its difficult for others on this website to accept other peoples opinions. dw bro

2023 ethan was arguably considered one of the best flex initiators of the year, his 2024 was bad i agree, but this year considering hes been igl for half of it, he has done pretty damn well. not as good as someone like valyn but still good.

kinda on the fence with this too but im lowkey thinking 2 champs wins with 2 different teams is more impressive

is ethan officially the NA goat?

ur a good person bro thats really nice of you do wanna do something for her.

as long as u find something shes interested in and likes i think she will enjoy it. saw some people say a bike and that would be pretty cool.

my two cousins (5 y/o and 9 y/o) are really interested in art and creating things. most of my family and myself usually gets them anything related for the holidays like colored pencils, markers, sketchbooks etc. they also like makeup but idk if your niece is into that yet but just suggestions. im sure whatever u will come up with they will be happy with.

2 completely different metas and 2025 fnc is just the same players with more exp

on paper g2, but i have a feeling they lose. if drx can get haven corrode or abyss i think they win tbh.

whoever wins this game though will make it top 4 minimum though.

after group stage i wouldnt be suprised tbh

am i wrong to say that besides valyn, and maybe s0m, that most of NA's controller players are inferior to the other regions?

like valyn really is a god compared to these dudes and hes igling as well.

TL vs PRX absolute cinema

net is like a baby zellsis. the difference is zellsis has zekken and net has x0ppa.

fr though i do feel bad for him and c9 they 100% should be in over mibr, tiebreaker rule is dumb idc. plus on top of all the shit net has gone through from the guard not making vct, then winning ascension, only to finally get to kickoff and then gets dropped. he definitely has a hard work ethic and he will bounce back one of these days. i just think c9 is a cursed org at this point.-

i wouldn't invest time into a collegiate valorant program unless your school or state is supportive. you can still do it for fun but don't expect any support or recognition, only pro will be is meeting people and making friends.

these are the only 3 wins of his playoff career. in a total of 12 series, he has 3 games above a 1.0 and 9 games below, averaging around a 0.9. none of these are "cherry picked", these are legit all of his matches in playoffs or kickoff, which would be considered "important".

i agree with the jawg point i have mentioned it a few times in this thread already, i consider mada to be better than him atm.

https://www.vlr.gg/295606/cloud9-vs-mibr-champions-tour-2024-americas-kickoff-opening-a
https://www.vlr.gg/427993/nrg-esports-vs-cloud9-champions-tour-2025-americas-kickoff-ur1
https://www.vlr.gg/530902/leviat-n-vs-cloud9-vct-2025-americas-stage-2-ur1

i would too but it all depends on the team and i think net is somewhat of a co igl still unless that changed recently and i didnt hear ab it

c9 - hes prob neck and neck with neT
eg - prob will never happen because its just a losing org, plus if yay stays its overlapping roles, no shot he starts as a duelist anymore
100t - kess has been playing well but i could see it tbh. wouldnt be suprised if 100t rebuilds around eeiu, zander, and cryo next year and pick up babybay and alym or infiltrator
lev - high doubt but could be a good replacement over tex if he continues to be on and off

all other NA teams 0 chance, high doubt he plays in another region, would make more sense for him to just continue casting if he cant get a t1 opportunity

yes i made a mistake in writing post, big woop bro lmao

he performed "fine" in 1/9. even if u take the playoff wins hes had (which is like 3 total i think), its still averaging around a 0.9 rating.

there is more than enough of a sample size from his 2 year stint. he continues to fail to show up in important games, obviously if he had better players around him it would help but still won't shy away from the fact that he is inconsistent.

these are all of his important losses, legit one game above a 1.0...

be real, c9 or kru are not making champs.

oxy in important games:
https://www.vlr.gg/295607/nrg-esports-vs-cloud9-champions-tour-2024-americas-kickoff-winners-a
https://www.vlr.gg/295609/cloud9-vs-mibr-champions-tour-2024-americas-kickoff-decider-a
https://www.vlr.gg/337407/cloud9-vs-g2-esports-champions-tour-2024-americas-stage-1-ko
https://www.vlr.gg/371266/kr-esports-vs-cloud9-champions-tour-2024-americas-stage-2-ko
https://www.vlr.gg/427997/g2-esports-vs-cloud9-champions-tour-2025-americas-kickoff-ubqf
https://www.vlr.gg/428004/cloud9-vs-mibr-champions-tour-2025-americas-kickoff-lr1
https://www.vlr.gg/475898/sentinels-vs-cloud9-champions-tour-2025-americas-stage-1-ubr1
https://www.vlr.gg/475904/cloud9-vs-evil-geniuses-champions-tour-2025-americas-stage-1-lr1
https://www.vlr.gg/530906/sentinels-vs-cloud9-vct-2025-americas-stage-2-ubsf

is this enough of a sample size?

https://www.vlr.gg/295607/nrg-esports-vs-cloud9-champions-tour-2024-americas-kickoff-winners-a
https://www.vlr.gg/295609/cloud9-vs-mibr-champions-tour-2024-americas-kickoff-decider-a
https://www.vlr.gg/337407/cloud9-vs-g2-esports-champions-tour-2024-americas-stage-1-ko
https://www.vlr.gg/371266/kr-esports-vs-cloud9-champions-tour-2024-americas-stage-2-ko
https://www.vlr.gg/427997/g2-esports-vs-cloud9-champions-tour-2025-americas-kickoff-ubqf
https://www.vlr.gg/428004/cloud9-vs-mibr-champions-tour-2025-americas-kickoff-lr1
https://www.vlr.gg/475898/sentinels-vs-cloud9-champions-tour-2025-americas-stage-1-ubr1
https://www.vlr.gg/475904/cloud9-vs-evil-geniuses-champions-tour-2025-americas-stage-1-lr1
https://www.vlr.gg/530906/sentinels-vs-cloud9-vct-2025-americas-stage-2-ubsf

sato i can agree with but cryo is not a selfless duelist, and oxy shits the bed in important games like today. great aimer though.

i meant mainly NA, but yes sato is him

dante is their primary duelist, but yes you are right keznit has played more duelist, i recalled he played more flex.

oxy is a 2nd year player now, he either performs or doesn't. just look at today vs sen. he had an absolute stinker. yet he can farm the lower tier teams in NA.

mada might be older but hes technically a rookie, has been the most consistent player behind s0m throughout the year on NRG and has showed up in big games like hes doing today.

not gonna argue an opinion, all are great players but at the end of the day results matter and all players u mentioned are not making champs, nrg if win today have a very good shot at.

agreed i would just move sato up to mada as well, was mainly talking about NA duelists

sato i agree, i meant NA mainly. oxy is the definition of inconsistent, and keznit has barely played duelist this split.

hes been performing well all split, i think most aces in americas too. definitely not "overrating".

ye sato and mada i think clear jawg at this point

ok bad timing on the post LOL

i think its time hes considered 2nd behind zekken for duelists in NA

edited to NA instead of americas.

they always were

i mean g2 would be first if they had leaf but sen has been slowing improving throughout the year and nrg having bonkar and more firepower is making them much much better

top 5 igls, top 10 players oat

yea, on drugs

wake up

not saying ethan played well at all on that map, but mf had similar stats and still 0.66, so unless im missing something idk (just saw again thought both had 13 deaths)

hes been a solid player even prior to that. he was insane back in 2022 with redux on oxygen.

i think this tourney will be a lot more upsets than usual. any opinion in this thread isn't wrong imo. for all we know BBL or XLG could just go on a run.

also liquid isnt in it, its bbl.

ong i hope he does.

cant argue with you since its all about opinions. to me they would be a very very close 4 and 5.

too much recency for him imo, another year of good results would put him there in my eyes.

nah bro hes for sure got at least 2 more years in him. after that hes either gonna coach, analyst, or full time stream.

bro is basically at the champs 2022 fns stage of valorant dementia.

in terms of achievements and stats

1. Chronicle
2. Aspas
3. Derke

HMs: Sacy, Alfa, Boaster

obv everyones opinion will vary but i see EWC as another offseason event. probably the biggest one we have seen so itll definitely carry some weight but not as much as any of the actual VCT events.

toronto and austin major just ended so i feel u. on the bright side both the bear s4 and squid game s3 are coming out this week so it gives me something else to look forward to. there are always other things that i find to make myself feel something in between esports and until stage two itll be finishing bg3, the bear, and squid game!

EMEA: 1. FNC, 2. TL, Points: BBL, TH
AMERICAS: 1. SEN, 2. NRG, Points: G2, 100T (mb MIBR)
CHINA: 1. XLG, 2. WOLVES, Points: EDG, BLG
PACIFIC: 1. GENG, 2. DRX, Points: PRX, T1

hot takes:

geng will win entire event

nrg will place top 6 minimum

dunno if its even a hot take anymore but g2 will choke

prx will pull an edg and they will struggle next stage and wont make it out of groups in champs

xlg or wolves gets top 4 at champs

sen goes undefeated in stage 2, runner up or 3rd at champs

being american ≠ fan of NA

0/8

bro its gonna be an okc sweep, lets be real here.

if thibs doesnt get fired after this year idek know what to say. other than that i think as long as they improve their bench they can easily run it back next year.

this is just false but ok bro