your main issue is worrying about what metrics say

KC get to Tokyo if
Nivera -> Sentinel
XMS -> Controller + IGL (IGLed in CS iirc)
SHIN, Newzera, ScreaM stay as is

Ok

Literally nobody said EMEA has less talent.

read #3 my friend

thank you sir! off to the VOD dungeon

k1ng doesn't IGL? since when?

Giants like KOI but not as good, probably not making it top4

any Brazilians/people who follow all of these teams closely wanna do a power ranking? Curious what teams I should watch, I'd love to learn more

reaction time is CRUCIAL in a game like VAL. i mentioned it in my post below, #126, but top pole vaulters have an average difference of 23ms between male and female reaction times. 23ms is an extra bullet in VAL.

that's the difference between a headshot and being dead, with literally no chance of reaction if we are in the case that the average male is competing against the average female.

flashbangs? not being able to react to agent-borne abilities is also an inherent disadvantage that comes with slower reaction times

it's not a black and white issue.

people above saying "oh ya it's just because more guys play video games" or "oh ya it's just biological differences"... all of these factors combine together. sure, more guys play video games, and yeah, men are literally biologically advantaged in the most important factors in sports/esports: reaction time and muscle-building capability.

for those questioning the former, see here:

The mean fastest reaction times were 23 ms shorter in men than women (166 ms vs 189 ms, respectively)

but socially, yeah, if the same amount of women played video games and did so from childhood like most men do, sure, we'd probably get more top level females. but they'd likely still, on average, be worse than the average male. not saying it's not possible for there to be a female pro that stomps at the top level, but from a biological standpoint, it's less likely than for a male to do so.

What exactly is your point? Did you want him to just lie and say "no I have no idea what our issues were"?

Even still, no, you don't understand English as well as you think you do, because the sentiment of what Sayf said was that he felt, going into the event, that things would not go well because the calling didn't mesh with him as a player. And now that they've lost, they're revising. He didn't blame Redgar. Stating something occurred is not equal to blaming somebody.

Everyone who has commented on the interview saying that Sayf threw Redgar under the bus clearly does not have a good grasp on English. Sayf said that him and Redgar don't mesh calling wise and going into the tournament, he knew that was an issue. But, now that they've realized their mistake, they're correcting it and things are getting better.
Stating that there is a clash in calling styles is not throwing Redgar under the bus. It's a literal fact.

all of the people on VLR that say yay isn't a top player anymore, chamber 1trick because of 1 poor tournament under a new team and calling style are smoking crack. he was far and above the number 1 player last year. it wasn't even close. the only comparable player in any esport is Faker

g2 got fucking obliterated, it literally wasnt even close. that's the difference. tgrd have looked phenomenal in every single recent series and just stomped what everyone thought was the #1 NA challengers team

i forgot about East! I've watched a decent amount of acend's matches, I've also watched a decent amount of the Turkish games and Parla objectively looked the best but choked, S2G just kinda seem inconsistent, but acend... they look bad compared to those teams, perhaps it's just my perspective, but they don't seem anywhere near as drilled or coordinated as Apeks imo. what makes you think they're better than them?

1. AI will be part of the vast majority of careers within the next 20 years. the people who don't lose their jobs will be those who integrate it into their workflow. with writing being one of my gigs, my value has only increased with the ability to offer AI-integrated writing as well as non-AI writing to people.
2. who is to say that humans will be the last species to rule Earth?

who do you think would win if all of these teams competed in a tourney right now?

ive only really kept close tabs on Polaris. anybody know how good the other split winners are compared to Apeks?

Coach has 2 pauses throughout the game to make a change (2 min total) while IGL has 30+ minutes. Not comparable at all.

i do it so I can teach people how to get better at the game. make your goal something greater than money, and someday, the money will come.

They advocated for it, then came to the group consensus that DRX > LEV and 100T should be in B. So I'm not really sure what you're complaining about - that individuals had different opinions? The group, as a whole, still came to a consensus that differs from what you're saying, so I'm confused why you reiterate the point, but perhaps I'm not understanding you properly

On your point about 100T being good, yes, she did say that - but then the other 3 said "yeah, if they change the system" - Balla even brought up that they looked better at RedBull because they were using their old structure, and they just slotted Cryo into it. So again, the group consensus was that 100T COULD be good if they change their system - I don't really care what one individual's (Mimi) specific phrasing was if the group consensus is not in line with it. Would you agree?

They place NRG and NAVI in S tier but say DRX is only A tier because they dropped maps to other teams.
Didn't NRG literally drop a map to GIA and nearly drop a map to a less than 1 month old KOI or am I going crazy?
Is going 2-3 against LOUD not worth anything too?
Even if you think NAVI and NRG are better than DRX, you have to admit that the 5 teams are all a similar level.
NRG and NAVI are LITERALLY one and two spots above DRX on the power ranking. What exactly are you complaining about?
Regardless, DRX objectively looked one dimensional, as per usual. When they got deeper in the tournament and there was more tape on how they played, they started getting smacked. They have one playstyle and one gameplan - when they can't run it, their midrounding is not good as compared to any of the S tier teams. When they play their game, and no one knows what they're doing, they can look unbeatable, but they're still one dimensional.

Also how is TLN and FUR counted as B tier teams when they played so much better than LEV who is in A tier. Both looked much better than VIT who ended up above them too.
...again, we're talking about swapping 3-4 teams around who are essentially next to each other in the power ranking. TLN looked good, but they didn't beat any teams above them on the tier list, and FURIA looked solid but also semi-inconsistent based on carry performances out of GOD mwzera. LEV seemed to have a better holistic gameplan, +scrimbux. Also, looked better than VIT? When?

Lastly, how do you advocate for LEV to be put above DRX and almost put 100T in the same tier as them?
Didn't happen, so this is a strawman argument.

I have so many questions but glad I can hear them say that "100T will be good with time" for the 100th time.
They never said that. They said if they completely change the system they have in place to revolve around Cryo and how he wants to play, then they will be successful. Great job cherrypicking my friend.

Absolutely awful take. These orgs that they've partnered with financially and contractually, they're just gonna kick because their teams didn't perform that well at the FIRST international tourney of the entire year?

havent been following the female scene. is this new TL Brazil better than the other one that played on LAN?

better phrasing - he had the least impact of all the DRX members. better?

if so, I'd wholeheartedly agree. Rb has frankly skyrocketed up in value over the past 6 months, MaKo.. he's MaKo. stax can be demonic, as can Zest, but BuZz just does not sit right on sentinel sometimes.

examine your life and determine what other variables you aren't holding steady. is your sleep off? has your diet changed? mother died? gf fucked your neighbor?
get all of your ducks in a row, then eliminate more variables in the game. play a consistent warmup/aim training routine, even if it's for 3 minutes, before you play ranked, EVERY TIME. Derke literally put out a thread on consistency on Twitter, and he is arguably one of the most consistent players in the world, and that is one of the biggest things he also touted.

perhaps if language barriers weren't an issue. feel like I'd rather have Boaster in there, SUYGETSU on sentinel (he had an insane tourney), and Ethan on flex. he individually had a fantastic tournament and historically has a lot of impact on teams in both CS and VAL. so
Derke
Leo
Boaster
SUYGETSU
Ethan

LMAO

100T vs EDG was an amazing match, both teams played well. all high level analysts who are costreaming the games - TMV, sgares, sliggy - all mention that both teams looked really good, and I'd agree
100T vs FUT, not sure, pretty sure 100T Lotus comp is just dog shit (why would you play Cypher over KJ who has MULTIPLE broken ults across the map? makes no sense), other maps I couldn't catch but seems like they're playing inconsistent (i.e. stellar top frag day1, today Asuna and Derrek topfrag w stellar bottom)

that makes a lot of sense, appreciate the explanation

i think everyone underestimates the impact of having literally thousands of people rooting for you whenever you get a single kill, regardless of if you can hear them or not (which you DEFINITELY can if they're all screaming and cheering for you). stellar couldn't hear much because the arena has significantly fewer spectators for 100Ts games since they haven't played a Brazilian crowd, just look at the camera shots

LOUD and FURIA looked decent, true, but I suppose I'll have to wait and see how playoffs are and how LOUD look to judge, because I wasn't extremely impressed with them. they are great at building momentum up it seems, but a lot of rounds that they won in both LOUD v NRG and fnatic v FURIA came down to wacky ass clutch situations. like I said, I'm open to my mind being changed, but I think people may overrate those two teams specifically

fair enough

im curious to hear opinions - how close do you guys think the match would have been in a non-Brazilian venue? I've looked at matches this tournament as heavily skewed in favor of Brazilian teams just because the emotion of thousands of people going AGAINST you and FOR your opponent is an incredible barrier to climb
EDIT: but FURIA looked surprisingly solid. their haven composition actually was extremely well thought out, had multiple looks on both sides, and was quite impressive. ascent, I think Brazilian teams are just gods at, so seeing fnatic win was a bit of a surprise, but mostly because they just played really well.

im genuinely curious because I don't understand why people are offended - what is wrong with this question? is it because they were pissed off about the match loss and didn't want to talk about irrelevant topics?

sick seems mentally unwell. her tone of voice and the way she phrased things in her voice messages she posted on Twitter suggest to me that she's a manipulative girl who took advantage of Hunter wanting to make the relationship work. "half open", "I'm with another guy and talking with other guys, but he needs permission to talk to another girl" - that's a VERY toxic relationship dynamic. that power dynamic just screams to me, "I want to control this other human being and what they do, but I am allowed to have what I want"

you seem like a salty bettor. you spend a lot of time complaining

You named the three bottom frags on NaVi in that match. Congrats, you played yourself

you need to find a distraction worthy of replacing her. i would say using the heartbreak you feel now and converting it into anger that she didn't see your value, that she had already checked out of the relationship (since she moved on so quickly), to become a better person than she is. she ain't worth it brother.
i live with my ex girlfriend, and when we broke up a few months after moving in together, i was in a similar mental place to you. focus on the parts about her that show to you why she was NOT a good partner and why it is good that things have ended between you two. redirect your focus from being worried about what she's doing and who she's with to realizing this is a chance for you now to evolve into someone greater than possible when encumbered with another person. this is an opportunity for you - it is not knocking you down. it is helping you to grow whether you realize it or not.
if you need more specific advice, dm me brother - we're all in this together. stay well.

this is a fan tournament, not a player tournament

yall hear sumn

thank ya

perhaps I'm not looking in the right place, but when do Lotus and Split replace Bind and Breeze in the active map pool for the Challengers Splits?

UB has lost 3 maps to nonamers? wym they're shitting on everyone

BTS was always amazing to watch in CS. hopefully they do this more in VAL, production was probably some of the most fluid of any tourny in recent memory

everyones talking about his downgrade as a player, which is accurate, but the communication upgrade is pretty significant. having all native English speakers/someone who fully meshes culturally will significantly contribute to their ability to pivot and become better since, by default, synergy will be better and they'll have someone who can communicate new ideas just as effectively as they can. which isn't a rag on saya at all, it is literally just a language barrier thing

they look regardless of who they played. people tend to forget before they flunked on LAN and before Chamber era that they were on a trajectory to be a top NA team. hell, they beat optc, obviously online, but even still

you have zero understanding of how a professional team develops strategically

they didnt get scammed, the refs just didn't know their own rules which is hella dumb. unfortunate for kru anyway, except for the C9 game they looked far better than I expected

fair enough! i was referring more to players in general providing value (regardless of role) but i get where there was the misunderstanding. cheers to a non-combative discussion