I think, from just looking, people are REALLY over looking how much require a sixth man does for North America specifically. With my time watching Valorant since ~~M3 Berlin, I can only remember 2 good 6 man teams, both are Asian squads : Vision strikers (DRX) and Team secret. I think that these two teams highlight how much a 6th man can do, and that is being a Massive one-trick. See, this was viable in Asia where there are many more acquirable players than teams, while NA has always been super condensed. Like, if you wanted to replace someone, you either had to grab unrefined talent (Bang for example) or an established T2 hopeful (kanpeki for example). At a certain point, getting a good or solid replacement wasn't viable, let along a good 6th man to change up a match.
Now, we have 30 roster slots minimum. Each team will require a 6th man. NA also has a MASSIVE surplus of players to pick for a 6th man. So what is my personal take on the impact of a 6th man? There are three main types, in my opinion: Holding, Covering, and Specializing.
Holding is getting a good player with the idea to train them into the main roster, at some point. Covering is for a lot of diverse players that are good at multiple roles, they're more to replace someone if they are sick or don't perform. Here's my favourite role though, specializing. A Specialized 6th man is what VS and TS had back in the day with Kingg and Jermey. Jermey was an insane aimer, and he came in to run double duelist (if I remember correctly). Later in TS's time, he'd role into Chamber or Jett (and I think a Reyna one time). Kingg was another type of specialist. He and Buzz would switch for double duelist to leaving RB on duelist and having a dedicated Sentinal. Specialized players are one tricks that can role into a map and change the teams whole style. I don't think we've had this in NA, not in the kasr year for sure, but this role can give a lot of individuals who may be a liability a shit to excel. This will be huge for sentinal one tricks, who would be great on Holding a site on Haven or Ascent, but not as effective on Breeze. Or maybe you pick up a cracked Jett, but they can't play raze. Just get a Raze AND a Jett main, problem solved.
Do I think doing this with a 6th man will be popular? Fuck no, not as long as Chamber can fill the sentinal role. Until defensive op-ers are more comfortable back on Jett, a 6th man will be much less popular. BUT if sentinals gain strength as a role, having a player who can excel on that role and focus on holding a site on 1 or 2 maps will have major value. I think most 6th men will be the covering type. Guys like Sick who can play 3 seperate roles at a high efficiency will get a lot of extra value because of this.
Tl ; Dr : Specialized 6th men in NA? Maybe, hopefully, but probably not. Sadge.
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