Makes for good content on VLR though right? Like we can just continue to clown on them and their supporters when they keep losing.

In all seriousness though, we can only HOPE that SEN will take it seriously and want to actually build a roster that will win Championships. Time will tell.

I don't understand why people still put Ethan as a franchise player. There is literally soo much talent in NA and people are sticking this guy on the only 5 teams NA has? REALLY?

Hopefully. If a team picks him up and puts him on flex he will exceed. Having him on Smokes was fucking troll.

I just dont think ShahZ is nearly as good as the IGL we saw at Iceland and that purely comes off the fact they've had to make roster moves and their best playstyle fell out of meta. I'm not saying ShahZ is a shit player but if you look at their LCQ run, to me, the only game I saw peak level IGLing ShahZ was against Shopify. Against 100T at times it was a little lacklustre, I think he's still up there with some of the best talent NA has but I just dont think hes a better IGL than some of the other IGL's in NA.

I agree that the slot distribution was a little odd, NA definitely needs more than 5 but I also understand that NA isn’t the only region and Riot are trying to create a international opportunity not just a “NA v EU” rivalry over and over, a lot of people support smaller regions and love to see underdogs perform well on he international stage. I do understand your point though.

I feel like the only game ShahZ was really calling well during LCQ was against Shopify, he truly looked back to his better days when his calling on Sentinels was terrific, but the other matches and especially against 100T, at times it looked lack lustre, he either called the wrong rotate or wasted too much time and evidently walked into a stack. ShahZ isn’t a horrible player by any means but with franchising teams now listed and all the talent that is now become F/A is he still better than those? Probably not, I think with the career he’s had winning the first International LAN and his streams and content doing extremely well, right now would be the perfect time to retire, no hate towards him.

Hahah fair enough, I thought it wasn’t too bad, served it’s purpose.

His Sova on Icebox over time has always been pretty solid I thought but I understand why you put him in the Sentinel category. I agree about the Killjoy stuff, the only problem I have is like it was impacting his performance I felt like and we didn’t have him playing at 100%. Dapr playing at 100% is probably top 5-10 highest rated players in NA easily, he has the ability to change the pace of the game in 1 round.

Glad to see someone else recognises that OCE got fucked, all good though, ORDER was our way in and they pissed the bed so I don’t blame Riot for taking caution, not to mention ORDER was like one of our biggest orgs we had apart from maybe PWR but I believe they didn’t take the risk for the same reason they didn’t take the risk with The Guard, just too new.

So far partnership is looking good and I’m excited to see what rosters come about, especially in NA.

Yeah he played insanely well that’s kind of why it took me by surprise when he tweeted that he was open to offers from other teams.

Dapr is an insanely good player but as a sentinel he’s only really good on Cypher, that was like his peak meta performance was when Cypher was suuper viable. His Killjoy didn’t suck but it always seemed asif he didn’t enjoy playing the agent in general which kind of poured into his play style and at times looked a little lacklustre. In terms of his Chamber it was suuuper troll and looked awful, they kept him on it for abit to give him time to get used to it but it never worked: IMO, he looked back to his best in LCQ when he was playing second initiator like Fade and shit.

I get you’re upset about the whole OPTIC situation but like I’ve stated before, why don’t you instead of being pissed at Riot, be pissed at OPTIC for their poor management and h3cz for his terrible past in franchised titles? No offence to h3cz, the legacy he has built in esports is nothing short of incredible but it has come at a cost to relationships and rosters alike, OPTIC’s partnership past isn’t glowing and if you took the few minutes to google about it all you would see why it would be hard for Riot to even consider investing in them. Riot is trying to become profitable in the next 3-4 years and want to make sure the teams they’re investing in are financially stable and also teams who they believe will benefit them in partnership and sorry but OPTIC’s franchised past doesn’t seem to point to them being a good candidate. This franchising is a business, you have to look at it from a business stand point and I can tell you now, OPTIC is a risk.

I mean you can’t really blame Riot for that. If anything you should blame OPTIC management and h3cz for how poorly their track record is in other franchised titles. Sucks to see rosters like that split but ultimately it isn’t Riots for not wanting to invest in teams who aren’t financially stable. They want to be profitable in the next 3-4 years, investing in orgs who aren’t financially stable and have poor partnership past’s doesn’t seem like a logical business move. At the end of the day franchising is a business and in business sometimes you have to make hard calls.

I’ve always been a believer in C9 because I loved watching Vanity IGL and how well he would call, but I agree, the Curry move just wasn’t it and it was so hard to try support them through it, no offence to curry I’m sure he’s a great guy but as a player in that C9 ecosystem it just didn’t work.

That happened before franchising, the writing was on the wall they were asking for an org for months to represent and like nobody was interested so they were kinda forced to disband but that all came before franchising announcements. Sad to see because truly that M3C roster was insanely good together.

As in you think SEN will pick up an entirely new roster? Because I agree, hot take but I think TenZ moves into full time content creator and leaves the competitive scene behind, that’s just my opinion though, something that wouldn’t be fully a shock.

I like how Thwifo commented “Source: Trust me bro” when let’s be real, him and Steel are definitely being dropped so T1 can have a full Korean roster, like why even bother commenting when it’s the most likely outcome? Hahah.

Yeah I mean i thought his performance last LAN was pretty decent but I do agree he is struggling with consistency issues and he’s been on that roster for awhile now. If that’s becoming a problem then yeah I get it, I’m sure he will find a new home pretty soon, individually he’s a great player.

People actually think Ethan is a franchise player? Interesting.. I see s0m retiring btw, like as in moving to full time content creator like what Shanks did. He’s already set up for it, he even got permissions to co-stream last Champs so I can see a world where NRG almost looks at an entirely new roster like OPTIC or even XSET. I think rosters like NRG, EG and SEN will be completely new come next year.

I was kind of surprised when I saw Mistic post about being told to explore options, I just assumed that even though they fell short in Champs that they would still keep that current roster but I mean FNATIC always does a roster change after dropping out of an International LAN so maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised. So many insane flex players are about to become available for EMEA so be interesting to see who they pick up.

The players are great people and are all fantastic in their own right, but unfortunately they will not be able to bring you nearly as much as what the OPTIC roster will or even XSET.

How about instead of being angry at Riot why don’t you get pissed off at your Org for being a terrible candidate? From what I’ve seen, no offence to H3CZ but his track record in partnership programs is fucking awful. Imagine OPTIC gets the slot and he does what he did in other franchises leagues? Would you be sucking off OPTIC then? No you’d be crying for Riots help. OPTIC didn’t make it because financially they weren’t viable and h3cz’s track record scared Riot away. Be pissed off with h3cz not Riot.

As much as this is wholesome, EG would be dumb if they didn’t just sign the whole OPTIC roster In my opinion.. if you want a Championship or Masters title in the next year or so, That current EG roster isn’t going to get it for you, I’m sorry but, it’s true.

I never saw Dephh as a really good IGL then I found out Ayrin and him share the load of IGLing but Ayrin does alot more calling so in my opinion I think Boaster is a better IGL. I'm not saying Dephh is shit I just wouldnt even put him like top 5.

I just kinda assumed he was but im sure he like co-IGL's? Wouldn't surprise me if he did.

Pretty sure they’re hard linked to Paper Rex so good pick up for them if true.

Yeah I think the decision to not include The Guard purely came from the fact that the org is so new in Valorant and the unstable nature of if they would be dedicated enough long term over Orgs that have been in the scene from the beginning.

I think it just came down to the teams that are currently in franchising for NA have been in for awhile and the exposure they produce just outweighed how new The Guard were in Valorant.

Based Saadhak, scoreboard Andy’s are cringe and don’t see the bigger picture.

I’m not saying what Carlos did was right or wrong I couldn’t care my opinions not valid. This is straight up a business decision that I assume wasn’t taken lightly. I get G2 fans are upset but it would be such a PR nightmare for Riot. Even the Sinatraa situation when it happened was horrible for Riot.

I think I see it in ways of it being fresh wounds, if Riot accepts the application there would have been HUGE backlash because what happened is still fresh in the public eye.

Think about it like this. You’re about to partner a org whose current CEO/Owner is suspended without pay for 8 weeks due to a controversial video and doubling down on Twitter about it and then later only apologising because the org made him. Business wise it’s not a good look, that’s all I’m saying. I couldn’t care what or who Carlos hangs out with, I’m looking at this completely for a business stand point and it Riots decision makes sense.

Yeah I definitely agree the doubling down is what made Riot reconsider, if he didn’t say anything and then just apologised I think G2 is safe but the whole “I don’t give a fuck” is what made Riot changed their minds.

Regardless of if what Carlos did was right or wrong or whatever, I don’t give a fuck about that, I’m just stating it’s bad for Riots business in their eyes and you have to respect that.

I think his Twitter reaction initially is what sealed the deal the whole “I won’t be fuckin told” kinda thing could have rubbed Riot the wrong way.

Hahaha yuuup, I don’t think that was just the case too, a lot of people pointed out some Apex drama that happened recently? I’m sure it was a factor as well. Doesn’t quite surprise me if I’m honest, if they said no to TSM with the controversy that’s surrounding them, it wouldn’t only make sense they would feel the same for G2

I think any of the teams currently announced in partnership would be dumb not to pick up a team with the results OPTIC has currently, splitting them would not get you the results it’s simple

Yeah idk a lot of drama and shit it sounds like, I’m not sure if you watched George Geddes stream but he alluded to some shit going on behind the scenes to which “I can’t talk about just yet but hopefully soon” so maybe once all partnered teams are offical things might be released? Who know.

Oh absolutely, Cryo on LAN was nuts, really good to see

I worry for that OPTIC roster, I don’t think it’ll be a good idea splitting them up, they had success as a team not as individuals, they were literally like a brotherhood, Chet included, idk man, I pray an NA org see’s that and doesn’t just try to split them up.

Okay I didn’t think the whole controversy with Carlos and Andrew Tate was the reason Riot changed their minds but after it’s been reported they took a whole ass U-turn I’m pretty sure Carlos just dumpster fired his own org and potential contracts now. Oh fuck…

Hmmm, nah I can see the roster of 100T staying together, they fell short yes but proved that with the short time as a team they can exceed expectations. If anything I just seen them shuffling maybe Will or Stellar but even then I’m doubtful,

Other orgs will pick up the best coaching staff they can, with only 5 slots it opens up the doors for orgs to invest in some of the best coaches and stick them together, it’s not all super doom and gloom things will work out, it just might look rough year 1

Rude

No way he is safe, he wasn’t anything special on 100T and he barely had impact on NRG, I assume that whole NRG roster will change and s0m will turn into a full time steamer/content creator.

You didn’t read what I said hahah I think the roster of 100T will stay the same, I’m saying other orgs that have made it will have roster moves.

Well when George Geddes was on stream with Steel, Hiko, Sliggy and Slasher, he was asked “does Riot not care about the allegations and stuff?” Which he responded with something like “I don’t think it’s a huge factor in Riots decision I think TSM is pretty clear cut to make it” which when they were told no even George was surprised so now a lot of us are thinking G2 won’t make it either. Definitely not in EMEA and not NA in my opinion.

You bring up a really good point, not something I really considered before but it really makes sense. Guess we will just have to wait till all the teams are officially announced and then they start doing roster moves, I assume rosters like 100T will stay the same but rosters like C9, SEN, EG (if they make it) NRG will all be completely different or tweaked to a high level.

Yeah that’s why I find it weird that they might miss out, but aren’t TSM in the LoL franchise? Riot happily said no to them? Idk man..

Funny how people see the orgs that are in partnership so far and think that the roster they currently have is what’s going into next year… bro some of you guys have no idea how crazy the roster shuffling is. I would think the teams that are currently confirmed for partnership next year who need a decent roster will be looking at the OPTIC roster. TSM already showed interest if EG makes it let’s be real, would you rather build around that roster or just sign the OPTIC roster? Cmon…

I don’t think the Andrew Tate thing has anything to do with it although I think it probably made them look deeper into their decision of “should we or shouldn’t we?” But what I’m thinking is it’s something else, TSM is a huge org and they happily said no to them so I kinda see the same thing happening with G2.

Comes down to how financially stable the org is and if it’s worth them investing in the long run. Riot wants orgs that will benifit the scene and the game in itself, OPTIC’s only involvement with Valorant has been the roster due to the Envy M&A. This doesn’t mean OPTIC is a shit org, in Riots eyes they just aren’t an Org that will do well franchising and I kind of Agree with them unfortunately. I’m hoping whoever the 5th spot is, whether it’s EG or even NRG, someone needs to pick that whole OPTIC roster up.

I think it just comes down to the fact that The Guard is so new, I don’t think financials were ever an issue with them it’s legit just the fact that how new they are

Nah he isn’t doubting it, he’s just saying there is a lot of things that need to be confirmed before 100% confirming shit. Like he can’t report on stuff because he has to be 100% accurate, these guys are just Twitter reporters, George does it for a job so he has a reputation and shit. Onto G2 though, the way George replied on stream was like G2 are not making it, if Riot can decline TSM they can definitely decline G2.