Aiming

Hi guys, this is a complete re write and posting this during a non America’s time because Americas VLR users are a little challenged. But recently I watched this video about Curry talking about how pro players should not have low K / D’s (essentially aim). And he went on to talk about IGL’s specifically.

The Video: Video

Here is my take. I understand aiming isn’t everything in a game like Valorant and Brain > Aim almost always. But recently, more specifically in 2024 I’ve been noticing pattern that may or may not have a correlation with aim.

Think about which teams are doing good in 2024. Ex:GENG, SEN, TH, 100T, G2, (prx if u want to count forsaken as igl). Do you guys notice something with these teams? They have all been in a grand final this year either regionally or internationally. But this isn’t my main point, my main point is centered around the IGL’s. Munchkin, JohnQT, Boo, Boostio, Valyn, and f0rsakeN. Do you notice a pattern amongst these IGLs? They all have insane aim and are doing great compared to the rest of the franchising teams and it’s by a mile.

Now think about some teams/igls that aren’t doing so good that were once considered good. Ex: Boaster, Redgar, Vanity, FNS (too early to call NRG bad, but he does have bad aim). These are all IGL’s who have (“bad aim”) and have either won an international event or have high prestige, but are all doing exceptionally bad in 2024 compared to old iterations of them. I understand that one player having bad aim won’t decide if the team wins or loses, but this is just a pattern that I realized in 2024. Whether this is true to a truly micro level, we don’t know, but it is true that teams that are doing good, have IGL’s who can aim.

I think Valorant is at a state where mechanics aim wise can’t get significantly better than it is right now with players like Demon1, Aspas, Wo0t, etc you get my point. And yes strategies, calling, and stuff like that is so much more valuable, but in moments where it is a 2v3, 2v4, 1v2, etc which happens more than you think, aim is crucial. I keep seeing moments where a team has actually a fair chance to win clutch scenarios, but absolutely bomb it because of their below average aim in T1. I think Valorant is in a state where everyone has to be shooting back, all 5 players not just your duelist and sentinel. The game has evolved, and a simple FNS masterclass or DRX textbook style gameplay won’t slide.

This is just my take on the video and pattern I observed. Feel free to discuss or counter argue with my opinion. Thank you guys for reading.

say in 1 sentence , aint reading all that surely its useless

nah i think a team led by fns can succeed but it definitely makes it a lot harder to get those tough 2v3, 2v4 round wins but i agree that people dont value practicing their mechanics and ranked enough.

ive seen pro igls agree with genetic determinism and that some players are meant to have better aim because they have naturally better reaction time or hand eye coordination. while i believe this is true to an extent i feel like a lot of igl and worse mechanical players discount the value of practice.

https://x.com/ec1s_/status/1780236313834189172

this is what i was talking about, yeah ec1s maybe wouldnt have as good aim as demon1 even if he put the same hours in, but its not like if he didnt practice like demon1 he wouldnt have world class aim.

so i agree that some pros should practice their mechanics and ranked more cause they are important

Good to see such discussions in this site

In ranked i think positioning and brain matters a lot. Even if you can't out aim your opponent in mid and low elos you can still have a good chance of killing them with right position and timing.

In pro play your point stands true imo but it is significantly difficult to look at the map and have good aim. I mean I don't igl but looking at the map because my teammates don't comm kind of messes my aim up. Yeah but their aim should be good enough to win a 1v2 situation ig.

the only two teams that have insane aim all across the board from the ones you mentioned are gen.g and TH. sen for example has zellsis and sacy who both have very mid or even bad aim relative to other top teams
that aside I do think having the extra firepower from the igl can be useful but good calling is generally far more impactful, you're far more likely to lose a round cause of a bad call than due to your igl not shooting

side note: boostio has been very underwhelming mechanically this year

Sliggy said the same yesterday. Because of the sky nerfs, last year IGLs could just do the calling and not frag so it was okay, but this year if you don't have a fragging IGL, your team is going to suffer as just calling cannot win you matches.

I think it really just comes down to the balance of fragging on the team. An FNS-run team can very much still succeed, but you need to surround him with players who will carry the aim. That and also consistency, some players can have high frag peaks but can't translate that into regular results.

Also also, boaster goes negative a lot but his clutch rate is kind of insane for how "bad" he is. Like he may not be that good for high T1, but he does step up when needed.

Anyway, all this talk of fragging igls makes me wonder if Shahz would do well on a franchised team starter.