Genuinely curious, is kpopification really a new thing for y'all? I heard the word before for stuff other than valorant lmao

looks fire

It does, but when you compare that to two LAN wins for FNC then G2 has little to work with still. It also begs the question of how much weight a pre-franchise LAN placement/win should have. (I think they count equally, but Val esports before franchising was also the wild west)

If a team misses out it means they weren't good enough, simple as that. The best part about a season with multiple international tournaments is we get to see who adapts and improves vs who gets stuck along the way.

"Best team rarely wins" makes no sense either -- if they win then they were likely the best team that tournament. They might not be the best team THE ENTIRE SEASON (fluke/cinderella runs do exist), but for at least this first part then they are definitely a top team.

The only thing I agree with you on is that 8 teams for a Masters is too small. It should be 12 or 16, with maybe an LCQ.

As it stands, and if we're only talking about the "big" esports, Fnatic. They're the only team off the top of my head that has had success in all three "big money" esports (CS, Val, and LoL).

FNC had that dominant era in CS. In Val, they had a really dominant year (2023) as well as having qualified for every tournament until recently. And in LoL, an esport obviously dominated by Asian teams, they've at least qualified to every Worlds except for 2 (2012 and 2016). They even won the first Worlds and got runner-up in 2018.

I think the next closest is G2, which is only really held back because of the lack of Valorant accolades. By most accounts they're a relatively new team, since the org was originally stuck in t2 before acquiring the old Guard core when TGRD won ascension.

A lot of other orgs have also had a lot of success in other esports that I don't really watch or care for, so it really depends on which esports you're basing your comparisons off of. If you want to include Fortnite (random example), suddenly SEN has a lot of accolades because of Bugha.

edit because I misread and thought FNC only got runner-up in a Worlds when they actually won the first one

Surprised language hasn't also been mentioned. A full KR roster means the team can speak just Korean and not worry about anything else. Unless whoever they're importing already knows Korean, importing someone means either switching comms languages or having the import take a bunch of Korean classes. Either way there'll be a barrier and a learning curve until everyone's comfortable, which might be too long to be of value.

This is correct. The moment I realized I no longer cared for my rank or RR and just wanted to play with my friends and 5 stack was when I started having a lot more fun in Valorant. I might've quit the game entirely if I was genuinely trying to grind to a higher rank.

When I was learning English as a kid in the American South I had no accent, because American TV didn't usually use heavy accents. I was also in a city, and American cities (apart from like, NYC and LA, I guess) don't have a discernable accent. The early Youtube age also had a lot of American Youtubers with basic, easy-to-understand accents.

It was much later when I moved away from the city to the suburbs with my parents that a Southern drawl began to sneak into my speaking style, lol. Sometimes it takes over when I'm road raging.

edit since i realized i never mentioned this: i immigrated to the US with my parents when i was around 5. i only knew Spanish at that time.

it's been a "work in progress" since like 2022 lmao, no one takes the rankings seriously.

The ranking system in this website also leans heavily towards games played and if you win a lot of games, regardless (usually) of the "level" of that game, the team climbs in ranking. It also heavily skews how much the team climbs based on their opponent's own ranking. So theoretically, G2 beating FNC in RBHG or some other off-season tournament gets them as many points as G2 beating FNC in Champs.

Because of that, it's easy for t2 teams, most of which already have a higher rank, to farm each other and skyrocket up the rankings. RANKERS is a big example since they're undefeated (for now), and Apeks in 2023-2024 while they were still in EMEA t2 were always like top 3 in the website rankings

Oops, I misread the table for the Challengers page. Thought for some reason that the entire bottom half went into "relegation," lol

If it's anything like last year, those bottom 3 teams will go through a promotion/relegation bracket with teams that aren't in Stage 1 (probably some of the teams that didn't get in through Closed Qualifier, I guess). Otherwise, if they really are getting chopped this early, that's just unlucky

Relegation seems a little quick, though...

I know that's what it says on VLR but previous years at least had a "promotion/relegation" bracket. Is that no longer a thing?

It makes little sense to axe half the teams in Challengers after one stage

2nd weirdest, imo

1st is 100T axing ec1s and inspire after a whole two (2) matches, including a 13-0 loss against The Guard.

It's been three years and I'm still puzzled by that. Any rational team would've kept them around at least a few more matches.

I agree, but I'm just showing that orgs can be real stupid with some of their decisions. My guess is if they're axing someone this early, something is terribly, deeply, irrepairably wrong with the team chemistry that nothing can fix it without axing SOMEONE.

Except, I guess, for whatever happened with ec1s and inspire. They only played two matches for 100T before getting axed -- no preseason or anything like that. That was three years ago now and I'm still puzzled by that.

I know it's still too early to confirm whether the leaks are real or total bait, but even if they were real, but this wouldn't be the first time this has happened.

Some notable examples:

• C9 and the constant runi/vanity signing and releasing
• 100T axing ec1s and inspire after getting 13-0'd by TGRD

the entire valorant pro scene would seize to exist before April

got a link? i don't like touching twitter unless it's with a direct link to the tweet

Big if true

This makes no sense unless something is deeply wrong with the team chemistry. Does anyone know if the source is at all reliable?

This is true -- even when I watched pro valorant a lot more I almost never watched CN league (mostly due to timezone problems on my end). I know people underestimate them very often.

For some reason though, I still think EDG get grouped here, lol but they'll wake up and lock in in the next couple tournaments. That's usually what happens for them anyway, I think, especially last Champs. But like I said, anything can happen

He's still very good but not near his old ceiling. I argue FPX suygetsu was comparable (if not better at times) to LOUD Less, but that's been a while now.

Again, no one disagrees that suygetsu is still insanely good. Less has simply been consistently better for a while now.

Context: I've seen no matches; my thoughts are mostly on stats/data/highlights/general roster strengths. Note this is for Bangkok so I've only looked at Kickoff stuff, nothing from pre-season or even last season. I welcome actual conversation and thoughts

Likely favorites to win the whole thing: G2 (I don't think I need much reasoning here; everyone agrees they look very strong right now regardless of whether you like them or not)

Likely favorites to advance to playoffs: SEN, DRX, VIT (All very strong teams, I think they each beat the bottom four teams in a vacuum except maybe T1.)

Not favored to advance to playoffs, but don't ever count them out: T1, EDG (T1 is good and could be switched with anyone from the row above, I just think they might be a little outgunned tit-for-tat, and unfortunately only 4 teams can advance. EDG either lose out in groups or make deep runs, and for this first tournament I feel like it's the latter.)

Dark horses, but anything can happen: Trace, TL (Trace is a total mystery to me as always. TL had a bit of a Cinderella run in Kickoff, beating former favorite TH, but will that translate to Masters?)

i understand, the penn state culture is everywhere. spent some years in the Trenton/Princeton area and I'd see almost as much Penn State heads as I would Rutgers or Rider or TCNJ heads

i was not into the pro scene at that point. i was out of my CS phase and was playing a ton of other games, notably HOI4 and LoL (yuck). i did see the WarOwl video on that Vertigo match and I thought that was cool, but that's about the extent of my knowledge of Astralis.

if i were still into the scene, i'd probably have rooted against them. would seem hypocritical not to

It's a little petty, simply put I disliked them because of how dominant they were. I hate any sort of dynasty in any sport and when I was really into CS:GO, FNC were the closest thing to a dynasty. I also wasn't a fan of the players, I thought they were a little too egotistical for me to like them even if they hadn't been a dynasty. The Overpass boost comes to mind too, though my opinion on that has mellowed out over time, mostly.

Thankfully Valorant has yet to have any sort of dynasty. FNC came close in 2023 and I really did not want a repeat of CSGO which is why I always rooted against them, but if they're average now then I won't be so harsh on them. Once a dynasty comes around though, you'll see me root against them all the time, regardless of which org it is

FNC, because I really disliked the org when they were good in CS:GO. Nothing against the players, though. If they were under a different banner I'd probably root for them

I think you can make an argument for both, but it's probably ceiling being lowered first.

Floor MIGHT be lowered because of what you said -- the average APAC teams underperforming, especially with current meta. The thing is we can't really check... they may have improved relative to other regions but the same teams qualify to intl's every time so we can't know for sure.

Ceiling is definitely lowered because the most consistently good teams (namely DRX and PRX) have gone from being considered a favorite every tournament to being more dark-horse picks. And while GenG has improved drastically they aren't as dominant as they probably should be (and also they have really bad showings sometimes... GenG was a Champs favorite that got grouped, that's never a good look)

GX believers in shambles

We love ChickenJoe all my homies love ChickenJoe

I doubt it, fantasy has never been monetary on the actual dev side (unless it's a gambling site I suppose). In every sports fantasy league I've done any bets are done between the players (such as an entry pool, last place doing a punishment at the end of the season, etc)

Unless the plan is to have an "entry fee" where the funds go to the top X players at the end of the season, which is just the entry pool I described earlier but with extra steps

addiction is very powerful.

why do people smoke cigarettes knowing it's severely bad for their health?

why do people play valorant knowing it's severely bad for their health?

It's a fun game, but it gets stale VERY quick once you reach the current end-game. With the amount of content that's out there now a new player would be occupied for months. The worldbuilding and music are fantastic (I unironically listen to the OST pretty often). It's really just the combat (and the English VAs if you play on English) that can get repetitive really quick unless you actively seek a challenge or a new team comp.

A lot of my enjoyment came from competing with my friends to see who could deal the most damage to an enemy in a single attack. I would farm the best artifacts and level up entire teamcomps to level 90 to get that damage up. But, I farmed so hard that I was cruising through the story and eventually I was done doing nothing but Abyss and wait for the next patch.

I would recommend since there's a lot of content. Just, take care not to spend much (or even better, don't spend at all). I played Genshin for a long time but I never spent a penny.

Arsenal

Current favorite: Myles Lewis-Skelly
All-time favorite: Santi Cazorla

this might be the worst website to ask for their opinion on women

Yeah the only times you'd be seeing your own skin in Valorant are in the agent select screen, the one Champs 2024 Phantom emote (if you don't have it, you're SOL), and your corpse if you have corpses on. You'd only be seeing the hands holding the gun while you're alive. Maaaybe some voice lines are changed or sound different.

In Overwatch skins are very visible -- hero select, the in-game weapon, voicelines and sounds, and the million emotes and POTG highlight intros each character has.

what no derke does to a mf

real talk BBL did great, hope they go far this season

Poland is an FPS powerhouse. A lot of good Polish players in CS past and present. Thinking of the old Virtus Pro days as an example

There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and SEN vs 100T in every regional tournament

bro is internet explorer

sorry this is VLR, logical thinking is something that isn't used here often

ascent shouldn't come back for at least 6 months.

you're telling me pearl and fracture were sent to the shadow realm for over a year but ascent only gets a couple of months? cringe

it's only been two weeks and this is already a frontrunner for The Worst Fucking Post On This Website In 2025.

i'm impressed

2G

though i know later down the line i will switch so it may also be a Colombian challenger team (likely EXL if they keep their core, which i like), or Flyquest RED since they're my favorite GC team

Will likely not be anything else

i have not touched valorant or overwatch since december

and it'll probably take another month of hela dominance (if the health nerf doesn't change her at all) before i consider playing another game lol

I hope you're finding peace with what happened. Losing a pet sucks.

I will say it's more common than you think. Pets obviously can't communicate explicitly what they're feeling, and so something they've been fighting might come as a surprise. Furthermore, the older the pet, the more likely they'll develop health conditions. Hell, even humans sometimes don't realize they have cancer until it's too late to treat. What I do hope is that your dog lived a happy and fulfilling life and that they passed peacefully.

As for moving on -- like the others have said, everyone moves on at their own pace, but no one moves on completely -- we just grow as people. My dad is nearing 60 and still talks about his childhood dog and how much he misses him, and I imagine I'll be the same when my 12 year-old schnauzer passes too. What helps people ease their pain is the memories they've had, and that always includes pets too. Grief helps us remember who and what it is that we love.

favorite player seems a little much, but two flairs i could definitely get behind. i'm usually switching between the teams i'm supporting on VCT or GC or Challengers so being able to rep 2 at once would be great

This isn't to say that Tejo won't actually be broken on release, because you never really know.

It's just very annoying to see people immediately jump on the hate train for an agent that hasn't been released yet just because their kit looks OP. I thought we'd learn by now that kit reveals don't mean shit until the character's actually out.

When Deadlock was revealed everyone thought she'd be busted because the wall looked strong and the ult looked busted. When Vyse was revealed everyone thought she'd be busted because the wall looked strong and the ult looked busted. Turns out they were both relatively underwhelming. And, very few thought Chamber was going to be busted and he ended up being the most busted of all.

I thought it was kind of clear that Rito prefers to release agents in slightly weaker states, so they don't break the meta, and later buff them (if needed). Neither Neon or Iso were considered gamebreaking on release, but imagine if they had been released in their gigabuffed states from last year. Gigabuffed Neon was what got me closest from genuinely quitting the game forever.

What I'm trying to say is, stop using 30 seconds of video and streamers' day 1 opinions as the indicator of how good a character is going to be. You have to give it a week or two or three. You need to let people find the bugs and exploits and techs to see if they are actually good, because a strong-looking character could be underwhelming and a weak-looking character could be gamebreaking.

You forgot:

Vyse release -- what?!?!??!!? her ult makes your primary weapon useless???? actually gamebreaking??? rito wtf

Ngl I think you're correct. It would fall in line with existing trail abilities like Skye/Fade dog and Skye ult

My question is whether you can destroy the missiles like you would a Skye ult or old Skye bird. If not then I agree that the ability with the common opinion that it might be busted. Otherwise it might be ok.

I swear I've played in the exact place he played in! It looks super familiar. Great video I agree

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet -- been off VLR for a while and searching the forum doesn't show anything.

Tejo's name is also the name of a sport that is very popular in Colombia!

Tejo is a sport that uses a metal or stone puck (called a tejo) that you chuck at a small board full of clay and some small targets made with gunpowder (called mechas). It's an old sport with links to the aboriginal people of the region. Points are scored based on where the tejo lands in the clay, with extra points depending on if a mecha is popped. For the Americans, think of it as cornhole but with more kaboom. It's a lot of fun to play and it's the second most played sport in Colombia after football. In my family it's quite common for a group of us to go play tejo and drink beer just for funsies on any given afternoon.

I think the name fits the agent quite well considering that three of his abilities are explosive related (two grenades and one explosive airstrike). And of course, bringing a little attention to a sport I love is more than welcome.

Wikipedia
A random youtube showcase of the sport