mada is still Canadian lol

Listen I know tier 1 and 2 aren’t the same obviously. I’m just saying that some players that came from tier 2 were capable of being very good. Narrate, and the former The Guard players are just examples of that. Also yes the former The Guard would NOT have done anywhere as good the way they were playing before, and with the players they had before. My point is just that the idea that Zander and bang are similar, and even making the argument that Zander is better in some aspects is not that crazy JUST because Zander was playing in tier 2

Fair enough, you want players to prove themselves in tier 1 before comparing them to other tier 1 players. That’s fair, I just hate the narrative that because Zander was in tier 2, he can’t even be put in the same conversation to bang

Btw, I DONT want for that to happen, although it’s obvious that NRG aspas would go crazy. But yeah I do think mada is very good

Yes G2 made changes, so what? We are talking about 1 player playing in tier 1. The 3 players that stayed still made it to the final no? Or maybe you are attributing their success to icy.

And yes of course, it a skill gap, because moose could not be replaced by another tier 2 player, of course. And apoth could certainly not have been replaced by another tier 2 player, you are so right, these players have a fucking skill gap…

Thanks for furthering my argument, I actually forgot about narrate who was on the worst tier 2 NA team and became one of the best players in the EMEA league in 2024, you are so right thanks

Tier 1 vs tier 2. I get it, one of them has a 1 meaning obviously tier 2 teams are complete dogshit compared to tier1, right?

Except didn’t G2 come from tier 2 and make an international final this year? Is it not true that teams like MXS and OXG have actually beat “tier 1” teams in the offseason? Is it not also true that players like rossy, Ban, Governor came from middling tier 2 NA teams to prove themselves as good tier 1 pros? I it not also true that Zander and bang used to play in the same tournament before partnership?

So if middling tier 2 NA players could make it to champs last year, is it that far fetched to put the best player on the best NA tier 2 team, two years in a row, in the same conversation as a good tier 1 pro? I don’t think it’s that outrageous no

Interesting because bang also went -10 in a game against Oxygen, in fact Zander went +4 against that same Oxygen… Well according to your logic, this means Zander is MUCH better than bang right?

Idk wtf you’re taking about but you do understand that tier1 and tier 2 are separated by an artificial line that riot made? You do understand that G2 came from tier 2 and had a really good year? You do understand that valorant esports didn’t start with partnership, and that Zander AND bang were playing in the same tournaments before partnership?

You are so influenced by the term “tier 1” that you just stopped thinking I guess but yeah my flag and flair show that I actually watched the games with Zander, did you? Because a lot of the arguments you make are very heavily vlr stats related, almost as if you’re just talking out of your ass

Ok you are so bias against Zander it’s getting ridiculous. Wtf did he do, steal your lunch money? Or do you just have a crush on him?

Either way, anything you say regarding Zander is nullified by the fact that you’ve been talking shit about him for the past two months

either you havent watched zander, of you are stupid, zander is really fucking good, believe me, I've watched every match of his for the past 2 years. He has consistently put up big numbers, even while IGLing

according to who? Platchat? they have no idea, they are just speculating

I know this is a little far fetched, but since LEV was gonna get Demon1 from the buyout money from Bleed (which they wont get), is there a world where NRG and LEV just swap Aspas for Demon1. This would royally fuck over mada, but NRG would have a crazy team.

As for mada, he could maybe return to LEV as it seems this was where he was going before NRG, but also, there are some rumours that Ethan might not continue with NRG (idk how much validity there is to those rumours), but if thats the case, mada might stay as the flex

I know this is a lot of speculation, but I just think that the possibility of this happening is kinda crazy

mb i looked at "All time" idk, i thought this would be the best image. but yeah he had a good first stage, but his slight fall off in stage 2 does show the inconsistency that people are referencing

listen bang IS very good, but where are you taking the 1.2 rating from, from his vlr, I see things like 1.05 not 1.2

Yeah bro idk, these people don’t know a player so they assume he’s shit. It makes my heart break knowing that he’s gonna do great and these fuckers are gonna be so happy when Navi does good and these fans are gonna celebrate like Navi are fucking geniuses

LMAO that is so funny bro what the fuck are you even saying, the only way demon1 is playing jett is if they have a double dualist setup, demon1 is very good, but the guy cannot entry to save his life. AGAIN koalanoob is not the greatest player on earth, but if you honestly think having a player who can actually entry on a team of baiters is bad, you might have problems "fam"

bro you have to be kidding me with the "roles" garbage that you keep spewing out, DEMON1 WOULDNT PLAY DUALIST ON THIS LEV TEAM AND THATS A GOOD THING. That team NEEDS someone to go in on attack (not bait) and they need someone to op on defence (which koala is known to be very good at)

im not saying hes the best player in the world, but considering the the popular opinion is that demon1 would play smokes, a versatile dualist who can op and entry at a high level is not a bad idea, hence the fact that they were looking at mada to fill that spot

idk if koalanoob to LEV is actually gonna happen, but if it does, you should be happy as LEV fan to FINALLY have a player that is fucking willing to go in

well i guess its impossible to argue with someone as perceptive as you, the argument you made was incredibly well put and honestly quite elegant and really, i never thought of the point you put forth

calm the fuck down, if koalanoob is signed it would actually bring a lot of positives: hes a really good oper, and he isnt afraid of going in and making space for is star players (demon1), hes obviously no aspas, but he would do a good job for sure, and your win condition in a lineup like this is that demon1 on smokes gets back to best player in the world contender type form

no you are right i was just saying he is definitely capable of playing raze. and yeah he is a very strong oper, which btw matches well with demon1 who is a much better riffler than oper

(i also have no idea whether he actually is joining lev, im just saying it wouldnt be a bad move imo)

Nah bro koalanoob has the flexibility of Elastigirl (Mrs Incredibles) he can play any agent known to man, the guy will literally play anything and be good

Oh yeah I see, I mean that would be FUCKED

Listen tbf, as a M80 fan myself for the past 2 years,, I think for him getting somewhat of a safety for his career is fine

Idk if he would have left he they had won, but I will say even if M80 won, the job security in 100t is much better since M80 might only have been there for 1 year

your point is good but again doesnt look at the full picture. although its true that as a sole anchor, FNS lack of firepower would be a glaring issue, BUT its important to remember that yay didnt fully make up for it, he wasnt a typical site anchor, he was setup on most rounds, he was use like a jett on defence on Ascent. He was setup aggressively to take shots and TP away, the same as a jett would. it also then resulted in having your smokes player as an anchor, hence, s0m. s0m on smokes can be just as good of an anchor as any sentinel, just think of s0m around yellow on icebox. Multiple setups on many maps dont require the sentinel player to be the anchor, icebox is one example, but on abyss and pearl, a lot of the sentinel setups can be on mid to watch to lurk spots.

ALSO, you are missing the biggest part of the current meta, as well as the direction the game is heading towards. The game is heavily retake heavy. How many times do you see cyphers playing of the site on Sunset or split or lotus. it is not that difficult for them to adjust their setups to have their smokes player be the anchor like many others do, and keep their sentinel players more passive and info gathering heavy

I will also keep saying this, you are certainly not the first to say that his fragging was gonna be a problem, for the past 4 years, people have said this exact thing, for the past 4 years people like you have also said that the competition was going to get too much for FNS to handle. For the pas 4 years, people saying this have been wrong, the last full year of competition FNS had was very good. He qualified to every international events as well as getting top 4 in one of them.

ive said this before, ill say it again, one day the doubters, like you, will be right, but until that happens, FNS deserves the respect he built over the years. Maybe this year will be the year where you are right, but just tell yourself that it will have taken 4 YEARS for people like you to FINALLY be right

Bro what are your exemples of better IGLs with better firepower? Johnqt? Valyn? Munchkin? FNS HAS BEAT THEM ALL

Let’s not sit here and act like these people came out of nowhere in the last year, he’s beat them all, he at the very least deserves the benefit of the doubt, and if this team ends up being shit, then I guess you will have been right, but until then, FNS is still should be considered better.

Also, yes last year he didn’t have enough time, do you think it a coincidence that he left the Victor/crashies duo at the beginning of the year? He knew that core had reached its peak and that he needed a different team to succeed

Listen I am not arguing whether he is a good fragger or not, he obviously isn’t, BUT, I need you to understand that having good results is what matters, and FNS has been getting good results for longer and more consistently than anyone other than Boaster and Sadhaak.

The point that I am making is that it’s unfair for anyone to say that NRG will struggle because of FNS when he has proven himself many times. FNS has played against johnqt, valyn, and a bunch of other great fragging IGLs in the pas and you know what? He’s beat them all. You’re argument is flawed because you think all these fragging IGLs are somehow new from this year, they are not, they’ve been competing for a long time and FNS has always been able to beat them, until he can’t beat them, he deserves the benefit of the doubt

the fact that you are saying this so confidently even though you have quite literally zero clue of whether thats true or not so incredibly funny

https://www.vlr.gg/event/stats/2095/champions-tour-2024-americas-stage-2

you see, eeiu in one year of playing with 100t was more consistent than bang. People lie, numbers dont

btw, i think bang is really good, but saying the reason hes inconsistent is Asuna, thats the biggest cope ive heard

Yeah it’s pretty sure that zander goes to 100t, that being said, saying that Zander is inconsistent is crazy to me, he’s been really good almost every match for the past 2 years (trust me I’ve watched them all)

In terms of consistency you won’t find better in NA other than maybe s0m

Bro I get it, FNS is a weak fragger, but is it a coincidence that his team was good in 2021, 2022 and 2023, like I get it you’re gonna make excuses for all of those years

2021: the competition wasn’t as good, 2022: he had the best player in the world, 2023: idk what real excuse you could give, I guess he didn’t make it out of groups at champs..

That being said, at one point you gotta start thinking maybe just maybe FNS had something to do with it, but what do i know…

Classic fart

Not significantly, bang is obviously very good, my personal opinion is that Zander is better, but again, they are both really good, but I’d say Zander is more consistent, and also he was putting up really good numbers while IGLing and now that he won’t be, he should get better even more

also btw mada is canadian

so is 100t

Saying the competition has improved is nullified by two things, 1: the team around FNS is better, everyone on that team is a strong fragger which makes up for the lack of fragging they had from victor and ardiis in 2023, 2: since the beginning of the game, people have been criticising FNS for his lack of fragging, yet every year hes played, his team has been good, so when will you learn?

its also important to remember that until the latter part of 2024 where he had very little time to try and implement his system to a team that had frankly been dogshit all year, his fragging had always been good enough (not great, but good enough). I think you are heavily recency bias if you think his fragging throughout his career is a "massive firepower deficit"

https://x.com/anonimotum/status/1840797551143837915

i would trust this guy, hes been very reliable in the past

bro what is this fucking narrative that all of a sudden nrg will be bad because FNS cant frag

did every single person on this site forget that NRG made top 4 at an international in 2023 with a worse team than this year. FNS always has compensated for his lack of fragging with really good calling

nah bro im ngl, mada is fucking insane

honestly im happy they went with mada, i think either would have been good, but im telling you mada is gonna do damage

Bro that team is getting pick apart as we speak, at least both flyuh and mada have been trailing in other teams, and I doubt they have even played as a team since their last match.

Of course c9 look much better, they’ve been scrimming for the last month at least it just makes sense that they lost

i assure you THE problem was definitely the calling.

Just try to analyse the decisions they were making before FNS came in, that shit was horrendous, they were fully disorganised and it got much better once FNS came back

Yeah but you say that but FNS has always had a top 5 team in the world every year he’s been IGLing. Other than last year in the second half of the season, he’s always qualified to international events and he’s proven himself countless times.

If you honestly think that an IGL who has had his team in the top 5 for all of his career doesn’t deserve to be in the league, you have to be arguing in bad faith

yeah idk, im guessing they are getting bang and narrate, but idk if that makes them the 4th best team

Zander is Canadian btw

Yeah it seems like he wouldn’t be such a good EMEA leaker since most of his “sources” are Brazilian players and friends, I’m guessing he has more insight in the Brazilian scene if even that

Ah ok, yeah idk, i watched Zander on stream today and yesterday, and he really is acting like he already has a team. Although esports is very volatile, he might think it’s a done deal, but 100t go another way

Lembo or the guy on vlr?

Well according to some guy on vlr, Zander to 100t is pretty much confirmed… so that’s a garantee

But seriously Zander on his stream is acting like he is just waiting for an announcement and he already has a team. Idk if he is just overconfident, but my guess is that he already knows where he is going

Bro of course he doesn’t care that much about viewers, he doesn’t know us, but it doesn’t mean that he can’t take a break.

Realistically if he actually didn’t give a shit, he has more than enough money to just retire and never come back

I wouldn’t worry, Zander really didn’t want to IGL, he said multiple times that he doesn’t want to IGL

Also, he has been on a team with both johnqt and zellsis (the other big voices in the team) and he knows how to communicate with them

Yeah from what I understand, they basically have to not play with rossy because he was on a tier 1 team and they need to wait until the 7th to announce him

I’m guessing Mitch is just a stand-in for this one tournament