o does it apply retroactively after all? wasnt paying attention to people actually reading the rules after the announcement
if it does then ye you have a point, that'd make their roster moves way more exciting since they gotta tryhard to beat out the established teams

big problem they have is that its their last year in t1
idk what their plans are but I wouldnt be surprised if they build a roster they can then take into t2 and just win ascension with again

but that would limit their creativity in terms of building the roster due to the leagues import restriction (though ya can probs still build a good one)

Id love to see Juseu in t1 (100% unbiased bonk fan) but quite honestly I didnt feel like any of the duelists in France were THAT impressive
Scream got mentioned above and that'd be the obvious choice (they already have a raze player on the team too so thats a bonus)

Given the extra info from Mortadelo id want Lime on their team. They play crazy comps in terms of roles so might as well give them a duelist who can play all duelists while also flexing

tf kind of food supplements you buying that theyre cheaper than cooking yourself?!
(well or rather given the flag, how expensive are fresh ingredients in the US nowadays? saw some twitter stuff about them 1-2 years ago but they settled down to affordable levels right?)

Yup can confirm from rumors that theres some bigger orgs interested (realistically also the main reason the TO was brave enough to reset their league with the new rules and potentially kill of the league for good if it fails) based on the whispers in t3(/4)

Heroic is most certainly in talks, theres been rumors around them being interested in teams for quite a while (and bodork is a heroic simp, so perfect league cause you know youll get all the best promotion posts ;3)
NiP would be huge ngl.

There seem to be quite a few orgs about (only based on t3 rumors. So nothing reliable at all) which would be a good sign. Am hopeful it'd work out, be a huge shame if this backfires; id love Polaris to return to their 2022 glory (with better viewer count this time round)

The only replacement which maybe has the potential to possibly be an improvement in the long term is xeus (https://www.vlr.gg/player/12793/xeus)... and thats a huge gamble. Idk how good he is going to be when you try and form that chaos into a t1 ready player (though I guess we'll see since someone is gonna pick him up for sure)

Theres quite simply no one else who looks good enough that you can be confident theyll reach the insane heights and consistency derke has

ye gotta agree
thats the only t2 player I can think off that at least has the potential to maybe make it worth dropping one of the top 3 duelist of all time

absolute mad-lads if they snipe him from the turkish teams

ye the game does drag on, but in a good way?
You can easily complete the game in ~20-30 hours on your first playthrough if you focus on the main story
I only took 110 hours to finish it the first time... very short game yes yes

But then I do feel like it'd a waste and youll be served by shorter more focused games ye

Ill edit my original reply if I think of some shorter fun single player games with that in mind^^

In terms of single player games (as long as you arent put off by the turn based nature) baldur's gate 3 is as good as it gets in 2024

Just a throwback to when AAA games were actual passion projects with so much effort and detail put into the world
So much random stuff to discover, actual choice (not the bethesda special that everyone does nowerdays where you get to click but the outcome is the same anyways) and a genuinely good implementation of a ton of dnd mechanics

Edits:
Webbed: Spider web swinging game. 10/10 mechanics. Shit is what people think they played when they gush about spiderman 2's swinging mechanics. Very short (7-11 hours id say to 100% it) and doesnt have a big story, but does well to let you explore a fun little world and interact with the various insects

Crystal Project: a classic JRPG but with focus on exploration (uses platforming a ton). Semi long (50 hours to be properly done with it). If you enjoy the old school JRPGs this ones gonna be really fun, otherwise safe to skip

Monster Sanctuary: Pokemon like game, but again good platforming, lots of exploration and refreshing battle system. A bit on the harder side but not to an unfun level. ~30 hours to play through it.

(Noticing a trend of what I play yet? ill mix it up a bit)

Cave Story (+): The classic. You probs already played it but if not ya gotta give it a shot. Pretty good platform shooter that helped elevate indie games to the big stage. 6-12 hours.

Moss: Book 2: If you have VR otherwise cant play this one. Amazing cute little action adventure game. Very short (6-8 hours max) but well polished and one of the best implementations of VR ive played to date.

Any Ori game: Platformers. Youll know this game as soon as you see a screenshot of it. Art if it was a game, and the gameplay isnt bad either. Both semi short... like 12 hours?

Well we got the biggest fumble of the offseason already

Theres no way they let go of who ended up being their best player this year

I mean ok I do agree they need a bit of change to freshen things up but derke?! rough one

well tbf he cooked enough to still get signed to fokus (definitely performance based and not as a streamer)

tbf there could already be a lot of leaks, theres quite a few trials going on atm (but ofc super early stages so there'd be a ton of misinformation)
easiest way to tell if trial season has started is if the 10 man servers are properly active again ;3

nah based on his twitter posts he had (normal) german lessons, so he does speak it

welp yall better set that up for next year then cause that shit was some of the best t2 content we've had with the nonstop biased af casts

(also thanks for correcting me there)

wait we arent doing regional streams anymore?
that was the best part of playins

sry if im spreading misinformation here xD

edit: misinformation alert. Me me being goofball and not actually paying attention
Theres gonna be multiple streams; every league is going to follow their representative throughout ascension so you wont have to miss out

DACH is the only weird one since we have 2 teams, but ig the german cast is going to be following the stream the main one doesnt cover

And why? Well time. 4 games per day is way too much (dont remember what tourney it was but we had a tourney in apac 2+ years ago where they did 4 games and that shit was rough)

Idk exactly why groups has to be done this quickly, but considering theyre using the Riot games arena (for playoffs) in Berlin itll probs be conflicting schedules

You also have the goat coach Fields whos got year(s) more experience than his competition
easy sweep

sorry my bad, added a TW

Tombizz made an overview video, inviting representatives of every league to talk about their team
for people who arent fully up to date on all regions (or just want more opinions) its a good watch going into ascension

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_9jwru_cIc

edit:
TW: British person

building a pc is like playing legos but for grown ups

Theres generally very little risk of breaking stuff IF you understand the very basics - theres very good guides on youtube that can help you with exactly that
Linus Tech Tips has a video "the last guide you'll ever need" which will set you up nicely (just actively watching it will set you up)

For context I worked in a repair store for around 2 years while studying, building easily over 50 pcs for clients and Ive only broken 2 components (that I can remember)

they do
just not enough viewers on non vct events for TOs to be confident their events would be worthwhile so we only get a couple per year

no not at all
just him saying hes going up (in reference to where he was going for his vacation) to redacted after being let go from fokus, then helping out as analyst for vit and now vit needing a new head coach

so 0% confirmed, and hes not even mentioned anything of the like on any server im on
so purely me making my own hopium where he gets his shot in t1 (but no more likely than any other coach people can think of)

o and lime is great because you can put him on any role - hes SO good at learning them
for vit he'd be a good fit since his senti looked pretty good the times we seen it

Lime https://www.vlr.gg/player/10338/lime
With PAL being the new Coach of Vit (joke for now but who knows) its time for him to finally shine in t1

ye last years fokus is more of a testament to his ability
this year had some internal (and external tbh, but that stuff is still not leaked x.x) issues which gave them a rough ride

also props for remembering the old wylde roster, cause I 100% agree, that roster was fire

its just because scouting in EMEA is such a nightmare (sorta like in pacific, but there you at least have the nationality and language thing to narrow it down) and pretty much no one on vlr watches emea t2

gotta go though more than 400 players (10 leagues this year like pacific)

Ok thats a good pickup

PAL going to vitality confirmed ;3
https://x.com/PAL_TTV/status/1822574965150929131

getting a list of coaches is always rough (I cant remember their names for the live of me)
this is only the ones where I remember the teams properly improving from mainly in Polaris and Dach (dont watch the other regions enough to properly be able to gauge a players progress)

Dach has PAL currently on the free (I think?) market (ex fireflux, wylde, fokus and now sorta vitality)
Forrest is also currently FA (coach of apeks last year) - back from his break and should be top of the list for any org looking for a coach atm

Both of Apeks staff are top tier (though Apeks is already a good org so not salty about them being in t2)

Bromas (currently on valiant) has been on my radar and did super well this year improving his team
Most recently ex Case Andreas is FA atm. Doing super well for years now, give him a shot!

Johnny Lobster (also from Fokus) is someone I really wanna see on another team now that hes let go from fokus (t2 is fine but t1 should def give him a shot with his amazing track record of winning "ascension" and making it through groups last year)

And then the recycled coaches (though I find it SUPER ironic that theyre the 2 that are dropped since imo these are some of the very best ones so ya know):
salah and doombros
doombros need no intro
and to make a case for salah just watch pre new coaching staff oglu and then lcq oglu. Hes good.

And then theres a ton of really good coaches we already lost (only the ones I can think of... cba to go through the 500 leagues)
Itiopia, Fields, Bonkar (doesnt count but I want him back), Happy, alexRr, Tinder

Im sure I forgot a ton of notable coaches who already retired/have been FA for the entire year since... well coaches are just hard to remember.

Theres a couple notable coaches on the market in EMEA atm too though so we'll see
I'd hate it if emea keeps importing coaches while sending our best t2 coaches to other regions because they cant get a shot in t1 x.x

higher chance of spilling it for a free timeout

and the map where both Lev and Edg went 9-3 on their defense

the Russia isnt part of europe bait going full circle this year

ye just noticed that its the shanghai one, im just stupid

I just pulled a bunch of numbers to a spreadsheet to compare new vs old ratings and saw the empty slot, mb xD

think youll have to wait a bit, not all events have their rating updated yet
(e.g. https://www.vlr.gg/348476/gen-g-vs-team-heretics-champions-tour-2024-masters-shanghai-gf)

https://x.com/hypoc/status/1818695249663050239
last update we have

Since people seem pretty dead set on leaks being more hype

What about it is more hype than not having leaks and instead giving rosters the opportunity to make content around their new pickups?
We know from g2 (pre move to NA) that according to them orgs cant spend money on big and hype reveals since the chance it gets leaked then its just a waste

What makes the random twitter post more exciting than this content in your opinion?

1 Indian player (active at a time) in 2023 -> 2 in 2024 -> 3 in 2025 confirmed?!

Yea really not a fan of this move, would have much rather them build around russ/benkai + LF/blazek1ng
Rebuilding from scratch AGAIN is just wasting the entire year of growth they had

Still hope though since the new coach can decide to go with a core of them again though

Yea definitely weird situation for both TO and the Orgs

Dont want to over-invest in a good team since you cant ascend anyways, but need to be good enough to not get relegated

Idk it could help both Polaris and East a ton with their org problem. You have pretty much free picking and player salaries are (relatively) cheap.
Though I personally dont see any org in EMEA doing this instead of partnering with an existing org... just feels way too expensive considering orgs already dont use that system.

ufff gonna be really rough for em

isnt it the exact opposite, where the org owns the spot not the players?

We had the "fun" case with Laterious in dach where the org never really existed and then the roster had to FF their last game after this became apparent to the league
https://www.vlr.gg/188548/angry-titans-vs-laterious-challengers-league-dach-evolution-split-2-r7

Spain should have the same rule since they also have the org requirement and invited orgs at the start

high chance im confused about everything though; never actually read the org part of the rule book (and cant say the import rules were thrilling enough that im planning to go back xD)
End result should be the same though where you just cant sell your spot

its gonna be amazing this year ye

Jesse is 100% rising talent. Hes never looked anywhere near this good and (at least to my knowledge) its the first time his team has made it to a notable t1.5 tourney. This is his "pick me up for t1" year. So with rising I didnt mean rookie.

Kpzet made it through playins quite convincingly last year as you might remember, this being his second qualification in a row. Hence me referring to him as the veteran; hes been here before.

Eeeeeh not sure about form. Both have been insane in their respective leagues and since I dont rate France that highly this year (a couple rosters hogging a lot of talent hard flopped and m8 just ascended) I struggle comparing their stats.

And oml it'd be tragic if they have to keep him, win ascension and then bench him.

Ye idk, its just a horrible decision from the outside. Yea lets just drop our best player from the last split, sounds like a good idea^^
shit must have REALLY been going wrong for them internally to reach that conclusion

Cause this team does not need another rising talent. Yall got 3 of em already. Keep your fragging veteran!

------------------
Also this is funny af considering hes working for the TO hosting ascension xD
https://x.com/Bo_Hoogland/status/1825982216549314647

In Germany one of the biggest aspects in picking a brand would be your local mechanics (what parts the good ones have access to (at least here a ton only repair one brand), which ones are just out to scam you, etc)
Just asking older people in your area whove gone through a ton of brands in their days that helps a lot.

Idk if that really applies to the US, but might be worth a mention

bout that

The take itself 100% correct, imo
Theres plenty of maps you can take fall damage on as the defender and we've never seen anyone snakebite + nade themselves on defense.
It just doesnt make sense with how valorant works.

Its just Lothar being over the top as usual.
From his perspective its clearly premeditated intentional throwing (which should be fined!),,, but yea its not THAT bad. Ult eco is snowbally, Lev had a bad buy to carry all guns over (although that round would have been super winable vs those guns too so double edged sword there) and lev were hitting shots.

It was fine to do. It didnt change anything for that map and you can follow the thought process.

hes been VERY frustrated this map

wait your guys' routers dont just have a button in the Interface to request a new static ip?
scammed

To be clear, they do follow the rules, but that doesn't mean the rules are perfect.

Then discussing the rules rather than making a post complaining that Riot is treating japan unfairly. The very thing youre asking for is favoritism rather than equal treatment.

Cmiiw Rage are supposed to handle the equipment going in. The server and the competition all are still handled by riot.

This would be unusual (japan being the only region where this would be the case) but if it is true and they dont have any part in the rules/format then I apologize to Rage. I just assumed they'd have the same structure as everyone else.

And of course you can be critical of orgs importing and advocate for them to stay national. I personally think its going to stunt the growth of a region, but im sure as hell not going to stop you. Thats 100% your thing.
Problem is your post wasnt about that. Your post complained about riot treating CL Japan unfairly.