 at all

DRG is NOT strong without Vookashu dropping generational stats. A win against them when he is is something, but without him they're a subpar team with surface level fundamentals and only a little above average in mechanics. TEC were the clear better team in structure on Icebox but their Lotus and Fracture didn't convince me at all

I never said they didn't deserve to be in playoffs. I said that they need to prove themselves in order to show that they can beat the other contenders to make Toronto. Their win against DRG was off the back of a middling Vookashu performance, the EDG game I don't take seriously at all and it's still a loss, and the NOVA game is probably their only convincing win. They're definitely better than the other teams below them but unless they can rise up to the occasion and beat NOVA or XLG in a qualifying game then it's hard to sell me that their expectations should be risen

TEC still need to prove themselves, Wolves are a gigantic ass question mark, and so is Trace atm due to the BLG series not having any sort of stakes for the latter at all. XLG and NOVA are the most proven quantities and it's theirs to lose ngl

you know exactly why RIOT pulled out of CIS. the scandinavia shit's pretty braindead though with how tier 2 is organized over there atm

he's legit the most charismatic personality we have atp idk how anyone could hate him

Jieni's flexible, mechanically sound, and seems like the first game jitters are gone. It'd be shocking if they didn't win again

while China's rapidly catching up the skill ceiling for the top teams below EDG is questionable at best. While teams like BLG and NOVA are showcasing that structure and fundamentals are evolving fast it won't be until next season for the entire region to be comparable to any of the other leagues

doesn't matter who they're up against BLG's not losing
BLG 2-1 (first map warm up)

lol I think they might just hate muggle for whatever reason. not surprised since coaches are normally the worst position pr wise because they're the first blamed for doing bad and the least credited for when things go well but jesus christ they need to let him breathe sometimes lmfaoooo

i would say it's the engagement baiting crowd like usual but these people are legitimately delusional when they search for scapegoats. like it's not a joke they are convinced that EDG management are snakes and up their own asses despite everything implying the opposite. entire team does bad -> it's only the coaches fault 😭

he was on something with the map vetoes. wouldn't be surprised if the team morale imploded after that and caused their performance atm

it was funny seeing people do a complete 180 on muggle after EDG lost to G2 and T1 despite him and century being the main reasons why their gameplans were as good as they were in champs lol. twitter be twitter ig

EDG and other cn teams like BLG are focusing on developing their own talent that they trust to fulfil the needs of their team. People freaking out about them not signing ppl with hype and aura has been proven faulty time and time again. S1mon literally proved the same people wanting him to stay wrong back when he initially joined. getting jieni7 is literally the best thing EDG could've done lol

and if they do WE ALL want Tyloo in their place

so much shit happened for acend to even get to grands 💀

THE KING OF HELL IS BACK 🗣️🔥

his fans aren't incels they're just braindead af

literally. makes no sense how they've been so shit for so long when they've had good firepower for years atp. making me think ninebody's the antichrist or smth to explain this😭

hfmi, ninebody, and slowly are all a good core due to them being mechanical demons. imo if they keep hfmi on info initiator and sign a good sentinel and smoker the team has promise. waituu and 5cm aren't performing the best and the coaching staff need either extra help or a slight improvement to really get the team going (billyo's a fraud)

considering Tyloo's track record they could trade him or let him get bought out but with how much he's fragging i'd hope they'd have the iq not to

his only problem is that he doesn't make himself stand out enough compared to other talents, but that's NA tier 2 in a nutshell. potential everywhere but not a lot of upward mobility due to the currently existing talent pool in NA tier 1

fortunately for Tyloo he's contracted until end of 2027 🤞🏻

fr. hopefully the practice becomes more widespread in NA, because academy teams are the lifeblood of good long-term success for orgs at the top level. only one org doing it is not a good omen but maybe teams with better financial capabilities will put in effort in the future

people forget the entire point of an academy team is for the players in it to be bought out or promoted. if they're anti-stratting teams and not building up their individual players to be strong and well-structured then it's a failure on the part of the coaches

it's also an academy team first. i can imagine the coaches are focusing on individually developing the players, not necessarily to win

either a loaded org buys him out or Tyloo rebuild around him. no fucking SHOT anyone in tier 1 fumbles utilizing him to the fullest after this season. literal GOAT in the making

fair

monk and spitfires should be stated as benched due to having buyouts. they're in the same situation as bunt was "dropped" because someone bought to sign him immediately

completely revamped the roster and are mainly filtering in academy & cheap t2 talent. this year's a stinker because it's too early for them to actually cultivate players that'll provide immediate results. the current lineup isn't "top of the 10" but more "the 10 they're fine with deploying until they get better people that are ready". they're not gonna pour in money for massive buyouts of standout tier 2 players because it's fucking monstrous what those orgs are charging

Edit: also it's not a fucking 10 man roster. more like 7 if you even count cxyy and 6 if you don't

thought it was pretty logical and then you completely lobotomized for EMEA LMFAOOO

renown and legendary crossfire org & have a current LoL lineup as well. they're well endowed with a pretty big range of games they've invested into too (mainly mobile esports). partnership doesn't equate to doing well. they have already spent effort a lot into propping up a deep academy system for the long-term. only way they're not partnered after 2027 is if RIOT gets rid of the system entirely lmfao

in China there's a very real chance DRG don't make it assuming CCG and ALG are as good as their rosters hype would insinuate, and Rare Atom could also build a pretty good team regardless of if they get korean imports again or not. if Yuk1no's pug gets signed they could also be a very real threat

AG's fun because you'll never know if they're going to lose because they'll go -20 or throw rounds away after getting advantages. absolute CNema

they're in a 2023 EDG situation where we'll probably only see them level up big if they get more international experience. they KNOW they have better players and learned to do the bare minimum to win. Toronto will be a massive learning experience for them for sure

It's a colossal failure if BLG don't make it. only teams that can test them are EDG, xlg, and maybe NOVA. only way they don't is if they choke lower finals

np. but yeah the "terrible style that wins them games" comment is just saying that it's good against the Chinese teams SPECIFICALLY. China in general is rapidly trying to improve their fundamentals and BLG's in a 2023 EDG situation where they have better players compared to the rest of their stage 1 group and it's going to be a while before teams will catch up enough in other areas to pounce on their mistakes in-game

They play "sensible" but get bailed out with individual mechanics 9/10 of the time against teams that have better gameplans & discipline. Best way to put it is that they try to play normal but don't make it look good because it's just a guy getting a 3k randomly to win it because he took a timing through a smoke/flash. Not a bad thing necessarily but not a good gauge to know how good they will be internationally by any means

BLG 2-0
Everyone decides to finally lock in and Levius & Rushia showcase why they're both next up

flyquest at worlds last year reignited some hope of improvement but things are looking grim again

Boaster actually put in the effort to adapt and keep up with the state of the game. can't say the same for PRX or NRG

Trace's performance recently has dampened it a bit. It went from highly anticipated test for XLG to hoping that Trace is good

two have buyouts and xiyiji's a mascot. more like 7 if we can even count cxyy atp

they keep both K1ra and deLb and rebuild with academy talents. this is pretty much a guaranteed since Hanche's cooked, Bai needs some more time in the oven to prove his worth (same with player) and Lsn's not a good long term igl imo and there's probably budget igl talent they'd rather take a chance with anyway next year

AG's run in 2024 was pretty damn good compared to this one, especially for deLb. The staff being rebuilt alongside them wanting to incorporate newer talents from their academy systems is just maybe a year too early for the player quality to be good enough to showcase immediate results. Things will get better next year but Hanche being THIS shit is astounding. 4 weeks and no individual improvement or results to validate his existence in tier 1. literally everything about him is bad

deLb's here until 2026 and I don't see them prematurely letting him go. wouldn't be surprised if they keep him in the core alongside K1ra for next year unless they choose to put him on the market and he gets bought out

atp just rebuild around K1ra and deLb. Hanche's not good enough to warrant him staying for another split, Bai's admittedly not bad but he's not great either. hopefully they at least replace Hanche with a better talent from their academy or ranked because at this point it's pissing me off that he's playing instead of someone actually competent. lsn's calling isn't bad by any means but his individual utility is terrible most of the time and his crossfire habits are showing without any adaptation to the current game.

yoru & sentinel

they think it's still 2021 💔

we got hype and aura