Are you denying that they changed their executes...? Lol

2-1 SEN unfortunately

Goated username

No, GenG gets two map bans as compensation instead

Calling N4rrate T2 at this point is like calling Demon1 T3 talent. Blud has been on a T1 team for half a year now, time to move on

SEN fans never learn, they always overhype their team.

They're good and have a chance at winning this event still for sure, but besides the series against KC, none of their wins were all that decisive, neither at kickoff nor in Madrid.

Fnatic played the exact same way all of last year and they made top 4 at every event and won two titles

If Gen.G win the upper final, Gen.G 3 - 1 SEN
If SEN win the upper final, SEN 3 - 2 Gen.G

SEN looking far from unbeatable, but somehow always manage to close out those close games. (This is not meant to be a criticism, I think the ability to close out close games against good opponents is what separates great teams from good teams)

If they beat Gen.G I'm convinced they will also win the grand final, but if they have to go through the lower bracket, I worry a bit about their map pool in a BO5 with the opponent having two bans.

Crazy how EMEA and MENA have three letters in common, I wonder why that is

Africa hasn't had a single server until the SA server was added last year. North Africans can play on Southern European servers (or Istanbul I suppose) decently, which is why we've seen some North African players in tier 2 even before we got the MENA VCL.

But counting Africa as a potential talent pool for EMEA Valorant is silly, they just don't have the same opportunities.

See the trick is just to have no understanding of the game at all and just yell "holy shit" every time somebody gets a 2k

I think without MiniBoo and with Woot coming in fresh, this should be a very tough game for TH. FNC should be very motivated and I'd be surprised if they don't bounce back against a weakened TH.

It's basically double elim but you don't know the bracket beforehand.

In practice it's very similar.

In about 20 hours

Yeah, I was wrong about that. Still felt like a bit of an unnecessary risk, their Split looked a lot more solid. But then again, I guess they had less conifdence in the Split because of the role change so it makes sense.

But also, if Monyet doesn't win the 1v2 with the Sheriff, this series could easily be a 2-0. It was a very close map.

I'll stand by my point that there would have been better picks for PRX with less risk attached.

Why tf would I care what happened to random ass people who happen to be from the same country as me

TenZ 3-0 Magnum

He's your dad

Noneyet on Raze, Wonyet on Omen (also bruh, f0rsaken has no right being this insane on Raze)

Yeah, the lack of experience really showed on map 3. Benjy had an insane defense half and then went for silly plays on attack thinking he'll win them the game. Tough loss, especially considering how winnable the series against SEN was (not to say SEN didn't deserve the win, but it was super close).

But this team has hella potential if Woot slots in well.

It's been two years and you still don't understand the partnership system.

He's doing pretty well for a sub tbh. His util on Sunset was insane and won them a couple of rounds even if the frags weren't there.

He's probably not staying on the team after Madrid anyway.

Alfajer just got the chance to be in a top team earlier. I feel like RieNs now is more consistent than Alfa was in his first couple months on Fnatic (though tbf, RieNs did have a long off season to grow into this while Alfa was just kinda thrown into it mid season)

I wonder why that is

Why the fuck is PRX picking Sunset into TH? Surely TH win this

...Sentinels are looking unbeatable, TenZ is frying the competition, just 2-0ed Magnum. Lakia's Korean squad is the strongest Asian roster. Saadhak is struggling with his Brazilian team.

If this tournament ends with Sentinels beating KC 3-0 in the grand final, it's confirmed that the VCT script is actually on a 3-year loop.

And you know what this means.

KOI wins Champs.

After the first matches I have very little faith in PRX. Heretics looked strong against SEN, it was definitely winnable. Wouldn't be surprised if this is a quick 2-0 for TH

Bro needs to find the period button on his keyboard

The amount of hate he gets is insane, like he personally invented mandatory military service to get on the team or something

Count again

So your region is horrible at scouting?

CHIPI 💥💯🔊 CHIPI👍🥰🤪😋 CHAPA 💗💖🤪😋🔊 CHAPA 💯🥰👌💙 DUBI 🦄✨🧨💗😍 DUBI 😍😍😍🔊💯✨💖💖 DABA 👍💋🔊🤯🎉 DABA 🧨💗💖💖💙 MAGICÒ MÍ 🙋‍♂️💖💖💗🧨 DUBI 💙💙🎉🎉🦄 DUBI BOOM 🧨💥🧨 BOOM 🧨💥🧨 BOOM 🧨💥🧨 BOOM🧨💥🧨

I didn't forget Sunset, but TH is very good on that map as well. I felt like their setups looked a bit stronger at times. As for Ascent and Bind, SEN looked shaky on both maps at kickoff. TH played 0 Ascent and 1 Bind (which they won), so it's hard to predict. According to neilzinho, TH have a lot more prepped that they haven't yet shown at kickoff, and I wouldn't be surprised if they have at least something on Ascent. I feel like Ascent, Bind and Sunset could all go either way.

Just map theory wise, TH should be favoured here if they simply ban Split and Lotus. Of course individually SEN are worlds ahead, we don't really know if TH can keep up their good form, how their inexperienced players will perform under pressure, how Riens will do at LAN, etc.

I think this match is a way bigger question mark than people give it credit for. SEN haven't won a single series without dropping a map at kickoff, and with how their map pool is currently looking, I highly doubt they 2-0 this unless TH has a strong decline in individual performance.

Still think SEN take this 2-1, but I wouldn't bet my life savings on it.

The teams will play against all the other teams in their group.

Nah 8 team playoffs in a league with 11 teams would suck. Qualifying to playoffs with like 3 wins out of 10 matches is stupid, no team would take the regular season seriously.

It also doesn't make any sense.

Each team has 5 matches per split. This framing of two groups suggests that teams from group A have 6 matches in the first split and then 4 in the second split.

Finally a win for portable document format 🙏

That's probably the tradeoff for not having a buyout.

You're in a coma, StyrofoamOne. Please wake up. Please, the kids and I miss you so much

Say what you want about the 8 team format, but honestly I feel like this tournament will be such a banger. I haven't watched too much APAC and China, so I don't know how PRX, EDG, FPX and Gen.G are looking, but from the little I've seen, I feel like besides maybe FPX, every single team at Madrid has a decent chance at winning. Not saying they all have equal chances, but I don't think there'll be any game where you can guarantee in advance who will win.

The only correct analysis of this game

Chronicle missed all of 2022, he's not near the top in terms of appearances.

It's a pretty good game, but there's also plenty of mistakes on both sides. Honestly NRG's map theory looked much worse than various other teams. Even Heretics had better postplants on Sunset

They were favourites for the Americas league last year and won though

I've never been so hyped to watch an international tournament as an EU fan. Sure Americas look unbeatable, but KC and TH are so much more fun to watch than FNC/TL/NAVI, and I'm so tired of those teams going in with high expectations and going out while playing the most boring Valorant on earth.

Even if KC and TH don't win any games (and honestly they are looking more than capable of beating anyone) I feel like it'll be so much doper than EU at internationals in the last two years.

Enggh is a great coach, and so handsome too 🤤

They could, yeah. Loud would obviously be favoured in either duel though.

I mean they lost one bo3, while playing the exact same strats they've played for the last 14 months. Against a team that is looking very good.

CoJo said on Twitter that the plan was for FNC to peak at Champs, which makes sense given last year's trajectory. Saadhak also said that he wanted to do so much more stuff at Champs and he just didn't have the time. The schedule is tight and teams that do deep runs in masters won't be able to come up with much new stuff for Champs.

So this year FNC went with "we think we're good enough to win kickoff with old strats", which they were clearly wrong about. But also they will have other stuff cooked up for the rest of the year. Whether or not those things will work is up in the air, but reacting to this one bo3 like they all fell off and are shit players now is a bit silly.

based off of what exactly

The entirety of last year as a precedent