Epee’s cool but I was always a foil dude

I wrote this as a shower thought tbh then wanted to drop it here cause why not

Distance: BULD BULLD BUILD BOXED LIKE A FISH
Timing: oh no bro the storm got me
Technique: aim diff
Tactics: bro where we dropping???
Training: eat another burger irl ig

Nah I didn’t expect nice things I just did that shit for fun

FUCKK YOU SHOULDVE COMMENTED EARLIER BRO

I had a bet that the first comment would be Allat

This year I’ve started hearing analysts and casters start to use the word ‘timings’ extremely frequently to describe the game. Reminded me of an old fencing thing I learned years ago in hs, so whatever I’ll ramble abt it.

In sport fencing the most important things you need to control to win a bout with a near equal opponent are (in this exact order):
Distance
Timing
Technique
Tactics
Training

I believe this ranking also holds somewhat true for valorant and I’ll explain why.

Distance is self explanatory: to score points you have to hit your opponent. Controlling distance in fencing comes down to your footwork, your ability to determine the spacing between you and your opponent as they constantly try to impose their own favorable distance on you.
The valorant equivalent here is line of sight and peaking. Unlike fencing however, it’s not just your character’s movement that controls distance as there are abilities (primarily smokes but also recon darts, boombots, anything that messes up crosshair placement) that can artificially change your ‘distance’. This is obviously the most important thing in the game: aim doesn’t matter if you literally cannot see your opponent on your screen (we’re ignoring spams which make up a minority of kills in a match).

Timing is also pretty obvious. In fencing, timing comes down to doing the right action at the right time. In foil fencing (which used the tip of the blade), this can mean parrying an attack, counterattacking, hiding your blade, and more depending on what you see your opponent doing.
In valorant, timing applies to utility usage, taking fights, lurking and more. A good ‘timing’ gives you a ridiculous advantage over an opponent by being able to get the first shot off. Assuming you’re not bronze, most of the time, you will win that fight and help win the round.
Another tangent of timing is ‘tempo’, by which both fencers and teams can control matches. Imposing a fast or slow tempo on your opponent makes them uncomfortable and gives you a definitive advantage. Think how Kwanghyun Lee or Yuki Ota compensate for their small size by having ridiculously fast footwork and bladework, or how paper rex forces teams to adapt to their fast pace ‘w gaming’.

Technique in fencing is analogous to ‘mechanics’ in valorant. Where technique in fencing means the way you parry, move, and lunge; mechanics in valorant refer to your aim, movement, and crosshair placement. If you’re an Olympian fencing a novice or a radiant vs a silver player, your technique will be so far superior that nothing else will matter. But for a C rating vs a B rating (using the US standards), or a plat vs gold, technique matters far less than distance and timing as defined before. That is how a ‘worse’ competitor can win against better opponents: by taking favorable engagements on their own terms.

Next up is tactics where this analogy starts to break down. In fencing, tactics refer to preplanning actions and reactions based on what you’ve gauged from your opponent, whether earlier in the bout or beforehand. If I know my opponent likes to make aggressive direct attacks in the middle, I will preplan a fake attack, then parry repost in the box.
For valorant, tactics are so much deeper and matter far more. On an individual level, this means possessing an understanding of the game and how to use your positioning and util to your advantage to win rounds. Game IQ minus the timing and distance knowledge essentially. The reason they matter so much more in valorant is because of the lack of knowledge of your opponents and because it’s a team game as opposed to an individual sport like fencing. There’s just so many more possibilities with what people could do during a round. On the other hand, in fencing, the tactics are all similar, so the execution becomes so much more vital. Little differences in preplanned movement result in completely different outcomes.

Finally comes training, which refers to your physical conditioning in fencing. Fencing is an inherently physical sport. If you’re not fit enough, you cannot win against a near equal opponent in a full 15 touch bout, much less fence the 4-5 15 touch bouts in a row to get to tournament finals. However, fitness doesn’t mean as much as some people think in fencing, and that’s why it’s at the bottom. I remember when I was like 14, I fenced against some 60 year old, who was a former Olympian in the 70s, and he absolutely whooped my ass. Didn’t matter I was much faster than him moving up and down the strip, when it mattered most, he was deadly quick at the right distance and timing.
What’s the valorant equivalent of training? This one I couldn’t say. Perhaps how comfortable you are with your mouse, perhaps how strong your mental resilience is, so you’re not giving up after a string of lost rounds. Who knows and tbh who cares.

And that’s all. If any of you read all of this, I’d be shocked, but it was enjoyable to write, and hopefully someone got some fun tidbits out of it.

P.S. “allat”

Dude Chinese aimers are different. All of EDG esp chichoo and smoggy, life from fpx, fengf from trace, so many more. Those guys are insane mechanically.

Also texture, that boy’s just better

French moment

Exactly LMFAOOO

I have them both blocked on Twitter

Nice alt acc boyo

Idgaf abt genghsta or whatever. Yeah the clip makes him look super bad, but tbh if yay was fragging like he was on optic, no one would give a shit. The big issue is he’s frankly so far out of form that he wouldn’t even be a top duelist at the tier 2 level in any region (yes including China; those guys can AIM)

No offense, but he’s not that player right now. It’s not even a team thing. He’s just not fragging like he used to, even in bad teams

Mr funhaver and fayde are not ppl you should base your opinions off LMFAOOO

Mr funhaver is some random tier 4 dude who really never did anything impactful except try to clout chase, and fayde is from fucking VLR for god’s sake.

That being said, yeah not looking good for yay.

I’m ngl, it’s kinda over for his career. It’s not even a toxicity thing, this player I just watched this split is NOT the same dude that was so impactful on andbox, envy, then optic. He cannot stack up to other top duelists in any region these days, both individually and DEFINITELY in a team play sense. The dude is just not worth it anymore. The toxicity is just the cherry on top you could say.

Frankly he should retire with the money he made from the bleed deal, exit the scene, and we’ll all remember him as the dude who ruled the game in 2022.

Yay

Ya he’s goated. Davai, forsaken can compete but nobody else tbh.

Ya which was reasonable at the beginning of the year. BBL didn't exactly have a strong record of success last year.

Bren
Sideshow
Pansy
Achilios
UberShouts
And somehow babybay (didn't expect this one)

Nah she's good too, I just didn't know if that was a one off or not. I also liked steel tbh. Pansy is the best single caster in this game rn tho. I mean consider the iconic lines "optic gaming build their legacy brick. by. brick." "Fnatic's dynasty starts today" etc

I think uber can definitely rival her in a while tho. That guy was the GOAT of overwatch casting, consider his final line from the 2022 playoffs "the Dallas fuel take their place among the stars to burn brighter than them all"

There's some crazy good casting out there.

Honestly Mitch and Tom are my least fav. Goat casters in valorant rn are:

Bren
Sideshow
Pansy
Achilios
UberShouts
And somehow babybay

This navi would NOT have beat Sen or GenG when they were on their hot streaks

I need vitality to lose so Fnatic, a better team, can make playoffs

Nah I’m watching sliggy. But it’s like, anyone with eyes can see: these guys are NOT playing like lockin/Tokyo last year

Guys let’s be fr, these guys are slumping hard rn. They might not even make champions at this rate. Really depressing stuff tbh.

Nvm I just watched PRX and they’re looking back. Hopefully heretics with WoOT are just as good

U said demon1 twice, maybe change the second one to zekken

Tuyz or Mako
Kcorp or KRU
Bind or Split
F0rsaken or Chronicle
Haven or Fracture
Fnsor Saadhak
Alecks or Chet
Lev or Fut
DFM or Mibr
Russia or Brazil
MxS or M80
Something or MiniBoo

I do NOT have confidence in Americas teams after these past few weeks. Only Lev has looked scary tbh. It would be insane if Sen don't make playoffs, but unless NRG, Sen, and Loud step the fuck up, Americas is not gonna be strong on the international stage. Tbf, EMEA hasn't looked super cohesive earlier, and I'm not educated on Pacific and China recently, so I can't comment on those teams.

Overall, the level of play does not feel that great right now.

Tbf Kru is facing Loud, 100T, and Lev. They've only played the 0 win teams so far.

I used to be a huge c0m hater tbh, but I've come around on him. He was kept on EG throughout all the bad times for a reason right? The dude has impeccable util, great midround comms, and acts as a glue/vibe guy. Tex, on the other hand, could definitely be upgraded. I saw some guy saying less, and if so, that's a ridiculous team right there.

No for sure, honestly I was just happy this year they got rid of crow who frankly wasn’t cutting it for years. Hopefully their roster moves this year indicate they’ll be willing to do more in the future!

to match Laz, Dep, and SugarZero? Yuran is alright, but Hiroronn is obviously not good enough right now. He's underperformed every game.

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING. Just hope it's doug and babybay for the next game, and not vansili and riv tbh

Honestly that wasn’t even M80s bad. Ttr played masters worthy valorant. They’re the goats

The biggest diff between tier 1 and 2 is teamplay, macro, and individual decision making. I’d say most t2 players are nearly as good as t1 players mechanically.

PRX vs GenG recently was great. That texture ace on lotus…..

Nah trust me, as a senti main, that shit is EASY

Not awful, but let's be so fr Champs 2021 was NOT competitive by 2023-2024 standards. APAC wasn't at a high level yet, Brazil was still figuring things out, and NA was still clinging onto a Sentinels roster that didn't believe in bootcamping. 2022 marked an drastic increase in APAC and Brazil performances with Loud, PRX, DRX all becoming genuine competitors.

He's just suffering from insanely low self confidence right now. The guy's on the biggest losing streak of his career (not even Andbox was this bad), and ending up here after being on top of the world must be a huge shock. I mean it's a shock for the viewers (that's why the yay hate is so strong in the first place), so imagine being the dude himself. Team system (or lack thereof) also makes a difference too ofc, but it's not everything. Let's be honest, the mechanics he's been showing recently have been dreadful; way worse than anything he displayed on andbox and optic even on his worst days.

Why wouldn't he? He's extremely flexible to just about every role.

Don't forget:
Ethan now IGLing on new roles while dropping respectable numbers: winning

He shut down zekken 11-1 in the head to head. Lev would not have won that map otherwise.

Ya but you can’t compare teams based on how hard they beat their opponents. So much depends on individual form, and the individual form of their opponents at the time.

They haven’t played oxygen or mxs, who are their only real competitors for ascension in Americas. At least in NA, I’m unfamiliar with most of brazil and latam this year.

They’re playing Winthrop university bro 💀

You’re so 2022 pilled; meteor is the 3rd best player on his team rn 😭

Bro's copying my post from 2 hrs ago I can't believe it

nah karon's da goat

Put him on Lev! And get Pancada too. Aspas, kingg, pancada, c0m, nats. And get em a good coach while we're at it. That'd surely be better.

Fuck ur right, he’s literally Phoenix stardom irl