MSF slandy and ex-TSM ellie
c9 kat and ex-NRG tex, although I dunno if that was ever official or still going
EG Ethan and CLG kellysama

I'm not the biggest fan of vansilli's casting, but he is legitimately is french canadian. at least come up with something accurate to diss him for

agree about zander, but valyn and aproto are on s0m's level imo skillwise and have much more experience on smokes

aproto, supamen, I mean marved obviously but he's taking a break, plus valyn or zander don't necessarily have to igl

NAVI
FNC
TL
KOI
GIA
VIT
TH
BBL
KC
FUT

agree that it’s boring for sure, but hopefully the gameplay is entertaining

EG won’t be flashy, but it won’t be bad. I think with more time last year they coulda been nuts and they’re only making improvements

been a c9b fan for a long time, so I'll go with them
but I'll probably be rooting for EG and LEV secondarily

the accusations looked a bit meh to me, I think we should probably reserve judgement until more info comes out about it

no, that's sick

WHAT DID I SAY Y'ALL

Ghost's igl was JohnQT, not Brawk

fair honestly, I've actually been a stellar fan from his LG days and I do think he's one of the better igls in NA, but I think dephh definitely makes a team and I don't think any of shahz, fns, or vanity doesn't make it. it's also possible that the last two are just both of dephh and stellar as well

oh and I forgot the most important part
SEN +sykkoNT
NRG +chet

I'm definitely not biased in the slightest but aproto, nismo at least deserve to be on franchised teams, and koala and john could do pretty well too yeah

the +jawgemo was in relation to the person who posted this, I think it'd be stupid to drop him
and yeah I know -dapr isn't happening, but I think nismo should definitely be on a franchised team

imo
EG
-apoth +aproto
-C0M +jawgemo
-Boostio +neT

NRG
-tex +bdog or penny or saya
-s0m +nismo

SEN
-dapr +BcJ

100T
-stellar +dephh

note that I don't actually think some of these would happen, but I do think they'd be good moves. Also that I woulda said -tex +babybay if faze had specifically allowed him to explore his options

eeiu is so underrated tbh, I think he could play on a franchised team and put up good numbers

Second place curse remains

Also, gotta say, I love how close together it feels like most of these teams are. Almost every match could go the opposite way and I wouldn't be that surprised

https://www.vlr.gg/pickem/13c18abe this is highly unlikely but I wanna see it happen. xset getting fourth place would be absolutely hilarious

I'm mostly just an NA fan right now, but I've always wanted XSET to succeed because they're usually such underdogs and they seem to have so much potential. Definitely was rooting for them yesterday, and before the tournament as well

plot twist, sean and ddk walk out on stage and start casting the game

I really want to think xerxia will do well this event but every time I think they'll do well they absolutely don't

So I went with XSET

I actually agree, but I just really want ZETA to make another crazy lower bracket run so I predicted them to and if it happens it'll make me happy. but I do think LOUD is a serious contender to win it all again

edit: ahh crap I forgot TENNN isn't playing with them, I'll probably end up changing it so LOUD beats them. rip

I've got XSET and FPX but in the opposite order lol
https://www.vlr.gg/pickem/d650d782 here's my complete pickem

I've got the exact same pickems for groups A and D

I wasn't actually serious, but I do appreciate the time spent to type out stats lol

I don't think pool two is realistic, because we all know the first match of groups has to be DRX vs Japan, and if they're both in the same group that can't happen

in the same boat :( was an LG fan and then added ghost when they signed aproto, and it's sad that neither of them made franchising :(

see the thing is that I really like vans and riv as personalities, but not as casters. Like, vans works really well on VALORANTING and I've always thought riv is great on the analyst desk, but I just don't like their casting much

sully and upmind are great, definitely should eventually cast masters events imo

incredibly well thought out! probably too long of a tournament but I do like the idea

currently 2/2 as well, but I predicted c9 and NRG lol

WHAT DID I JUST WATCH

I open chat whenever something crazy happens but just leave it closed the rest of the time

aproto's boxhair

I wanna see a really close PRX OpTic final, but even if that happens it's gonna tear me apart because I really just want both teams to win. And it's not like FPX doesn't deserve it either, this tournament has been excellent and I can't see that stopping now

I wonder why Styling911, of all users, could possibly be upset about gaining the ability to be blocked by people

Balla is excellent though imo

Dunno why everyone’s decided that xset is terrible after they didn’t show up on defense side haven. Not only is haven T sided, it’s also their first half on a major lan. Give them a break, jeez

agreed, from an NA fan

I don't think this map is LOUD playing badly, I think this map is KRU playing really well and LOUD not expecting it

imo it doesn't really matter anymore, because he's absolutely amazing at the game and clearly wouldn't matchfix again

I've been liking watching yeah

OPTIC/XSET
PRX
XIA

because we're fricking awful, yeah

it's just people trying to get other people to validate their transphobia

it's not always that easy, unfortunately

nothing, get me out