Tl;dr on the drama?

Accurate, definitely unknown quantities this off season.

Favored teams are accurate

Honestly don't even know what to do with lev/mibr. Both could flop or be goated this season.

I honestly think Icy was the second best option next to Jaw for the type of duelist that G2 wanted this year. We'll see how he performs on a less formidable roster.

Cleared.

Show me more than 1 series where neT was an actual difference maker for M80 or G2 before that. Every single win he's bottom of the stats, and it's not too different in losses.

He's extremely mid. I'd rather see XXIF or another NA T2 senti get a chance.

This signing is just about who other players on the c9 roster are friends with. Garbage org.

it's cuz Sayonara was tearing up T2 EMEA VCL on different teams, primarily as a flash initiator.

People probably said the same about Leo during the early Guild days (when it was all Swedish w/ bonkar and yacine).

Probably an aspas stan

Fr, probably zekken, oxy, verno, hm: demon1

Yes and no. He's like a BR cryocells. Good mechanics, but not always explosive enough like you need.

Would be a great smokes player imo.

Why does Less only use the Vandal?

If they got rid of Asuna and found a better flex/ fully flexible duelist (not just jett), then they'd have a great shot at being a top team this year.

Otherwise I love +Zander, and keeping the rest of the core from last year.

Pretty sure we'll see cryo and asuna trade duelist / flex roles again map by map this year. Cryo has the aim that we might even see them pull chamber out if it works for them on some maps.

IMO MIBR was using their sticker money from the CS major to finance signing aspas. I feel like his experience over the rest of the team will be a detriment more than a help. He'll perform well individually, but it'll be like watching Less on LOUD last year. No team building, all individual performance.

It'll be a fun game to watch. I'm interested to see how 100T perform w/ Zander. He can provide a lot more secondary calling than Bang did, and while I think he has a lower skill ceiling, he's way more consistent. Hopefully boosting plays better with some of the weight taken off his shoulders.

Tight with gov and ban. There isn't a crazy amount of good coaches outside of Korea in pacific imo.

They should pull the secret/rrq thing and steal an experienced emea or NA coach.

But, they'll have to know how apac teams play, can't be too rigid.

I still think n4rrate should be on init instead of senti.

The first two you just mentioned are super young, so not exactly fair. Neither have hit their ceilings yet.

Sometimes it's about who owns the org, like koi or kru. I feel like it's very much player focused on individuals in North American sports Fandom in general. Obviously people are attracted to people with large followings. I think that's actually the main incentive for orgs to sign popular names, it sells them more skins.

Whole roster seems cooked at this point. Free agents would be foolish to sign with them right now. They'll probably have to finish out of T2. Maybe they'll look at EMEA.

Didn't they already sign mitch to replace Rossy, or are they rumored to also be dropping Moose?

Also poised has a high ceiling, but im not sure if he's really T1 ready yet or not, at least not as an IGL

Trying to recall, does the price stay the same for the winning team's bundle remains on the store?

Mada and primmie will definitely be talked about a lot two, they're both players who have something to prove this season.

Ngl his rise in viewership was so random. I remember first following him in CS, and I stg, he went from 20 odd viewers average to like 1k+ every night.

Was suuuuper out of the blue.

I think so

I do my best to be nice on this here website.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Literally the worst Americas org except for EG

Pretty sure he aced at Champs twice

Hilarious that they lost at their own event.

Is flyuh in Europe? He's played like ass in both matches they've played this off season. He's barely made double digits in kills between both games.

Could be in a different league, but all the other EMEA rosters are stronger, except maybe KOI.

Surely it's better for your career to at least have a chance at playing a season, than simply waiting what could be the entire year for another shot.

^

Xeppa just seems like a troll

IMO senti/controller work best. I think initiators should work really closely w/ the duelists to set them up, but the more passive the role, the better for calling. As long as the rest of the team gives good comms.

Probs just talking about his time on KPI (when he was a monster on skye and flash initiators)

Tomaszy clearly has a better neon. I feel like purp0 has a better raze. For jett, I'm not too sure.

Probably going to have a 100T situation.

Not wanting delay I understand. Even with how fast his chats build on his streams, he'll still respond to questions. Can't really do it in real-time with a 15-30 second delay.

With the map, you literally just have to put your camera/org ads over it. Fixable without costing more real estate on screen.

Probably just going to sign an unsigned team that quals

Imo they should buy brawk from mxs. Out of the blue but he's a great initiator, a mini leo in NA vcl. Huge gamble, but it's a 1:1 fit for roles.

Really, it depends. Age isn't as much a factor as your needs changing as you age. Want to start a family? You need a consistent income that will allow your family to do more than subsist. I could probably try and play in Challengers through my 30s, but id probably have to maintain a part time job, and rely on family or SOs to do it.

Pretty sure most pros who get their start at an older age (I.e. glowiing/pwnalone/roej in cs) have already been playing in lower circuits for some time.

End of the day, if you have the skills, comms, and temperament, you can do it at any age.

I see your point, but Trent is a terrible example of an initiator who doesn't provide excellent util.

Lakia, d4vai, and soulcas are all great examples though imo

I've just been watching it with my gf, but Scandal is cool.

Not sure if it's something I'd watch by my lonesome.

Wack

y0y fanboys gone wild.

He's pretty flexible as far as duelists go, but yeah, his raze is his best. I think the way prx run things, they're more worried about team synergy than anything else. I actually think jingg is more consistent than something, who is good jett, and yoru sometimes, but he's better on gecko and some other agents than jingg would be.

IMO, have something play duelist on OP maps, like Pearl.

People talk about flexibility in EMEA, and his name doesn't get brought up often enough. He has great mechanics for an initiator/controller, and he picks his duels well. I'm not sure what their full roster will look like, so it's hard to really know what role each player will take.

at least 7/10 or 8/10. I'd say ANGE1 is more like a 4 or 5 /10 in comparison. He's experienced, but his mechanics are pretty awful at this point, and his calling hardly seems competitive compared to other IGLs across VCT.

Well, he's more experienced than most NA duelists, and also has shown way more flexibility over the last year or two in NA VCL. As people have mentioned, happy basically brought him back across the pond from M80. That being said, he's really hard-working, consistent, can also OP as well as cNed IMO, which you'll see him buy a lot, even on Omen or Yoru, not just Jett.

People are saying 6/10 generally, but I think him joining Na'Vi will be to the same affect as N4RRATE joining KC last year.

So, my prediction for how much value he'll bring is 8/10. I think he brings more to the table than cNed and ardiis did (NA bias ;p)

Most pragmatic vlr user

Imo SEN could be better long term, but so far NRG seems like the best all around team rn. Experienced vets and experienced t2 talents.

Realistically there is just better duelists. I'd prefer they sign a more unknown quantity like okeanos than someone who's consistently been inconsistent.

Huge country, so lots of variance depending where you live.

British Colombia, Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta are the largest provinces (mostly referring to populous, but as a consequence, they tend to have the best infrastructure and major towns/cities to live in. Southern Ontario, for example, has a massive proportion of the country's population, so most jobs are there (here, for me). Housing is expensive, but not as pricey as BC.

Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, on the other hand, are way cheaper, but are generally colder, less culturally diverse, and have less infrastructure outside of major cities.

I'd say it's generally pretty friendly, but we're not without our own forms of bigotry like any country.

I feel like they're super similar as duelists, sym is more confident with the op though.

I only downfrag when ppl act like they know val pros

Especially when there's a player with the ign 'jakee'

Weird.

Definitely extended negotiations. Apeks will make or break with his replacement next year, fnatic will have to drop the bag for him. Honestly a risky pickup despite how nuts kaajak is tbh.

Dumbest vlr user fr

SEN, and 100T will be great teams (imo). Interested to see if C9 make any changes, but the ones they've made so far have been good choices on paper.