They were not the best team in group stage by a damn mile?? EG, EDG and NRG all looked better, and maybe even NAVI. And Lowkey mako did not look like the best player but rb did...
Also yes MaKo performed better than s0m at lock//in but that's literally my point. s0m has never been better than MaKo except for Tokyo. So ofc saying s0m>MaKo just because of one lan is overreacting, but if it's gonna be two back to back lans then I might as well put s0m over MaKo.
Consistency doesn't have anything to do with this. It's all about results. What MaKo did 1 year ago does not affect in any way at all on how good he is now. Sure we have to keep it into consideration, but it actually doesn't translate into anything. Valorant is an eSport of momentum. A team that was considered the best team in the world can look lost a few months later (acend, sentinels etc.). Saying a player is better than another atp of time because 1 year before he was so much better is such an egregious take.
Then when he'll come back and be the MaKo we are used to, he'll have is crown back, but he'll have to earn that again.
And also it's not only one lan where he underperformed, but two lans. He was underwhelming in the pacific playoffs as well