LOUD’s biggest mistake was cutting qck at the time. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t think the old LOUD with qck was an S-tier team, but they were fighting for wins. They just needed to wait a little longer until they had a star duelist (I’m talking about dgzin, the guy is insane).
Instead, they cut qck to bring in pANcada (btw, I genuinely love him), which led to so many role issues on the team and didn’t even address the main problem: the entry role. That eventually contributed to the departures of Less and Saadhak.
What they should’ve done was keep their roster intact and scout while waiting. Even if Less had left eventually, it’s always easier to find a solid Viper/Sentinel role player than a reliable duelist. And if he had left, look at lukxo—the guy is literally the best player on the team right now and might be the next Less.
Sure, Saadhak isn’t the same IGL he used to be, but I’m pretty sure a roster of Saadhak, dgzin, cauanzin, tuyz, and Less or lukxo would still be at least an A-tier team. And considering the current state of NA Valorant, they probably would’ve been a top 3 or 4 team, which is pretty impressive.