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

KangKang can play Neon, Yoru, Raze and Jett at the highest level
Demon1 can't
That's all you need to know

I don't think zmjjkk ever left, his team and After's ideas just weren't there to support him. Watching Madrid and Shanghai you could tell he was trying his best and still had solid stats if I remember. His mental looked shot and he lost energy (he was very depressed on streams after those losses too). The coaching change allowed for a better system and S1mon is the perfect support player. EDG really had the craziest glowup. KangKang got all his energy back for champs.

:(

No idea how the meta will change by 2025, no clue which team will peak. It's been proven that any team or player can come from anywhere and dominate the pro scene and any team can fall.

Realistically I don't see EDG falling off regionally at least. Other teams will catch up but EDG have the mechanical talent and by the looks of it a good coaching staff and system. Maybe an analyst could help them improve further. They have potential to remain a top team by next Masters.

Team Heretics
Lost 4 grand finals, had the lead in two of them I think (the FNC and GENG matches)
Choked against PRX
Choked against G2 first two times
Choked against LEV first time

Demon1 and Zmjjkk both had incredibly hype runs

It started with Monyet's clutch on Split

I wouldn't say they looked mid, they definitely looked good. Yeah the PRX and FUT matches were a bit muddy but still convincing wins. They should have won the G2 match too but they choked a few crucial rounds (on Haven if I remember right).

Duelist: KangKang
Initiator: Riens
Flex: Woot
Controller: Valyn (because igl, karon otherwise)
Sentinel: Meteor
Coach: Muggle/Haodong or Solo

correct

Riot has hyped up KangKang to be the main character of valorant all year and he delivered on it. He might be the kangkang of valorant.

trashmea so bad bro

what

Davai interview before their match with EDG I think? Interviewer asked him if he believed his team was getting out of groups and he said "Nah".

yes agree

Been saying they're nervous players and everyone keeps denying it for some reason. We saw it for the first time against PRX in Madrid and countless times since. To be fair, EDG played out of their minds today and had the 2-1 lead going into Bind. So EDG were just the better team. But it's normal for such a young emotional team like Heretics to be nervous and lose maps because of it.

Hopefully with this experience they can be more confident and close maps quicker.

Davai doesn't even give a shit anymore lol, the team doesn't have a winning mindset anymore, leave it at that

The thread isn't about EDG, it's about KangKang. Shit coaching, a playstyle that didn't suit them and a lack of understanding of the current meta (chinese valorant cant win trophies, they adapted their playstyle to be more team oriented) made them fail against LOUD and in Shanghai. KangKang has never been the problem. He's played his ass off even when the team failed. His stats have been insane throughout his career. He's definitely one of the best players val has ever seen. I wouldn't put him top 5 but he deserves respect.

KangKang has been playing at a high level for much longer than people we all considered GOATs of valorant (with the exception of guys like chronicle and aspas of course).

He definitely deserves to be considered one of the best val has ever seen. He's mechanically one of the best players. His consistency is incredible. Even when his team has failed he's always delivered. He's a pioneer of Chinese val. He can play every duelist at a high level and did so this year and just won the biggest trophy he could.

r00ns
b0nj0
m0nob00
b00
w00t
trashmea 0 team region

HES THE BEST FUCKING PLAYER EVER GODDAMN IT

:c

flair

This final is honestly depressing to watch

It's a disaster out there, man

EDG aren't comfortable on Icebox and it's a very good map for Heretics. The best they could've done was throw a curveball and pick Ascent. The problem is that both teams have a very similar map pool and Heretics are a better team on a good couple of them.

nah thats m0n0b00

Simon is the perfect support for KangKang, he sets him up absolutely perfectly. He's got the best Breach utility I've seen all year too. It's like they brought him in to get KangKang back in Tokyo form. On top of that he gets big impact kills, there's no reason for anyone to shit on him.

KEKE

how can termi redeem himself in the eyes of vlr?

Wolves igling improved after they signed SiuFat, and then they started winning. So that speaks for itself. Pl1xx is a good player but he didn't make Wolves a top team like they wanted and had potential to be.

Sacy on this list doesn't make a ton of sense, especially not above Chronicle. I'd argue even Yay would be more deserving of a top 5 spot because he was undoubtedly the best in the world at one point. Sacy never reached the heights of Yay even though they both won champs.

Flashback deserves an honorable mention

FPX vs Team Heretics Shanghai
PRX vs Team Heretics Madrid
SEN vs LEV

some really fun maps:
NRG vs SEN sunset kickoff
BLG vs JDG sunset playoffs (ridiculous throws and fast pace)
FPX vs TE haven lower final (the most gut wrenching throws you'll ever see)

Agreed except for Karmine Corp UNLESS Narrate stays and they replace Magnum with an actual good igl, if not they're done

EDG 2-1 LEV
SEN 2-1 TH

lf LEV 3-2 SEN
gf EDG 3-2 LEV

oh my god tenz is the best of all time

tenz proves he's the best to ever do it tonight

vlr should start calling him b0b0

EDG Shanghai and post-Shanghai were at their absolute weakest, looked like the team had a difficult time coordinating and Nobody had some rough games (the DRG game). But they quickly found their footing again and now look the best they ever have. So huge credit to them.

Pl1xx igl didn't work and the team failed to set up Spring on duelist. They pretty much sent him in to die on attack and weren't able to set him up or trade him on defense. Both players had a rough year. SiuFat looked like a big improvement for the team but by then it was too little too late.

High chance of Heretics choking for the 50th time

Depends on the map pool I think. EDG need to ban Icebox, they have no shot on that map. I think Haven also favors Lev. EDG have struggled on that map this tournament. If Sunset/Bind/Lotus is the map pool EDG wins.

Would be a better post if you said Zekken and Benjy. Those 2 are 100% cracked out on adderall with how they play the game lol, I swear Zekken doesn't even blink.

do you?

W take honestly

Nah this take ain't it. There is 100% a possibility that EDG win against LEV. They probably should've closed out their match with G2 (they choked a few crucial rounds) and they convincingly beat SEN. They're capable of beating LEV but I think it largely depends on the map veto.