thats the same as Yay leaving optic, Scream leaving Team Liquid or aspas leaving LOUD. No team can win without their star players, make it 2 even :facepalm:

Mhm. Korea and Japan while having alot of really good talents, just can't compare to APAC when it comes to talent depth / pool, really just due to population. If APAC can get the funding it need, such as bleed esport ( if they invest in local grown talent but sadly not ) it might grow into a true powerhouse region like Europe in csgo, Korea in LOL, or the abyss-like talent pool of SEA in Dota.

Also another thing going for APAC valorant is the sheer amount of players the region has for a game. On PC, valorant is probably the most played game in the entirety of APAC ( not including china for now ) so theres even more talent to be pull out. A simple example a a radiant top 10 that was not signed simply because he was too young ( juicyy), yes too young to play despite being top 10

It truly is, the last 5 rounds was the most intense i ever felt in a esport game, the back and forth, clutch after clutch, kill after kill, my table being abused. In the end the better team won, but man does it hurts like a bitch. Still tho, time to support ZETA and carry on the Cinderella run <3

Its a cinderalla run not because they are bad, but because they have defied expectations, after expectations and when the labelled of Cinderella run was thrown around, it stucked on and now ZETA has finally entered the top 3, and hopefully will continue their run.

It's like a shonen anime where due to the power of fans/friends support they power through fan-favourites / powerhouse team after one another.

Truly the most entertaining team i ever laid my eyes on, will always follow them until their last days, GGWP Zeta, carry on the Asian Cinderella run and break through to NO.1 <3

F

That's mostly because all the threads were spread thinly across the 4 days, plus theres still hours before the event and the Loud vs OPTIC debate has been going on for so long in this 4 days its sorta boring / useless to talk abt it no more

EMEA got absolutely rekt cuz 2 of their best teams are either not in shape / not here. Finally theres no `minor region' as in the top 6, every single region except LATAM was present and it became a literal international tournament in the truest sense. Korea and EMEA was knocked out leaving only APAC JAPAN BRAZIL and NA as the final 4

Going into the top 4 we have Optic vs Loud in the upper finals. Optic while stumbling at their first opponent decided to be god himself and went on an absolute carnage through the group stage into the playoffs. Loud on the other hand defied quite a number of expectations and crushed any doubts that brazil is shit

In the lower finals we have ZETA vs PRX, arguably the most hyped match we have going into the top 4, maybe even the entire tournament. Zeta has been on a cinderella Anime style run, beating many fan-favourites and with the sheer handsomeness of the team, garnered many supporters internationally and and in japan. On the other side we have the pride of APAC, PRX. Probably the most bloodthirsty maniacs in the server, they have played a shit ton of off-meta picks such as Reyna, Yoru, a non-sentinel team comp, and still manage to not just win it all, but also do it so stylishly its like a montage relay... in BLOODY VCT

Also everyone pickems is fucked so ;D

imo the only team i can see handling their chaotic style is DRX / APAC teams ( if they have the talents / aim necessary ) mostly because there's order inside that chaos, sweeping the opponent in chaos while PRX themselves are playing orderly / organized even tho it doesnt seem so. Also because their chaos / aggressiveness is different compare to any other aggressive team.

However ZETA are 1 of PRX scrim partners so that could play a huge factor.

Still on that PRX Hopium tho ;D

IM just saying but aint being the mvp of Champs ( the biggest tournament val ever had ) better than being mvp of Iceland ( the first international valorant ever had, and also technically the smallest )

Jing's mom is one of the most supportive parents an Esport pro ever had, watching every competition he had and even helping him buy anything he needs for esports/gaming so alot of people like her aswell

This article aged pretty well ;D

ik about forsaken and jing but did d4v4i mention retiring? i dont think he is that old though.

Benkai got 4 days to think of his 4th costume, im interested in what he has decided after that 3 great costume. Best surprise would be him coming in with no costume tho

Like being too focused on making chaos / dying because of the chaos they created themselves. PRX create alot of chaos in the server as a whole yet they do not seem lost in it, they know what they need or should do to create more chaos / play with it

If i were to take a jab at why PRX is doing much better at this aggressiveness other than pure aim, is the amount of chaos they caused yet not falling into the pit of chaos they created. They thrive in chaos, disrupting the enemy YET being organized under it all. See their comms when it's released, its a loose yet strict playstyle that pull teammate back in but let them have the freedom to do whatever they need/ want to do

PRX PLAYING WITH NO SENTINEL AND 2 FLASHERS, TIME FOR APAC PLAYOFF STYLE AGGRESSIVENESS AGAIN

i truly hope so, The players aren't playing up to the standard ik of in APAC, maybe cuz teams are alot stronger, but the pure aim i saw was really just not there with alot of whiffs... alot of whiffs

Forsaken was absolutely shut off by DRX, the amount of read DRX had on PRX after the first map was just ballistic, to the point PRX had nearly no tools in their disposal, a grave downside to their chaos-driven playstyle that once gets stopped, its hard to start back. It was an absolute showing from DRX especially Mako and Buzz ( rb aswell ) with read / clutches after another. Sadly PRX had not stepped up to the hype and is probably gonna get flamed if they lose against TGRD sooo hope not? ;D

i would say its just difference in playstyle. PRX is breaking the mold of the calculative gameplay of Tac FPS and pushing an absolutely chaotic battlefield. Whether its a good strat / style is up for debate since as u can see, PRX was suffering in their attack phase, but once things gets heated PRX thrives in Chaos.

the craziest thing about that bind matchup was that PRX, throughout VCT has nearly always banned Bind somewhere down the the map pick, some being Perma Bans aswell. Casters, viewers, people that know PRX map pool were shocked when it got picked as that was the first time PRX brought the map out, against the best team in APAC at the time no less

because those that attended masters last time lost to those that did not i think? They probably want to make it so winning a master is like a guaranteed slot into champion.

NA doesnt really have different countries so its easy to unite under 1. EMEA are used to being grouped together in basically every game. APAC itself in val is probably the first time the entirety of asia ( with exception ) are gathered under 1 region to compete, and with so many countries with their individual pride hailing as the best from their specific countries, its no wonder support for teams are at an absolute peak, which of course bring alot of toxicity out

Keeping a post here just in case, first one in line ;)

sadly low investment from Malaysian firms since yk, most are still in a old-fashioned way of thinking ( looking down on e-sports ). However the talent pool was really deep, with many TI winning teams / runner-ups usually containing 1 or 2 Malaysian players.

Edit : Even OG had a Malaysian player in place of Ana throughout the time he was not there

hopefully, right now kingsmen is probably malaysia best hope as an ORG since orange-esports is gone? i still see their pc-cafes alive but im not sure if they are still involved in esport much

W would love to see an APAC one

All it takes right now is for a no-name malaysian team to explode into the scene for it to be heavily developed, such as in Dota 2 where malaysia have produced some of the greatest talents and is a staple of the game

ya it seems like it, only 3 players left. Or theres another prospect which is kingsmen as an org all-in on Valorant, looking for up and coming malaysian players

from what i know its mostly because malaysia has a lack of sponsors / investments despite there being a pretty decent talent pool to pick from, like a malaysian player from Kingsmen ( theDoctorr ) was bought / transfer to Action PH ( 1 of philipines best teams rn ). Theres also that lack of drive from Organizations and players to strive for better. Slowly the better malaysian players are being poached from other regions in SEA 1 by 1, leaving an even lower incentive to invest in malaysia itself.

ah welp that's sad news for me. will still root for DRX tho if they do a deep run since more Asia Rep internationally = more funding = more talented players and team entering the Asia scene.

While PRX have only change a single member, It has completely change their playstyle and gameplay as Jing provide a completely different set of skills compare to Shiba. Hell for some reason after Benkai took over Shiba role he performed so much better this year atleast in APAC. Mindfreak aswell with his clutches and just solid fragging compare to last year lackluster performances. They have also became much more calmer / not affected by pressure much and it also is not a one man show of Forsaken anymore this year.

P.S: Keen reminder im a diehard fan of PRX so correct me if im wrong + take it with a grain of salt. I didnt search / watch much of DRX so theres that

however the prx of last year is barely comparable to this year, and its not like team gotten weaker when last year champion playoff maker Team secret didnt even make it to APAC challenger. Using old information on who beats who is really useless aswell cuz time and time again we have seen major upsets from across the world, such as sentinels crumbling apart, gambit ( m3c) not even qualifying for master, bleed somehow making it to 3rd + teams have change their playstyles or members making information from last year even more redundant.

but if u factor in champions, while both of APAC 1st and 2nd seed made it to playoffs, korea had fallen out in the group stages. Like u said at berlin drx beat prx 2-0 but with roster shuffles and how in champions they didnt even make it out of groups, u cant exactly pinpoint which side is better until either 1 of them comments on the other ( scrims ) or they fight on the international stage again.

3

Benkai is the best IGL with his infamous strat known as `Forsaken go kill'. He also has a backup 2nd less known strat which is `Jing go kill'. Clearly the best IGL with the most clutched moments.

Unlikely since not worth it, if they shit enter playoffs would still lose, and if they good losing to xerxia they can still qualify through lower bracket. Plus for bleed to bribe PPGL? ( not sure if its riot or ppgl) in under 15 min seems unlikely aswell. In the off chance they do tho... damn

honestly hope not, they threw alot in breeze which is 1 of the first i seen them perform that badly (whiffs) compare to past games even from last year. Benkai and mindfreak were performing decently well but forsaken (despite his score line) and d4vai especially had a really bad game. Jing was not playing up to par aswell.

On the flipside atleast they still dominated on icebox ;D

from a 1 man show last year to a well oiled machine of fraggers with each player able to step up and carried when needed, deep run this year?

Yes Hopium once again.

P.S: What is up with prx winning icebox on an eco tf?

SEN have dropped maps before heading into masters / Champions though.

Im guessing they were trying out really obscure weird team comps to see if they can have like a hidden ace under the sleeves ? Since other teams might not expect weird comps and need time to adjust giving them a pretty decent opening if it works out. Idk tho it was definitely weird like the non duelist comp they played awhile back

A small fun fact considering MYSG doesn't have the biggest depth in team strength but

PRX have not drop a single map thus far, although it will likely happen Against Persija / Playoffs but if it doesn't out of a literal miracle then 1st team to go undefeated heading to masters?

Also yes big hopium