i can’t lie, these 2 teams actually clear the rest. it’s not even close
Having a very good IGL who can't shoot seemed to make NRG a lot better tbh. And now they have someone who can play all duelists but better, a potential super star initiator player, a good coach and actual time to prep (instead of having to grind 24/7 in the span of 2 weeks before the stage started). On paper, NRG should perform way better next year (at least relative to their old roster).
https://x.com/anonimotum/status/1840797551143837915
i would trust this guy, hes been very reliable in the past
Sen still look better than NRG tbh.
They don’t have a fragging weak link with minor firepower upgrades in each roles except for consistency issues in Flash/Flex and Smokes. I think Bang can match s0m in the right environment and Zellsis while less consistent than Ethan has some maps where he takes over.
It doesn’t matter that they made top 4 in 2023 when the competition in 2025 will be much greater. Keep in mind they got eliminated by BLG as well that year. They’ve got two rookies to integrate and a massive firepower deficit — saying FNS will compensate with his igling ignores the fact that every other teams’ IGLs have been improving as well.
Let me list some contenders that could absolutely keep NRG out of the conversation this year. NRG might not even make top 10, even if they manage to qualify for an international.
Saying the competition has improved is nullified by two things, 1: the team around FNS is better, everyone on that team is a strong fragger which makes up for the lack of fragging they had from victor and ardiis in 2023, 2: since the beginning of the game, people have been criticising FNS for his lack of fragging, yet every year hes played, his team has been good, so when will you learn?
its also important to remember that until the latter part of 2024 where he had very little time to try and implement his system to a team that had frankly been dogshit all year, his fragging had always been good enough (not great, but good enough). I think you are heavily recency bias if you think his fragging throughout his career is a "massive firepower deficit"
Every world class team has a strong sentinel to secure their defense sides — something that NRG lacks in every iteration without Yay and Chamber Meta. Sure they might secure themselves in the upper half of the region with great attack side calling but I don’t see them breaking top 3, much less contending in internationals against teams that don’t have any firepower deficits and just as complex strategy.
Bro I get it, FNS is a weak fragger, but is it a coincidence that his team was good in 2021, 2022 and 2023, like I get it you’re gonna make excuses for all of those years
2021: the competition wasn’t as good, 2022: he had the best player in the world, 2023: idk what real excuse you could give, I guess he didn’t make it out of groups at champs..
That being said, at one point you gotta start thinking maybe just maybe FNS had something to do with it, but what do i know…
Apparently Jingg has been learning sentinels so their roles are fixed for default heavy maps. Something has also been practicing Recon so that helps with their information deficit leading to more flexible playstyles instead of just W gaming. It should be a good year since 2024 served as a good wake up call.