hellooooo back with more takes
today we talk about NRG
I believe that NRG would be better off with a different IGL from the team rather than Ethan
1) Ethan does not seem very comfortable as the IGL. Taking the SEN series as an example, we see that Ethan struggled heavily on Sunset and Split, two maps where SEN is very deep in starts, while doing very well on Ascent, a map where SEN isn't as deep on. It's clear that going deep in Ethan's igling bag takes a toll on his performance, especially when up against deep tactics. Ethan is too good of a player to let something else hinder his game, I would say for NRG to win they need Ethan to always be at top performance. Additionally, when back on EG, Ethan was nowhere near the main caller role and, to me, probably more as the third option maximum. Boostio was the main caller and both COM and Jawgemo seemed to be more proactive with callouts, thus, being that IGL is not fully natural for him.
2) Ethan doesn't have the same rapport with Chet as other members. Ethan has just joined the team and haven't has as much experience running Chet's system as other members on the team, who have been together for years. This kind of chemistry is necessary to a degree just because those two people are the ones who work together the most and really need to be synced in to understand each other. More experience together = a better run system. See both Boaster and mini for Fnatic and JohnQT and Kaplan for SEN as examples. I will say it's not as big a factor as others, but for a win-now team, I think going from one system to IGLing another completely different system without having a dropoff in team performance is a very big stretch.
3) Ethan's skill isn't getting showcased as much as the IGL. See point 1 with his decreasing stats in more difficult games; I think that Ethan, as a world-class initiator/support player, is being wasted on the initiator. NRG has two world-class initiators in crashies and Ethan, but as a support role I think Ethan edges him out. NRG is losing a lot of value by having Ethan IGL. To me, Ethan has been more of Sacy/Chronicle type player, quiet but very supportive in every move. Knows how to make the instinctive right play without needing to communicate. That's not exactly what an IGL is though.
4) (don't take this point too seriously) Ethan doesn't have that IGL swagger. Look at the top IGL's now. Saadhak, Boostio, king, JohnQT, Boaster, etc, they have have some time of swagger and confidence that I want my IGL to have. Ethan acts too proper when compared to those top IGLS.
Now, who would replace him.
For me, its crashies/victor
Crashies because he is the other support/initiator on the team, his gameplay can take a little fall because they would have Ethan to fill in. He has a longer understanding of Chet's system to run it more smoothly. I also remember the play against SEN where he ran away with bomb when Zellsis was in garage on Split and FNS said that Crashies made the "too correct" play. I want my IGL always to make the too correct call. Has that swagger too.
Victor has take more of a backseat now with Demon1 taking the entry role so he might be a good option to IGL. Good understanding of Chet's system and was a very smart entry back in Optic days by always setting up Yay for success
If those two say no or have already said no, then Marved. Had decent success with Sentinels.
Of course, maybe I'm completely wrong and all Ethan needs is time and experience
let me know what you think :)
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