THEY ADDED RIDDLE ORDER FLAIR!!

https://www.vlr.gg/299021/all-in-favor/#10
https://www.vlr.gg/327158/woke-up-to-y0y-losing/#8
https://www.vlr.gg/322869/is-tenz-the-goat/#25
https://www.vlr.gg/304517/yall-really-gave-us-n4rrate/#16
https://www.vlr.gg/303151/midyet/#7

There, that's better

Probably fear of the same situation as last year, where all the players are stuck in contracts, but more importantly we have no idea if they want to even stay a partnered organization

I fully agree with this. Riot have shown they're open to constructive criticism and that they're willing to be a lot more open and public about these kinds of processes, so I genuinely hope they'll improve upon their system and keep us updated on what they're doing to improve the esport

Pretty safe to say that won't be for a long while, but I'm excited for that kind of thing as well. The regions that come to mind are South America and CIS, which would leave more teams available for both NA and SA, plus give EMEA more leniency to allow MENA representation.

Also we'd probably need more teams for each Masters, and... this is a bit of a stretch, but I'd really really wanna see an international LCQ, kind of like the international playoffs you see for the FIFA World Cup. No idea how that would be feasible but I'd love to witness it

That's true, and that's a valid point for Madrid over any other tournament this year. But then the argument of "Riot has the money, why don't they host every game in an arena?" comes about for tournaments next year—because we can't realistically guarantee every game at Masters Bangkok will be in an arena.

That could work, actually. A straight-to-playoffs double elimination bracket style tournament is a neat idea.

Another way they could potentially go about it, which I've seen in a few sports but never in esports, is if they have round robin groups purely for seeding. All 8 teams qualify, but playoffs end up being 1v4 2v3 3v2 4v1 between teams coming from two groups (in a Masters you'd have one team from each region in each group).

No idea, but if it is that kind of thing then I really hope it isn't uncounterable

...thank you? Not sure why that's relevant

People have reached a general consensus that less teams = mickey mouse tournament, which I don't agree with (like you said, Madrid was hype), so I just thought I'd call that out

That's a fair argument. In my opinion, though, all that really means is that every game counts, which is true in the vast majority of sporting and esporting events

Because I'm a viewer, I agree. But it's the same story here. Less teams doesn't make it inherently worse or less legitimate or anything of the sort. At the end of the day, all it means is it's harder for teams to qualify and we have less games to watch.

VALORANT Masters Bangkok
48 teams in qualifying ÷ 8 teams attending ≈ 16% of teams competing

FIFA World Cup 2022
211 teams in qualifying ÷ 32 teams ≈ 15% of teams competing

Pretty far-fetched comparison but the point is maybe only 8 teams isn't really a stretch. Sure, it's more fun with more teams, but that doesn't make 8 teams inherently bad or illegitimate, especially when every team has a realistic shot at qualification.

Someone wants a shoutout on the main broadcast

yUNDEFINEDy?

He's a very fun agent

You should play Harbor

Wouldn't that be y1y

I'm gonna be honest, I don't think they were abilities. If I were to guess what the teaser means, I'd say we know what her abilities are made of. Kind of like how Deadlock's stuff are nanowire gadgets and Skye's stuff are wooden trinkets she brought to life, I think Vyse can morph metal to shape her abilities.

Doesn't this mean you're unmemorable?

TLN
M80
KC

(Crowd buff is totally a thing, trust me)

So basically there's an LCQ
(RIDDLE ORDER will win Ascension, I really hope they do)

Damn alright

I don't think it's abilities. This has been spread a bunch of times already but no other source mentions abilities, not even the official VALORANT account.
I think Kanga's breakdown makes a bit more sense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHCHJ5P6iWI

So is SCARZ relegated from VCJ now? Where do they go, premier?

Clicked on this post expecting a sob story about how someone lost all their money. This is arguably worse

How 😭

yay is anything but forgotten lmao

I could name at least a hundred maddening users, but none that would ruin anyone's day. Frankly no one here deserves to be taken that seriously, myself included

Feels bad for TE. Genuinely went up against the two worst teams they could've gone up against in playoffs. Hope they come back stronger next season, especially given their performance at their first international event :)

That's valid. I love casters with British accents, especially in football/soccer

Ah I see. Thank you for the insight

Ah. Not sure if that's lack of communication or lack of understanding, but whatever

I'd think France would have it worse, but now that you mention it, how many Spanish orgs are there? I actually have no idea. The only one I know of is Heretics.

This is only a good idea if they don't cap the number of teams in each Challengers league. Because imagine NA Challengers if there are 12 teams capped and 6 of them are academy teams, for example

Really? I've never met a single Mississaugauan speak like that, it's just the downtown and alley kids from Toronto afaia

Worst advice I've ever seen you give

This is why Mississauga > Toronto (speaking as an outsider)

Kanga leak #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_u0g2VM4OE
Kanga leak #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwa5GdOmz4M
(Kanga my goat)

I really like Sideshow because he's a fun guy both behind the casting desk and in person. He's really funny, chill, laid-back, and he's just a cool guy

Therapy/psychiatry is always an option

Fair

W

If you can find it in a place like that, then that's massive. Cloudberries are pretty rare unless you're in Scandinavia

Scroll up to #6 please

d4v41 is one of the best players in Pacific, what are you on

Gonna be pretty hard to find any, I can't lie. Your best bet is to look for the jam at your local IKEA

TenZ plays like three agents

I prefer Fade by a long shot. Chucking all your util at a guy is way more fun than lineups

Abyss: Sova, Viper, Harbor, Astra, Deadlock
Ascent: Sova, KAY/O, Omen, Killjoy
Bind: Fade, Gekko, Brimstone, Harbor, Viper, Cypher, Deadlock
Haven: Sova, Gekko, Astra, Harbor, Cypher
Icebox: Sova, Gekko, Harbor, Sage
Lotus: Fade, Omen, Viper, Harbor, Deadlock
Sunset: Fade, Omen, Astra, Cypher