On the surface it looks bad but all these games are low key bangers. The worst game is probs the EDG game but a big positive, which I think outweighs the negative, is that you can not get regional teams knocking each other out unless its at minimum the lower round 2.

The lower-round games will be absolute cinema and I think seeing this many great teams in a do-or-die situation will make everything even more hyped. Regardless you were gonna get hard match ups. Also for anyone complaining about Sens bracket side, they legit get the worst brackets like every single event so I do not care. Also if they lose against a great DRX they legit get fcked.

Obvs another playoff bracket could be better but that's assuming you pick and choose perfectly enough for there to be no conflicts + no regional issues + give good matches. This is very very unlikely so this is unrealistic given the format and there should be no boring game.

What are your thoughts, also link your brackets below. I wanna see how mine compares to you guys too.

Do people already know generally what the playoff matches look like? I do not know how it will work but aren't certain teams only able to play like 2-3 different teams from the playoffs cause of the different rules put into place on how playoff matches work? For example, Sen can not play TH but I also read they can not play some other teams as well (for reasons i forgot).

So do people already have a rough idea of what the matches-up could look like or am I wrong?

I like the random draw but regardless I think Sen get the side of death and will have to go through a gauntlet cause of how their bad luck with placements is.

imagine they had narrate instead of verno or sacy. I would only imagine either scenario if sacy left tho, he meshes well and does his role well so hard to say whether verno or narrate would have a similar effect even if they are "better" players.

100% cause copium

Assuming they bomb out of champs, most likely. I think they should pick up Reduxx, Verno or someone else from T2. Zander for bang would be interesting too.

But Asuna is their poster child so idk. Boostio only gets dropped if he says/does somethings outrageous that makes nade shot dislike him. Otherwise he’s almost safe (assuming FNS is not interested + Boostio did something crazy).

If sen or g2 lose and then they proceed to lose to 100T are they out ? I know that sen has a lot of points but im not sure how much of a must win this game is for either team.

Any comments for clarification would be nice.

-ORG = sent
-media = sent
-controller = s0m
-sent = less
-flex = Jawg (i think he can play anything)
-IGL = JohnQt
-entry = aspas
Coach = Kaplan + Potter

-Fans = Sent
-owner = messi + Rob
-6th man = Tenz (have him watch party and rack in views)
-main watch party = tarik
-gf = scarlett johansson
-Dog = Yorkshire Terrier

I watched tarik watching ludwig, big difference smh

-therefore does it count as stealing his entire game, i think (probably) not.

Sen has a higher chance of qualifying than Drake does of recovering from this beef.

That being said, sen fans up, drake fans down.

End Post

I may sound crazy, but in my opinion, its better for the team to not qualify for the championship. The cinderella story would be cool but they have played the most games from the off-season until now, which is causing them to burn out (as Zekken even mentioned). Therefore, having a month and a bit to reset, reinvent some of their map pool, agent pool and strategies would be good for the championship.

Them qualifying is good short term but its probably better long term not to qualify.

It would be interesting to see them included, as they bring viewership, but only if Sen's strategy is to get a lead in points that would allow for changes during the season.

i never knew it got this deep on the vlr forum lol

I meant when they qualified for madrid so the last masters, not this current masters.

https://liquipedia.net/valorant/VCT/2024/Championship_Points/Americas

I was looking at the points distribution, and I think it's a bad format. Why does Loud only have one point, even though they qualified for madrid? In my opinion, if a team qualifies or comes in second, they should receive points. It's like how Geng got zero points for coming in second. It doesn't make sense.

In the second split they will destroy every team in that pool besides Leviathan and EG/100T could be 50/50 based on form but the rest are a cakewalk.

-demon1 -ethan + s0m + FNS
-lose to bilibili
-fns -som
-build super team, don't qualify to anything
-sell team

loud better play like they did against sen cause they were cooking. Also they need the biggest round diff + 2-0 to help qualify for the playoffs so its not impossible.

When Jawg does something I only say Oh my Jawg instead of omg cause jawg is my god (in game).

post ends there smile_emoji

to be fair, tenz does not shit talk whatsoever (usually) whereas demon1 does. he can shit talk but you gotta back it up.

na potter just low diffs chet

I agree but my actual point is to give her a star studded lineup, give her a team like NRG or SEN and she will not lose (probably).

Give potter Aspas (basically 2-3 guys worth of kills) or a team like SEN and she will dominate.

How any team did not snag potter or jawg is beyond me. Her ability to counter strat is probs top 3 in the world and she ain't 2 or 3. Imagine how good a team like lev or loud or even SEN would be if they had potter there as a co-coach or coach strictly for anti-strats.

EG have failed her, get her some help. She should leave and join a team that can cement her as the goat coach.

Also jawg is that guy. instead of omg I simply say Oh my Jawg. He is a dog.

also letting narrate leave NA (but that's not important right now).

SEN should pull out icebox as a trump card. I think they can probs win split regardless of anti stat or Sunset. Maybe bind, but if 2/3 of those map gets banned (which nrg should ban). Icebox could be a big brain trump card if they had good prep for it.

it would be funny if the favourites in groups A and C did not make it. The amount of flame NRG and whoever is favoured to win group c (probs G2) would get if they bombed out would make me laugh.

mb dad

ill call my people

hello friends. I hope you have a good day and a great week. Love you all.

P.S. if you do not have a valentines, ill be there dw bb

What are some reyna changes besides removing her from the game would you wanna see. Here are my ideas, comments, or thoughts are appreciated.

Reynas ult could mark the closest person to her (maybe the person marked knows reyna is close to them to balance but idk) and every time she kills someone who is marked, it marks someone new. The mark could disappear after a certain amount of time so that's not a constant wall hack. Maybe could help pro play when you exec onto sites.

or maybe a team mate could use one of reynas orbs to heal. So if she kills someone, the orb that hovers could be grabbed by a team mate to heal a portion of their health. Could be like 70% of a regular reyna heal for team mates. if you include this then you could give her more orbs to compensate incase a team mate takes a heal so that reyna still could heal. Maybe if a team mate takes the heal you still get like 30% of the heal or could even split it 50-50 idk how this function would work for a balance. But riot doesn't really balance stuff well so who cares lol. Reyna in pro play was fun to watch when she popped off.

Her flash could be a bit more consistent but i haven't played val in a while so i forgot how good/bad her eye is. Idk just make it so that you cant break her eye and if you see any portion of her eye you are blind.

Someone at riot, hire me, I got yoru changes for ya as well.

Could turn her into a support entry for example. Think if they branched out and had controller entries or support entries instead of just entries, it could help mix of agent comps as well but that would be for future agents.

I was comparing franching to an IVY league which is a fair comparison. Anyway here's what I wrote and tell me what you think:

let me ask you, what are the actual qualifications to become a pro, how hard is it to get those qualifications, how many people have those qualifications, and how many people are you competing against with similar qualifications?

If you think about it like this and I did a break down on the IVY League med schools for example to have a comparable example to the franchise teams You would see that its much harder on the surgeon side. just cause you have more people trying to become a pro does not mean all of them have comparable resumes. I would say you are competing against a smaller pool of pros for a spot as not many people have the qualifications to become on in franchising. Getting these qualifications is hard but manageable.

Again, just because a lot of people want to do something does not mean its a hard things IF the barrier of entry is low. Like whats the actual barrier? Having fast reflexes or amazing reaction times is not a rare thing, that a pretty average thing for most teenagers and if you do not have it, its not the end of the world. Most in game leaders have below average (in comparisons to their pro counter parts) reaction time and reflexes but they still compete. FNS literally said that what differentiated a pro from an amateur is their in game awareness, not their reflexes. Like you do not need crazy good aim in valorant, its need to be great but not amazing. The barrier to entry into medicine is soo much higher than being a pro gamer. Like you LOTS of money, so you go into debt, you dedicate more of your life to become a doctor then you would trying to become a gamer. Like your journey literally starts in highschool.

Also the "I’m 100% confident that I (3.9 unweighted GPA, 1450 SAT) could become a surgeon, but I know for a fact that I could never become a pro player". You are so out of touched with reality its insane. You understand that your marks are a dime a dozen for most applicants applying into an ivy league? You need stellar extracurriculars with your marks. Having good marks is not enough. Also just cause you can apply to go into an IVY League does not mean you can go. Would you be able to pay for the tuition? Would you be able to pay for the price to finish med school? No, unless you are rich. Thus you will go into debt. The actual barrier to entry into medicine is more than just being smart and work ethic. Literally, everyone in an IVY league and any med school has that, you would not be any different. So then you need more than that to actually get into an IVY league med school. Like how are you so out of touch with reality that you believe, simply having good grades is enough to get you into an IVY league. lol. Like highschool is a walk in the park, do not compare good grades in highschool as a determinant for success in medschool. The differences between highschool and just undergrad is crazy too btw.

EVEN if you do not go to an IVY League, could you pay for the tuition prices all the way through med school and dedicate 10+ years of your life to becoming a surgeon. This is my point as well. People assume that because sooo many people try to become a pro that its harder than becoming a surgeon. But there is such a low barrier for entry that legit anyone can try to become a pro gamer. But this can not be said about surgeons. Not anyone can try to become a surgeon. You need to be qualified. Out of all the people in the scene only a few are actually qualified to become pros. The competition to become a surgeon is way greater. You are literally competing with more people who are as/more qualified than you through out your journey. Where as in the pro scene, a way smaller portion of people are actually qualified to join a franchising team thus you are not actually competing against that many people in comparison to to the competition in med school.

ignoring the insults. This is my point as well. People assume that because sooo many people try to become a pro that its harder than becoming a surgeon. But there is such a low barrier for entry that legit anyone can try to become a pro gamer. But this can not be said about surgeons. Not anyone can try to become a surgeon. You need to be qualified. Out of all the people in the scene only a few are actually qualified to become pros. The competition to become a surgeon is way greater. You are literally competing with more people who are as/more qualified than you through out your journey. Where as in the pro scene, a way smaller portion of people are actually qualified to join a franchising team thus you are not actually competing against that many people in comparison to to the competition in med school.

i dont think any conclusion can be drawn from this game. Too new of a team to get a good idea of their actual unity. Good practice games for them however, hope they do well in the future.

final thoughts after reading some of the replies:

let me ask you, what are the actual qualifications to become a pro, how hard is it to get those qualifications, how many people have those qualifications, and how many people are you competing against with similar qualifications?

If you think about it like this and I did a break down on the IVY League med schools for example to have a comparable example to the franchise teams You would see that its much harder on the surgeon side. just cause you have more people trying to become a pro does not mean all of them have comparable resumes. I would say you are competing against a smaller pool of pros for a spot as not many people have the qualifications to become on in franchising. Getting these qualifications is hard but manageable.

What i said in previous comments about IVY leagues if I were to compare them to franchising;

The standard to get into an IVY league is already stupidly high, to get that qualification is also really hard, to then have to do this multiple times in order to be eligible to become a surgeon in an Ivy League is as you described it "statistically impossible'. You are competing with such a larger pool of people to become a surgeon with a similar qualification because they give you a rough idea of what is required and the likelihood a person actually becoming a surgeon at these schools is literally close to 0 if you take into account the process from highschool to your preferred residency. Like think about how many people start on the road to get into an IVY league, how many people get accepted into the undergrad? How many people then accepted into the med program, how many people then get accepted into the residency program of their choice. Like the competition to become a surgeon is sooooo much higher than becoming a pro that its actually not a debate if you broke it down further.

Here lets break this down again. I will compare a ivy league to becoming a pro top player in north america. Getting into an IVY league is harder than becoming a pro player. Hard to believe, but you fail to understand that being smart is not enough to get in. The barrier of entry is sooo high to become a surgeon at a top school that its not comparable. I can give you all the data and specification to become a surgeon in an IVY league. But let me ask you, what are the actual qualification to become a pro, how hard is it to get those qualifications, how many people have those qualifications, and how many people are you competing against with a similar qualifications.

The standard to get into an IVY league is already stupidly high, to get that qualification is also really hard, to then have to do this multiple times in order to be eligible to become a surgeon in an Ivy League is as you described it "statistically impossible'. You are competing with such a larger pool of people to become a surgeon with a similar qualification because they give you a rough idea of what is required that the likelihood a person actually becoming a surgeon at these schools is literally close to 0. Like think about how many people start on the road to get into an IVY league, how many people get accepted into the undergrad? How many people then accepted into the med program, how many people then get accepted into the residency program of their choice. Like the competition to become a surgeon is sooooo much higher than becoming a pro that its actually not a debate if you broke it down.

Again I am making an over simplification of the processes. Its not comparable at all. There is no real hard qualification to become a pro, which makes it accessible to more people. The same can not be said about surgeons, its not accessible to everyone, and only a few cohort of people in the 8 IVY leagues can graduate every year from the millions who dream of becoming a surgeon.

but you are also competing against such a large pool of unqualified people. Like wtf? Also the rosters get shuffled so much that getting an opportunity becomes easier as well.

Also do not oversimplify the "Anyone decently smart with a good work ethic can become a surgeon", that's simply not true. You need to be exceptionally smart and/or have an exceptional work ethic.

Yes also obvs not everyone can become a pro but that goes for any job that requires you to be an elite. LIKE YOU NEED A RESUME. Only a small portion of pros have a resume to apply and thus you are not competing against that many people. In comparison, that can not be said about becoming a surgeon. Here ill give you more numbers. Millions of people apply to get into med school every year, only a small percentage get in, then out of the small percentage you have an even smaller percentage getting into a specialization. Like this comparison makes no sense.

You are not competing with that many qualified people to become a pro, sure becoming qualified may be hard but that is again the same for literally anything. To become qualified to become a doctor it literally starts in highschool, then 4-5 year of undergrad then 4 year of med school then 3+ years of residency. You quite literally spend more time trying to become a doctor then becoming a pro.

yeh I can understand this point but you are also assuming the path in becoming a pro is linear. I would say in general, the work you put into becoming a pro will eventually allow you to prove yourself. But like you are doing such a linear comparison without taking into consideration that because the barrier to becoming a pro is sooo low, that literally anyone can compete with you. So obvs the percentage goes down but imagine if they put in a criteria which required you put in a certain number of accomplishments, work hours, and other factors. The people being able to apply to become a pro would then flip this notion. Only a few people have the resume currently to become a pro based on past events and if this is what is taken into consideration then you are not competing aginst that many people. TO get any job you need a resume, if you do not then work for it. Like wtf is this weird notion that because the barrier to entry is lower that also means that the job is harder to get? BUT because there is essentially such a low barrier to entry you are literally competing with a majority of nobodies. SO this comparison again does not make sense.

You can not say the barrier to becoming a pro is harder if the requirements to becoming a pro is also vague. Like what are the actual requirements to become a pro?? Demon1 was a nobody before EG, how did he get a shot over anyone else? IF you say that its harder because its so vague then this is a circular argument. Realistically you are not competing with that many people if you have already proved yourself to a degree, its why you do not see many upsets unless its from already established pros/potentially unknown superstars. YOU will get progress if you put in the work or you get scouted like Demon1. BUT regardless you are not really competing with that many qualified people. also we need to establish what are the requirements to becoming a pro cause we cant keep being so vague about it.

to be fair, being a pro is hard. So i do think describing them as lazy or overpaid is fair. Also if they generate millions in revenue for the esports they should be paid fairly. But I agree that being a surgeon is harder lol.

thank you sir, I also did not mention the hard af tests you take in med school and the 100+ hours you work a week which would put any pro to shame IMO.

we should not compare jobs in general, if you do then know what you are talking about. NOW obvs this is hypocritical cause idk much about being a pro besides the view things I've heard other pros describe on stream BUT I tried to keep my analysis more emphasized on the doctor side.

bro if the only thing you got out of that was that I went to med school then you need to become more educated. Its not about elitism or being a doctor as a flex, its about having proper respect for the people who spend a large portion of their lives helping others.

I agree on the point that there is scarce job pool for pros but he simply said becoming a pro valorant player, not a top of the line pro player. Becoming a pro is not that hard. But also this is a purely hypothetical argument. I could say that if the pro players for any game worked as hard as a residency student, I do not think becoming a pro would be all that difficult. I am not saying that they do not work hard but there are levels to this. Becoming the top percentage in any field is extremely hard, do not just assume pro valorant is harder because its so publicised. Also i would say being a pro in valorant is soooo much easier than being a pro in csgo for example. But that's another topic. Pro valorant players get it relatively easier.

that isnt factually correct tho. Like as a doctor you have to stay on top of actual literature that is out. However changes are not as volatile as in valorant so from that aspect I can understand. Also the work you do as a pro is not relatively that hard if you were to compare it to most jobs. Like Unles you are a IGL/head coach who has to analyze the maps, agents and vod review then sure you have a bust schedule. But the average pro does not do more work than is required from a typical job. The notion that they do not stop learning = more demanding, does not make sense. regardless of your job you have to always be learning, its not just a "oh i finished my education so I'm done now". Who ever thinks this is out of touch from reality.

read tldr if you think I wrote too much, again no hate to any pro as I respect them and what they do for the community but this notion that being a pro is harder than being a doctor needs to be discussed. I regret the "if you would then you could" part but that's more of a light roast/banter. I am not being that serious when i wrote that. Love you all, have a good day. If you disagree then write in chat and I am happy for my opinion to change even if I wrote that its not debatable. Its not debatable but if there a person who became a surgeon and then became a pro, who said becoming a pro was harder then I will change my mind lol.

read tldr

Rant to put into perspective how hard becoming a surgeon is. I am a fan of Zellis but he made a really dumb statement. Also pardon my grammar, my english is bad. i mean no disrespect as I can tell he is just really ignorant about this which is not his fault but I hope he can grow from this and have a greater appreciation for health services in general. Literally getting into a majority of any of the health service jobs is harder and its not close. This includes nurses as well btw, becoming a nurse is harder as well. Finally before i start my rant, I agree they should be paid a lot and I am not discounting a pros struggle but he needs to get a better understanding of this topic. Not just him, but most people do not have the slightest clue how hard it is and I will give you a rough idea of how hard it is. My explanation leaves out a lot of information as well but I will just simplify it all.

TDLR: hard to get into med school, hard when you are finally in med school cause everyone's dummy smart, getting into surgeon residency is hard, being in surgeon residency is hard, nothing is a guarantee as you can fail out of your program + you leave with debt. Being a pro is less stressful and easier. If he said "Maintaining a job as a doctor is easier than maintaining a pro job cause the pro scene is more volatile", I would probably agree there BUT becoming a surgeon is sooooooooo much harder than becoming a pro its not relatively close. becoming a doctor is hard, if half these pros could they would but they cant (its true dont be mad). barrier to entry into the pro scene is not as high as in the medical scene. You have more opportunity to become a pro than to become a doctor cause you need such elevated credentials + requirements to get into med school + get into a hyper-competitive surgeon residency program. Also disrespectful to tell a doctor/surgeon that their path was essentially "guaranteed". maintaining a pro job is probably harder however this is debatable in some aspects.

Actual facts I will present

bro his comparison to a surgeon was actually really bad. I understand the point he is making BUT he is talking about the requirements for a profession he has 0 knowledge about. Let me put into perspective how hard becoming a surgeon is. In general to even get into a good med school you need to be in the top percentile of applications which is already fucking hard cause its not just grades that matter. You need 100s of hours of experience which includes clinical, volunteering, shadowing, extracurriculars + a crazy good gpa, good references, a great MCAT (which is hard cause the mcat is fucking hard test). Again this is a general requirements as some med schools can be different and getting in with a lower GPA or lower hours is possible but you need to make it by having a great foundation in the other application parts which I mentioned.

getting into med school is really fucking hard, and i simplified the requirements. When you enter med school, you enter a pool of hyper-intelligent people who are already smart, hyper motivated, and hyper active in this field of study. The barrier to get into med school is crazy but then to become a surgeon which is a specialization requires you to fight for a preferred slot against the smartest bunch of people you will interacted with up until med school. Like i need you to think about, imagine if you were competing against 100 of your schools valedictorians or someone who works harder than that in order to get into your program + get into your preferred residency. Then you need to maintain a certain level of marks against those said smart people which is hard again cause med school is not a guaranteed success + work you have to put in to be at the top of a class filled with crazy intelligent people who eat, sleep and breathe med school.

So you do countless hours in your undergrad (yes your 4 years of med school is considered an undergrad, at least thats what i was told). And getting into a surgeon program is not a guarantee because only the smartest people in your class get into their preferred choice + actually doing your specialization/residency for becoming a surgeon is fucking hard. YOU are not guaranteed a surgeon job just cause you get into med school. Becoming a pro in valorant is significantly easier, and there is no argument to be made in this aspect. LIKE YOU ARE NOT GUARANTEED ANYTHING IF YOU GET INTO MED SCHOOL, THE DROP OUT RATE IS BETWEEN 15-20%. THEN THE PEOPLE WHO REMAIN ARE THE HYPERMOTIVATED AND HYPER SMART PEOPLE WHO WORK THEIR ASS OFF FOR THEIR PROGRAM. The difficulty in becoming a surgeon can not be described unless you actually lived through it, I am an aspiring doctor and I can only give you a rough idea. Every doctor i have talked to has told me that their time in med school was fucking hard and that residency is not a pre-determined outcome + all this information in this post.

Also someones gonna make the arguement "well at least you get paid in residency".... bro you literally get paid below minimum wage based on the hours you work. Like the amount you make obvs differs but in general you work more hours and get paid less if you did the math. A pro can practice like 8hrs a day and still have time to another job, you do not have the same luxury when you are doing your residency. Also the amount of debt you have after med school literally can take decades to pay even with a super high salary. Imagine your debt from undergrad then debt from med school. being a pro is less stressful and less risky. You have less to worry about imo. If you fail med school you literally get 100s of thousands of dollars in debt without a degree + years of wasted time. If you fail to become a pro at least you have other options without the large debt. Failing med school means a large debt to pay off unless you're rich. If you market yourself well, stream + youtube + other side gigs, which is hard, but all this is still a pretty easy alternative to med school.

Now i would agree that remaining a pro is harder than maintaining your job as a doctor cause when youre a doctor you're pretty much smooth sailing unless some crazy shit happens. Staying a pro is harder than staying a doctor but becoming a pro vs becoming a doctor is not comparable at all. Like at all. So pro val/pros in any video game should be paid a lot because they also generate that much revenue for the esport they are in. becoming a pro is hard, being a pro is hard, staying as a pro is hard so I hope they get their bread. I think they should be paid a shit ton and I do not really care about them making more than some doctors. Yes a lot of people assume you go into med because you make a lot but 90% of people do not stay/do med school for that purpose. TBH you could do a trade school and be really well off without the med school debt, you do med cause you genuinely want to help people NOT just cause of the money. I would say doctors and nurses should be paid more but them making less than pro valorant players is not a problem in my opinion. These matters are just separate issues. If you want to compare incomes then compare incomes between pros in different pro scenes, unfair to compare pros to doctors IMO.

Thank you for reading my ted talk, love you zellsis. No hate cause being a pro seems hard but I would talk to a doctor and get their perspective to understand why its hard and how disrespectful your comments are to the people who became doctors. Telling them that becoming a surgeon was basically a "guarantee" is really disrespectful to them and how hard they worked to serve the community. YES doctors serve the community, its not just money-hungry dick head. You will meet some people like that but in general they want to help people, you just become desensitized cause dealing with death/sickness/injuries all day is mentally hard so being emotionally detached from patients helps keep you sane (in some cases).

now im interested to see who the coach will be going into the open qualifiers

I dont think sen can actually play against KRU cause they are both the second seed

Apparently the draws for the berlin playoffs have been made. A lot of pros and even VS are having interesting reactions to the bracket. What do you guys think the bracket will look like? I hope that by some miracle of God that the NA teams do not all play each other in the same side of the bracket....... but they probably gonna be on one side...
my predictions are maybe:
100T vs Sent
VS vs gambit/CR
Envy vs Acend/SMB
G2 vs Kru

This new lineup could be dangerous. Hopefully, everything works out.

Happy that more teams will play there. Wanted to see vision strikers on LAN but hopefully, they make the next one.

sort of sad we will not see breeze in a pro game but it makes a lot of sense. We want to see who currently the best in the world and there shouldn't be series decided on a map that is recently released and hasn't had much prep time.

Envy most likely wins this 2-1 but depending on the map vetoes could be 2-0. Then they probably play c9 because Sent looked dominant the last time they played c9. I don't think either team wins a clean 2-0 but if FNS did his homework they should 2-1.