heard global esports is hiring

Maybe they feel pressured to make roster changes after such an underwhelming year? Boaster would have to be replaced with at least an A tier igl and that's easier said than done. He's crucial to their entire system. Derke's a really good player but you'd be crazy to let go of Leo in favor of Hiro, but Hiro's also too good of a prospect to pass up.

Tbf Aspas has a very passive playstyle, 22 opening attempts in the Lower Final compared to KangKang's 52 opening attempts in the Grand Final and Aspas is very often the last one alive for his team. He's mechanically an unbelievable player but not really a flashy entry duelist.

now he can leave bumea and go to a real region like china, TYLOO Derke would be great

Will it be streamed on youtube?

Nobody and Haodong are the two best igls from China. Haodong has called some great matches throughout his career. Won them a ton of trophies regionally and called some really good games on the international stage. Unfortunately he fell off this year but excelled as the AC so still big credit to him.

Anyone saying Berlin is the best igl is crazy. He hasn't been able to win a single tier 1 trophy, never outcalled EDG when it mattered the most. We saw glimpses of greatness in Shanghai but their year ended on a low note.

Very sweet post

PRX should take notes from EDG. They need a good initiator. Forsaken is a great player but his initiator utility is nowhere near top level. Both him and Davai were dying with full utility left and right, or not using their utility to support their duelists. Compare that to how well S1mon and Zmjjkk play together. Difference is night and day.

A full time duelist and a good initiator would solve a lot of their problems. The individualistic something/Jinggg plays aren't cutting it anymore. Having both of them on the team with their limited roles has become a burden on the international stage. Also a 2nd coach.

agreed

I'd like to see him stay as AC, the current EDG system seems to be really good. He could probably bring a lot of value to a struggling team like TEC though. Who knows what offers he'll get.

Honestly might not be a bad decision if the team gets completely rebuilt. Personally I'd like to see him replace Kicks on VIT or maybe if N4rrate leaves KC he could his replacement.

AfteR does deserve his props for bringing EDG as far as they got. It just became another case of a coach running out of ideas. The playstyle changes weren't working. His impact was still crucial to their champs win, they just needed that coaching and roster change to bring them to their highest level.

Funny enough I think Alecks is in the same situation. Deserves massive credit for getting the players so much success, but it's time to bring in a 2nd coach to get the team back in check.

Lots of debate around Aspas vs Zmjjkk recently, I'll add my thoughts. I think Kk was the better duelist this year for his team only because of the Champs run. They're quite close otherwise.

Both players dominated regionally.
Aspas didn't make Madrid. Kk did and had a very high ACS despite his team underperforming.
LEV underperformed in Shanghai but Aspas played very well aside from the FUT match. Kk tried to shoot back but his team completely flopped.
Champs made the choice clear in my mind. Kk put his life on the line every game. He was almost never the last person alive. He tried every map to get opening kills. Kk had 52 opening attempts in the Grand Final and Aspas had 22 opening attempts in the Lower Final. Aspas's passive playstyle was exposed at Champs.

Narrate and Invy over JonahP is absolute delusion, JonahP was crucial to G2's success this year

Started watching China during Kickoff, Guang became a favorite of mine to watch there, very clutch player

I'll add my thoughts on a few of them
Chamber - GuanG from NOVA. Not many people watch VCT CN but he was definitely the best Chamber. Only Xccurate comes close
Deadlock - Would have to say Heybey too
Fade - Eeiu is a great pick
Gekko - Maybe Riens? Something is more individualistic on Gekko
Harbor - Mazino easily, some say Forsaken but Mazino's util is better
Phoenix - Qck1 or CB, who else even played him?
Reyna - Anyone except Keznit because he was pure trash
Sova - Riens and Leo, but Trexx's utility is unreal

Autumn barely played Chamber, I'd pick Xccurate or Guang over him. There weren't many Chamber players this year.

Breach is S1mon and Mazino

Love seeing Flashback but I'd put him 2nd behind Benjy. Then Meteor, CHICHOO and Tex for the top 5

Zmjjkk is definitely the best Neon and I don't want to hear otherwise. Only Aspas comes close.

Any chance of 100T making a year end list went away after those losses to FURIA and LOUD
edit: After thinking it over they might have to be 10th since they were the best NA team for a bit and made it to Shanghai, but damn what a falloff

I would've loved to see a GENG vs EDG rematch. Their Madrid match had a weaker EDG and the map pool heavily favored GENG but it was still a 3 map game.

bro was speaking facts this whole time

Who did FPX even beat at an international this year? I've enjoyed watching them more than almost any other team but they're absolutely not a top 10 team. There's no reason they should even be above PRX in this ranking.

There's definitely an argument for EDG being the better team than SEN this year because they made all 3 internationals and beat SEN on their way to winning champs.

But EDG were playing in a less competitive region compared to SEN so most don't think EDG should be given full credit for their regional dominance. SEN flopped in Split 1 and didn't make Shanghai, while EDG completely dominated Split 1 and bombed out of Shanghai. I'd give EDG the slight edge but not by much.

Nah they'll qualify for the next Masters, we'll have to wait and see how they perform there

That's the problem, there is no market for igls in EMEA. I really like Boaster but he's unable to focus on his individual performance because of his micromanaging. He should take the Haodong route but realistically there's no option to replace him. He's still an A tier igl.

j0nggg pi on neon

leave him alone man

Neither are you

FUCK I meant to type Zellsis, why do i always mix their names up

Who even is an indian team

GENG, EDG, FPX, DRX and RRQ should keep their current rosters off the top of my head

FNC, SEN, Trace, VIT and TLN (picking champs teams only here, I could name any bottom feeder Pacific or EMEA team and that's too easy)

Boaster to 2nd coach. I really like the guy but we have to be real here. He's too much of a micromanager to focus on his performance
Bench Zellsis or Sacy, again like both of them but keeping both of them means you're missing a lot of consistency
Is Heybey the igl? I want FPX to stay together but if I'm Trace I'm buying out Berlin
-kicks +patitek you can't debate this
Talon has room for improvement

I kind of teared up when EDG won. Knowing several of their players had financial struggles growing up, the several year journey from Champs 2022 to now, the embarrassing losses in Shanghai and seeing KangKang losing his typical energy on stream after those losses made their win a sleeper great story to close out the year.

congrats to PRX for finally winning a trophy against team heretics

Edging to Vyse

same

Riens had an unbelievable year and CHICHOO was the best player of EDG this tournament I think, but if we're talking about finals MVP then it's a well deserved win for kangkang, he had the greatest individual performance of all time after all.

forsaken ace on split
deryeon unreal ace against geng
kangkang 4k to break the kill record
jawgemo ace against nrg
patitek 1hp ace clutch

From eye test alone we could tell that Karon and Riens are superior players, but S1mon did play a major part in EDG's glowup and their trophy win. What he was able to do in only a few months on the big stage is undoubtedly impressive.

KK owned his region throughout kickoff and Stage 1, he was one of the top players in the world going into Madrid (was on every top 10 list) and still popped off at the event despite his team failing. He was never the problem, his team was. He's been one of the best mechanical players in the world since Tokyo.

I think we're going to be at a point next year where China is 100% the better region than Pacific. All China really needs is one or two other teams to step up more, FPX or Trace. The bottom feeder teams of Pacific are arguably worse than the bottom feeder teams of China. Pacific needs to rebuild like 5 of their rosters (GE, Bleed, DFM, ZETA, Talon).

Nah putting Derke #2 makes no sense. That's like saying Ethan is one of the biggest losers of the year when NRG being shit clearly wasn't his fault. NAVI should be there instead. Team got exposed as complete frauds, they played like chickens with their heads cut off.

true

Bonjy

Karon is the best rookie of the year. S1mon is an excellent support player and he helped his team win the biggest event of year, so he's got to be top 3 minimum but it's hard to call him the best rookie of the year when Karon was consistently insane and reached two grand finals.

1. Karon
2. S1mon
3. Riens

Popped off in Madrid even when his team wasn't good, always performed excellently in his region and showed he could do it on the biggest stage when his team was finally cohesive. He's not the #1 of the year (Texture probably takes that) but he deserves a mention.

Not to mention he's performed well in every international he's been to (except Shanghai but he tried, EDG were at their absolute lowest). He has Aspas level consistency in his own region and gave the greatest performance ever in a Grand Final.

Okay but woot actually shouldn't have dyed his hair kek what was he thinking

this is correct except jeremy

remove this user from my website

44 opening attempts from KK in 4 maps
22 opening attempts from Aspas in 4 maps

Both of these guys have entirely different styles, but KK's style is higher risk. He'll enter even with utility or his team to support him, but now that his team was finally cohesive we saw what he was fully capable of. Aspas is THE consistent player regionally. You can't shit on him. He's an excellent player, but it is frustrating to see him last alive for his team so often lmao.

Bit too linear for me but a solid game

Kai 100% has the mechanical talent to do what KangKang did today, hope to see Trace improve next time we see them