I think it had the potential either way the matches I saw for a bit. Can't wait for Sao Paolo.

I would remind you SA LCQ happened and it was a decent banger for Val standards?

I mean he is. It's probably him acclimating to BLEED's playstyle and environment.

I like it. Definitely gives it a distinction from the traditional VCT themes, and it gives a good refresher from the arthouse, the slightly darker theme of this year's VCT.

Need to remember the distinction between the more regal, upbeat LoL themes (although Ignite, Star Walkin', and Take Over did break the mold) and Valorant's grittier, club, electric music tones.

In Liquipedia, it is by both Shao and SUYGETSU's own request. NAVI has elected to not include their nationalities either. We felt right to follow suit. Don't make this uglier than it needs to be.

Consider that EDG's current core is a year old+ at this point, compared to RRQ or Talon's (even though 4/6 were in the same team, the dynamics changed.) I know a meme's a meme, but hey.

No, coach is probably speccing. Like how Ewok is in the game too.

Host is in India, but this is a Pacific offseason event. Need to consider that we are looking at a Pacific-wide engagement for each tourney that is involved. There might be subregional biases, but we're not in the old 2022 system anymore. We're looking at a preview for 2023.

Masters Copenhagen, BME Superdome, GXR India Invitational, Valorant League MENA Playoffs, GC Championship, South America LCQ, that one VRL France regular season match between KCORP and Vitality, the various RAGE tournaments in Japan, Daejeon Valorant Invitational, Valorant Challengers Korea, pretty sure most Valorant Regional League local finals were LANs with crowd, Valorant League DACH Unity Evolution Playoffs

LETS GOOOOO

Yep! I literally mention it in my post:

If anything, we still have the reputation of being a good region. It also factors in that between you and the general populous, tier 2 Indonesian teams don't get that much exposure (something that I WANT TO CHANGE HERE IN VLR)

and I am well aware of my shortcomings. It's just sometimes I'm either too busy or I have not enough solid information about a tournament. So if you have suggestion please, please send it to my DMs

I don't think it matters as much. Like yeah, noxxy's incident is probably the catalyst of probably every other inter-regional tournament thinking twice about sending/inviting Indo teams but like, BOOM got invited to GXR LAN. If anything, we still have the reputation of being a good region. It also factors in that between you and the general populous, tier 2 Indonesian teams don't get that much exposure (something that I WANT TO CHANGE HERE IN VLR), and for the casual watchers, most of our reps are either BTR (who are in a rebuilding phase), AE (yknow), ONIC (ded), and BOOM having the largest clout. I think with teams like, ARF, DEWA, Hike, and others slowly getting better, we'll get more invites.

Put some respect on these players goddamnit they're not no namers.

That's a Singaporean team.

Welcome to the VCT ID mid-tier. DEWA, otherwise known as Cynical for you olden folks, are one hell of a solid roster.

I will hunt BOTH OF YOUR ASSES

One day I'll catch both of your asses being bots

It's better than nothing when people often skim posts and not read even the slightest of paragraphs

Crws said on stream that they're all going to play one way or another as part of the team. There's no sub per se, but there'll obviously be rotational players probably according to the maps or agent pools necessary.

Is their organization in a lot of heat with questionable management and personnel decision? Yes. Did the organization had potentially alienated a part of both their Indonesian and Filipino fanbase? Yes.

Does it matter? Yeah, no. This is a perfect opportunity for RRQ to save their faces and redeem some semblance of faith to their fans and the community. This is also the perfect time for some of the players, in which parts of the community absolutely blast them for being signed, to showcase their worth in an interregional tournament.

TL;DR: Is RRQ an org with a lot of problems and heat coming toward them? Yes. Does that mean they don't deserve an invitation to one of the hottest interregional tournaments on this side of the continent? Fuck no.

GXR did a lot of stupid trolling, they literally showcased that TS won 33.3% of their VCT 2021 matches. Like WHY?

Also pretty sure they trolled PRX too for some fucking reason lmao

Budi fix out sementara (g renew kontrak) https://twitter.com/budimeister/status/1572035859825954816

Yes? A competition is still a competition nonetheless?

Please do not share videos of the tragedy. Be tact.

Yeah he's well aware and already posted a tweet clarifying it.

Good. Now give us... Slasher.

Pretty sure ta1yo is living life as a content creator anyway

Trust me when these people had to keep their mouth shut because of reasons.

It's the myth. The legend. The egg.

Nothing is too cringe for VCT, tbh. It's the perception of fans alike that always sees pros need to be well, 'pros', whatever that means. Serious, no-nonsense, cool, calm, collected? But honestly, I feel that's bs because there are a lot of pros that do... joke around. They take stuff lightheartedly and they can be serious if needed. Boaster is the same. With his background and experience, he obviously loves the theatrics, but I think people hate that he's the way he is. Then again people like Benkai as well so the hypocrisy in some aspects are ironic, not to discredit him though.

ESL has a massive presence in Thailand. Heck, Challengers Thailand was organized by ESL Thailand. No wonder, huh? Most Thai teams are used or if not aware of the process at ESL anyway.

Nah, I'd say equal. Don't underestimate RRQ's new six-man core. 3 internationally proven players with 3 underrated PH players.

They can't. There's no Challengers for China.

Kan ada sistem pake quotes ya

Told you.

Honestly, some of us are not. We're mad at the management mishandling players, not the players themselves.

3 orang dari roster Champions + 2 yang udh antara kaliber Challengers APAC Playoffs atau udh top indo sih pasti bisa lah seharusnya, toh Bleed juga di was-wasin sm ONIC dan BOOM ini pas LCQ kemaren

Kalau masih mau kritik manajemennya monggo, tapi ini enam orang cukup jago-jago lah kalau mau compete nanti pas kickoff sm liga Pasifiknya nanti. Corenya jg bagus, pemainnya udh proven.

Tinggal manajemen sm eksekutifnya mau tetep plinplan atau gimana

Thunder/Murderdome was fun

Persija? Please. They didn't stand a chance.

Makanya gw punya harapan buat RRQ sekarang

As much as it saddens me per the management's handling of the roster, the six-man core stands a much better chance. The ID core is insane and the PH players are very, very solid considering their worth. 2ge is underrated (rip Pirates.)

Lore and character is an understated thing, especially in a competitive shooter. Riot cares about both. While most of us probably don't give two shits about them, there are other who does, and there are a group of people that overlap each sides.

Why not? After all, people spend a lot of time with these agents. Marinate themselves in them, "main" them, adore them. Plus, Isn't your framing uses the very existence of inherent subjectiveness in "naming" something as a shield from possible criticisms of shallowness?

In a game where lore takes a backseat to core gameplay but makes such an impactful progrese to the overall development, it does seem that from time-to-time, we do get attached. But do trust me and others that sometimes, a name isn't the end of the world. I mean, people where furious when "Deadeye" turned out to be "Chamber" but were fine or accept it like, months after.

Mind sharing the twitter post? I'd appreciate it. :)

I forgot what post it is so you need to find it. But the characterization of Harbor? It's from the devs themselves.

Not really. Not every Agent needs a name that's too deep. Sometimes, it gives a background to their character, or an ability. Sometimes it could be a quixk passover.

I read a Twitter post the other day about their interpretation of Harbor: the first sight you see after travelling on sea. Welcoming, like how Harbor is character-wise. He's described as a 'big brother' type; confident in his actions and character.

In the end, it's up on our own interpretation. Because as much as Riot OOC gives their name, in character? There's always a reason behind it.

Also this is the bedrock/grassroots level of the new VCT season.

APAC counts for 8 subregions, mostly nationality based. It has been the case since the original SEA Challengers in 2021 and continued in 2022 with the addition of South Asia and Oceania.

Actually APAC Challengers does have a home region rule (3 players from the same region.) That's literally what had separated us from EMEA Challengers prior to 2023.

I honestly think Riot is emulating the ERLs from League.

ERLs in League of Legends:

Balkans
France
DACH
Poland
Spain
Northern Europe (UK/Nordics)
Baltic
Belgium
Netherlands
Czechia and Slovakia
Greece
Italy
Portugal

Compare it to what we have so far:

France and Benelux
Spain
Italy
Portugal
DACH
Northern Europe
Eastern Europe
Turkey
MENA

It's playing population, not actual population.

Yes.