this isn't a bait thread btw, ive been seeing a few of those lately, this is a ramble post tho
the meta in this game is a lot more important than you think honestly. Teams with the earliest meta reads almost always perform better than those who are still lagging behind, and this sort of rule is even more present down the line as the teams with the early reads go on to refine themselves and their gameplay. LOUD performed to their peak during LOCK//IN despite it being an entirely new meta after the death of Chamber that they just won Champs with, they are the prime example of what makes a great team great, their ability to ACTUALLY prove that they can adapt to a world-class level.
SEN on the other hand found themselves questioning their comps during must-win matches in Americas especially after convincing losses, they lagged out finding their place on certain maps due to uncertainty, and the lack of proper igling can be both seen as the outcome AND at the same the problem to this issue (seeing dephh's success last year on XSET however, it wouldn't be crazy to lean towards the former). Too little change though is also bad at the same time of course, 100T during the same tourney is that example.
SEN didn't suddenly become greek gods or whatever, the comps that are currently being ran (mainly around Cypher) is the meta they've adopted and even popularized to the T since the start of the pre season. They found their comfort that works best optimally and have been seeing abnormal growth because of it. Teamplay and coordination becomes way easier and more relaxed as a result, and if this meta continued then these guys are obviously gonna be top tier for 2024.
But the issue I'm addressing is that we're very obviously going to see another meta change heading into VCT 2024. These guys found their shit at the worst time possible, because now they gotta do it all over again but this time during the pressure of the actual ongoing season. If they lag behind, they're gonna be fucked and its going to be visible. What they showed from us is their performance with a great meta read which looks really insane btw, but then again it's honestly a certainty that their current form will change (for the better if that's even possible or most likely for the worst) once Kick Off begins.
what we've seen from them so far have only been good news, but that can all crumble down within two weeks give or take, hell it's even possible that they've gotten too comfortable with the current meta now. If they performed like this during the start of VCT, then they're pretty much set for the rest of the year because we rarely see heavy meta shifts during a season, but this is the off season unfortunately lol.
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