it's a banger

crashies

don't want bandwagon fans anyway, guess I count as no one

sinatraa for the team, better versatility individually and for the team, also allows for Shahz on the Jett/op.

*
More subjective/debatable take: Idk if it's just me but it feels like whilst their win rate atm might be higher, I feel like they are less consistent almost with this iteration (?). What used to be very stable/good maps for them haven/split are a lot shakier than they used to be (yes they are still winning them, but considering what it looked like before i.e. 17 map win streak on haven before dropping once to envy). I don't feel they have the same dominance on any map anymore. It feels like they play more puggy than they used to too but that's kinda understandable given a new player addition, but it just can be inconsistent on a day when players aren't feeling it. Almost like they can have higher highs but lower lows. With sinatraa from like August onwards I think one of the interesting stats was actually that at non-seeding events they always either won the event or got eliminated by the team that won it, in other words they only got eliminated by teams that were good or in form (e.g. 100t First Strike, making finals then losing). Not saying BBG or Andbox are bad but prior iteration never lost to them (to be fair both of those teams have changed some members since), and those were probably two of the worst losses they've taken team ranking wise since July and what I'm trying to get at is it feels as though the team can just feel flat somedays moreso than before due to a greater reliance on fragging and star play.

Anyway it's hard to compare bc all the teams have gotten better, Sentinels themselves and everyone else. Sick and zombs especially I feel like have gotten a whole heap better than last year, so it's really hard to chalk up success/failure to a specific factor. Plus we don't know what's going on behind the scenes, it seems like TenZ is working on the Raze, probably because Raze is just so valuable on split and would be an important addition. This is just my take, I just got better vibes watching the old iteration - better team chem, versatility, when they played haven or split I would feel pretty confident 9/10 times that they take the map, also I prefer Shahz on the op over TenZ (and obviously sinatraa was a better sova than shahzam too - though Shahzam's sova is clearly improving as he gets more comfortable) etc etc I could go on forever. *

sinatraa

I'm surprised you didn't call out game sense and agent versatility, those I would say are the big two. But I agree that we shouldn't really compare players they all have their own strengths, if anything preaching about x player being good naturally makes people hate them

I personally think it's a lot to do with part (emphasis on part) of the 100t fanbase. I personally have no issue with the players themselves and I assume most people don't really either (idk maybe a point can be made about ppl not liking steel). But yeah they have a really large fan base and naturally that eventually includes people who like to 'support' their team by talking smack about other teams, this is present in every fan base but they a very large one so out of all the teams I feel their presence the most.

Because people are not looking at just fragging but how he performs his role which from an outside observer point of view is hard to tell and definitely not reflected in the scoreboard. If you have tuned into some of sen's interviews you would hear how much credit ShahZaM gives to the information that dapr provides which helps them approach each round and get the reads which wins rounds for them. This is why I think FNS is also a great Cypher but I'm not a huge fan of saying 'Aproto is the best Cypher in NA' because a lot of what makes him good is not directly tied to Cypher or how he uses that agent, he's great at clicking heads. There's a reason plat chat or other analysts are high on the dapr train, he's an intelligent player.

For a last minute substitution, yes he is probably the best choice he's cracked. But the best choice doesn't necessarily make them a stronger team than they were before especially because of how last minute this is (lack of practice, synergy, last minute shifting around of agent roles - I don't think it's going to be as comfortable as before either way) not that you said that I just think everyone should go in with humble expectations until we see at least the first match. But yes, the best they can do in such circumstances.

I think you have to look at a lot more than how good the player is individually and how the scene has changed. Back when he was on c9 the competitive scene was a lot weaker, he might not be able to dominate the way he used to and even then, better teams used to be able to just shut him down and reduce his impact. Also he isn't a perfect slot in, some agent roles are going to have to be shuffled and they might be lacking in synergy since they haven't practiced together (apparently at all). I hope sen does well though

I hope this works out for Sen but it's really hard to call. I think given how little time they had no matter who you pick up they're going to be lacking teamwork anyway so may as well go for a cracked player who can frag - in that sense TenZ is probably one of the best people they could have picked up to sub. But I think people need to be a little more reserved with expectations as:

1. They haven't practiced together, I think TenZ said on stream the first time they are playing together is this match
2. TenZ hasn't played a competitive match in a bit (twitch rivals and stuff don't really count) so who even knows how he will perform, he's still cracked I bet just how cracked and will other teams be able to shut him down ?
3. Not everyone is going to be on super comfortable agents given both Shahzam and TenZ mostly main Jett. Shahzam is most likely playing Sova on ascent, haven, bind but even so he's gotta learn lineups for ascent, haven. I'm more curious about Icebox and Split where the hole they need to fill is Raze/Reyna if TenZ will then get onto that or if Shahzam will. If TenZ is comfortable playing other duelists, I'd love to see Shahzam opping on icebox - that's a map he's consistently performs well on (also not sure how great Shahzam is on Raze)

They just need some time but as Sideshow I think mentioned, obviously this iteration is going to be worse than their showing previously because of synergy and comfortable agents, but given the circumstances I think this is probably the best they can do. I'm excited to see TenZ play but I am nervous for sen still.

Yep TenZ said on stream the first time they will be playing together is literally the event. Also the agent roles won't be super comfy with ShahZaM moving off Jett like his sova is fine but he mentioned he doesn't really know lineups for some maps when he was playing on Haven yesterday on stream (but I bet he will be cram learning now). I'm curious what they do for Split or Icebox though which they play Raze/Reyna on - apparently TenZ is comfortable playing some other duelists so personally I would think it'd be better to put him on Raze/Reyna then if that's true (because we really haven't seen the ShahZaM raze...also I think he ops really well on icebox I'd still like to see some of his Jett). Like on paper and if they had a lot of time to figure out the roles it looks good, but in short term I do think people need to be a little more reserved with expectations (although it's exciting).

map advantage is still a thing unfortunately

They haven't, but most of those were with the old Envy roster. Since the addition of food + crashies it's been much closer e.g. with NSG Winter Championships which was a 2-1 SEN victory and a 13-11 3rd map. I hope SEN wins but I think it could go either way it's going to be close (especially considering the form Envy are in and the questions around SEN with their power outs).