No offense to the guy but there's never been one player whos shown so little yet been hyped up so far. I'm fine with people liking his chances to qualify and play in ascension but cmon. It reminds me so much of the Rara stuff from 2020-21. He hasn't even played in a VCT tournament. I don't think he's even played against a T1 team since First Strike. Like ya he's cool, he hits the headshots, he's flashy, but he's never even played in a game that mattered in three years. At least with Demon1 he was new to the scene and his T2 team was winning multiple tourneys with him outplaying many players. These are two very different scenarios. At least let the guy qualify for ascension first.

T1 last year:
s0m, FNS, Runi,Ayrin, ban(rest of the players are either rumored to be signed or signed but not playing games)

Signed T2 last year:
Aproto, Sym,
pwny
mummay, supamen, tigg
shahzam, penny
fiziq
Blackheart, Trick
Exalt

Unsigned but Notable
Hazed, Dicey, Will, Steel, Zexrow, PureVNS, Okeanos, curry, subroza

Any predictions on orgs or teams that could be formed?
I personally would love to see s0m and FNS team up with Penny, Exalt and someone like Tigg. I also am very interested to see where guys like Ayrin, Runi, Ban, Sym and Aproto go as they all were franchise level last year(that could just be a team right there).

Ascent: Sacy, Champs final vs Optic MVP of that match IMO
Bind: Tenz, S2 2021 final vs Fnatic Best Reyna game ever
Breeze: Leaf, 2021 Champs vs Full Sense not much to pick from but he popper
Fracture: Yay, Champs vs Loud group stage Peak Yay performance
Haven: Buzz, 2021 berlin v Acend diffing cNed
Icebox: Derke, S2 2021 vs V1 could have picked many
Lotus: Kang Kang, Tokyo vs Liquid solo win
Pearl: Aspas, Champs semi final vs Paper Rex hard carry
Split: Leo, Copenhagen vs Optic upset
Sunset: Smoggy I guess lol

I don't think they care about being 100T when their regular season was over. It was cool but the best they looked was beating NRG. It put them at 2-1 with the loss being 1-2 against Loud. There was genuine hope back then and JZZ was looking like the next Cauanzin. Then they lost and got killed by LEV the next week and the season was basically over.

my dumbass pressed enter before I was done so had to make an edit lol

Americas:
EG: Champs Win
Loud: First half of Split vs FNC at Lock/In
NRG: Lotus V Paper Rex at Tokyo
KRU: LCQ over Leviatan
C9: Pearl win over NRG in playoffs
LEV: Beating C9 to get to LCQ finals(they thought they were gonna win lol)
SEN: Dominating C9 on fracture in LCQ with Tenz Kayo
Furia: Going 2-0 versus LEV
MIBR: Beating NRG
100T: Starting Lock/In 2-0

Anyone roasting this move is just incorrect. I don't think there is a better controller in EMEA than Mistic, and if he hadn't been playing intiator for FNC at the end of '22 he would've been in franchising. If you're going to have a non-controller IGL(and Enzo is probably the best one) you should be looking for Mistic first and foremost. Hoody and Atakaptan are good as well, but I truly think Mistic is No. 1 unless Shao makes the full switch.

Based on Flyn rumors

NA:
Nismo
Verno(can't anyway)
Zander
Skuba
All 4 are locked in for T2 2024

EU:
DaviH: Could see him on LOUD KC or Koi but unlikely
Fizzy: very unlikely
Unfake: SHOULD be who KOI picks up at IGL now that Redgar is off the market
lowel: I wanna see him in T1 again, he's been one of the best spain league player for two years now, probably no fit though except at KC

APAC:
Juicy: Age
Yesican: Don't know anything apart from him dominating against a few teams(Scarz mainly) in ascension tournament so it would be cool to continue the APAC controller domination
Syouta: DFM how is he not on your team
Exy: signed with DPlus, should be on literally any of the Korean teams he's the second best controller in the country.

If there's no context to anything this paints a bad picture. I'm a huge stats fan (its part of what I do in college) and this is why Valorant stats get a bad rap. Making a claim that Marteen and Tomaszy will be top 3 Jett's because of their rating against Tier 2 and 3 teams is the wrong way to use rating. It's better to group players into brackets and when using T1 players to only show how they played in the regular season. QW1's full year stats look worse than qutioner, but in league play he cleared qutioner. It's only because he played great teams at 2 LAN's. Ardiis, Derke, Sayf, Cned, and QW1 should be in their own brackets together, as we know no matter what the stats say they are probably the top 5 rn

This is not the way to use stats lmfao

They just have to spam as much skye viper as possible. EG wasn't only good because of this, but they were really good because they played perfectly to their players agent pool strengths and even adapted the 'meta' on maps where it didn't work(sova fracture mostly). C9 needs to be able to play skye double smokes as much as possible, as it is such a strength for xeppaa and wippie. Sunset, Breeze, Haven, Lotus, Bind, Split all needs to have that, and just perma ascent. There is no reason Wippie and Xeppaa should ever play another agent. Oxy can play either meta duelist, Jakee plays all controllers but harbor which everyone will have to learn. It mostly comes down to vanity being able to play KJ, Cypher, Breach type agents. Supportive and super low fraggin that fit into these maps.

Derrek was at his best form in 2022 LCQ 100T, he went from cracked potential sova player to clutchest player in NA. He just fell off after that

They put in lakia for 1 map that was already their weak map on an agent who he wasn't known for. The lakia take is lazy he was misused, they always should've had him coming in for sova on a specific map or two.

Guys like Xeta, D4V4I(or whoever u can say for PRX)Melser and Rhyme found success last year as first time or first full time IGLs for their teams. Who are some guys you think would have success doing the same?

Marved tried this past year and might even have to for NRG, still up in the air and despite his goofy personality he does know the game well
Crashies is another one I could definitely see
I'm surprised Starxo and Avova at this point hasn't turned that way
I think a lot of the current Navi/FPX core team would be very good at it
Mistic is someone else I would be interested in
Zest is the big one for me as he was a coach and still isn't the IGL of DRX

Leaf
2ge
Bazzi
Patiphan
LBY

Leaf main duelist
2ge smokes
Patiphan flex
Bazzi sova/fade flex
LBY flash initiator IGL

can't believe I forgot zekken and ur completely right I'd sub him in htere

Basically guys on teams like C9, LEV, KOI, GenG who didn't play at LAN but played awesome

I'll go with
Leaf
Kingg(IGL)
Trexx/NZR
Monyet
Sheydos

HM to Invy cuz that guy is cold but Kingg plays his agents

I'd say the closer team would be FPX/Navi, a team that has won it all and always looks lethal but recently struggled and needed someone to pair with their star(shao/suygetsu). For me it would be like if Leaf went to them instead of Ardiis, Leaf and dame have both been stars for a while on a bad team that they've stayed loyal too since joining.

A lot of it does come down to the fact that he is allowed more excuses because of his brand and the team. He doesn't exactly go under the radar because its tenz but when they're struggling someone else always gets blamed. Apart from a really good showing at the end of the last two years he spent a lot of time being just mediocre for SEN the last two seasons.

PTC pretty easily id say

I mean the team had to get a new coach and HAD to replace taco. There's a core but if Kingg is up for it they're bringing in a new coaching staff and likely playstyle anyway with Aspas. You're gonna have to swap languages anyway but bringing in one more is good because it makes transition easier, they just have to be more of a leader type IMO. I'm more just wondering why they choose Tex, not Leaf/Aproto/an IGL with more experience and will be better.

Honestly FNC is a team filled with Russian + English(IK its different but they are second languages), PRX mixed, NAVI has an IGL in his second language, T1 had a lot of success. It works and is like that in a lot of games, and this is gonna be the major beginning. You see a player like Aspas available, you work around that and become a more flexible team.

Some of them, but some very much have. Zander has never won anything, his best is 6-8 in NA. Ayrin co igled a team that went from not in champs the year before to top 8 at champs the very next. Stellar won NA LCQ. That's something! Runi was the best regular season team in the Americas season, and despite not making LAN they were still very successful. They won a whole lot more games than Zander did. Shaz won a LAN, tho long ago, it literally is something. Mitch and Flyuh have had a lot lot more success. Why spend that much money on an IGL for ur org that has as little track record as zander?

I mean you can nitpick all of these but it's an objective fact that they've done more than Zander has. That's not to say he can never be good as an IGL but these are all more successful players at the position and have actually done it in 2023 and most of 2022. You talk so much about it being T2 so who cares, but Zander has only won anything in T3 soar knights events, he has nothing. There's a reason you're not defending him and are trying to downplay my side, it's because apart from five group stage games he wasn't anything.

Ayrin: Co-igled the 2nd best team in NA, top 8 ITW. Spent the whole year IGLing in franchising
Stellar: qualed for champs through LCQ in 2022, spent the whole year IGLing in franchising
Flyuh: took an FA team to top 3 in T2 NA while being one of the best fragging IGLS
Mitch: Top 4
Shaz: Past accomplishments and G2 was a top 2 team at one point

Zander's V1 was good for 5 total games and that was a year and a half ago, then he himself conceded the igl role because he wasn't confident. No way you're taking a 5 game sample size from early 2022 over what any of these people have done, especially Ayrin and Stellar and Runi who have made it happen at a T1 level.

Zander's peak as an IGL was 5 wins in the group stage of Stage 1 and then choked hard and never did it again because he was uncomfortable. I would take any of Boostio, Ayrin, Stellar, Runi, Flyuh, Poised, Mitch, Shaz over him. All of them have done things, been better than him in the past, and currently IGL. What has Zander actually done as an IGL specifically?

They need an IGL lol

"Needs and IGL"
Zander hasn't IGLed in 18 months
"Needs a smokes player"
Bang is actively contracted

The biggest agent weakness EU has versus NA is the controller role. The only notable ones in EU are IGLs or AtaKaptan, while in NA you can count Pancada because he plays for the team and then you have

Marved
s0m
Jawgemo
Bang
Jakee
Valyn
Zander
Skuba
Thief

Pretty much everyone of these 10 guys would be a top 3 controller in EU(given Shao doesn't make the full switch) or at least be competitive for a spot on any english speaking team, especially since their T2 scene literally only has Mistic as a good controller player for T1 play(maybe DaviH too). My big question is why wouldn't the EU teams go after someone like Zander, who had an ABSURD ascension playoffs. You'd think a team like TL, KOI, or GIA would be knocking on his door to replace their gaps in their roster. Just a little thought but it seems crazy that some of these EU controller players are in the T1 scene when we have to watch Zander in ascension and s0m in CC.

We've never seen Zekken play Raze on the international scale like Victor has. I am a huge huge huge fan of Zekken but people need to slightly chill out with him. He's played in 8 total matches in LAN tournaments(I'm not talking abt americas league) and only has about 120 rounds of Raze on them, where he looked good but not best in the region.

It's pretty ugly but yes that is the best decision atm. At worst he can play Viper and she's going to be the most picked agent in 2024. You add Yay to that team and it isn't too bad, but I really don't think there's much else asides from poachign Demon1 or Jawgemo. I would also prefer Yay to Tex just because I don't think they need someone for Raze when they have the best in NA(alongside Jawgemo its Victor).

I was responding to the guy above saying he's an idiot

NZR???

ya that worked really well the one time he did it

Favorites in Americas if you keep shyy

god that team with no IGL sounds painfully meh

This all comes down to how good Mada performs IMO. Picking him over Bdog is a huge decision and not to sound mean but he frankly hasn't been good since early group stage of Stage 2 in 2022(16 months ago). Hopefully his awping and entry takes a step up in this offseason and only needing to play 2, maybe 3 agents will help him

Crazy move IMO, especially given he could've probably signed for any of C9 EG or NRG at this point.

Ya bro lets let go of FNS when John Valyn and Boostio have already signed. If it's not Saadhak they're looking dire, even with the Optic trio. At the end of the day you need a top IGL to win and unless they grab Flyuh and he develops they're in a bad spot

Wow this team looks good enough to be 8th place!

Not alienated but a differnet vibe. Austin will never become their level but the cost is already about that bad. It doesn't have the ability to support an LA NY type boom
I moved to Austin for college and love it

jakee objectively better????

that win was not a fluke lol

DRX
Duelist: Beyn/Foxy(NGL pref they try Beyn)
Initiator/IGL: Stax
Flex: Rb
Smokes: Mak0
Sent: Buzz

T1
Duelist: Saya
Initiator: Munchkin
IGL Flex: Xeta
Smokes: Exy
Sent: K1ng

GEN.G:
Duelist: Meteor
Flex: Estrella
IGL/Sova: Zest
Smokes: Sylvan
Sent: T3xture

The guys I hate leaving out would be Bazzi, Intro, Lakia and Stew(apparently cracked T2 duelist) but I think all 4 of them would be APAC T1 level talent. Also let this be known that I know this won't happen. Zest re-signed, Sylvan and Munchkin are already cut and Estrella is on RRQ, but this is how they could've made the most competitive three teams while also staying realistic and having continuity. Either way I am of personal belief that T3xture, Sylvan, Exy, Munckin and Beyn are super deserving of a T1 team, alongside my honorable mention guys.

not when c0m is completely available. If they're committed on spending then grab c0m for the love of god.

Fragging IGLs are the future, honestly there isn't a good APAC IGL apart from Benkai, who I was going to put in but because he was Ex-PRX I didn't want to. Xffero can frag and this would be a great team around him.

I'm still annoyed about NRG moving away from FNS and s0m. I really just don't get it, they either have to poach Saadhak or just get a far inferior IGL when they were a top 8 team ITW last year. You can flip a coin with current Marved and s0m(tho I do prefer Marved's obvious higher ceiling) and they still don't have a set in stone plan. I do think any iteration of Saadhak + Aspas, FNS + Demon1/Leaf/ or Demon1+Flyuh would be great, but I really don't love this no IGL Ethan Demon1 thing, and rn it seems most likely as Saadhak hasn't become a FA, Flyuh is scrimming MXM and there's been nothing about FNS coming back. Honestly the worst of the 4 scenarios IMO.

On the other hand I do see what you mean, 100T with hopefully c0m is a great base, SEN looks good and if the G2 team is what's rumored that sounds like its on their level. NRG hopefully does cook like crazy because C9 will suck(Wippie, Oxy, Immi aren't T1 level). My other big, unlikely, hope is that EG gets a team of "scraps" and does really well. Even if they only keep Jawgemo they still have a lot to work form. The current unrumored talent pool is

Flyuh/FNS/Runi IGL
EEIU/BcJ/Brawk/Nature initiator
Skuba smokes
Yay/Tex/Demon1/N4rrate duelist
Aproto/Moose sentinel

That's a TON of talent, even if the whole team dips they could run a squad of Tex Flyuh EEIU Skuba Aproto and still be pretty good IMO, and even then I think we will likely see Jawgemo back and Ethan wouldn't surprise me either.

A team that could compete with PRX as the best APAC team(I see Korea and Japan as their own mini regions so I'm keeping it to just APAC)

Duelist: Jemkin(idk if I can count him but he'll be our own something)
Initiator: invy
IGL Flex: xffero
Controller: sScary
Sentinel: blaZek1ng
Coach: Warbirds(again if that counts)

If I can't count the two I'd go with garnetS and aimix(NAOS)

NGL this team, tho unattainable, would IMO be top 3-4 in APAC

There was a time last split where he was seen as the best player in Americas. For some reason there isn't much hype around him but he ended the year as a Top 10 Jett , the best neon and the only Skye even close to Leo in stats. I know stats aren't everything but any team who has a good Raze(hmm NRG hmm EG hmm TGRD/G2 hmm NAVI(unlikely tho)) should have him as their number 1 target. I mean who apart from Aspas/FNS is a better F/A? I think the only other arguments are cned and ardiis really. He's gonna cook if he ends up on TGRD/G2 and remind a lot of ppl about how good he was in the Regular Season where Aspas FNC stars Sayf and Mak0 were the only ones rated higher

Deserves to be on a franchised team and anyone saying otherwise is just a hater lol