I still don't get why FIFA's try to make a Club World Cup when they literally already have a Club World Cup

Yes, because "revenue generated from the export of oil" is corrupt by definition

Luka Modrić is goated

You're fully discrediting how crazy this clip is, man. No matter how they played that 5v1 he should not have won that, and the fact that he did says more about him as a player than about the 5 alive

To each their own, I guess.

Not sure why this is an opinion you needed to voice though. Like just let me enjoy my thing, man 😭

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgEY_7-kE2Y

😔😔😔😔 next one is his fr

'Preciate it 🫡

Out of the 24 teams that have played:
China (Smoggy)
Taiwan (BerLIN)
UK (Keiko)
Argentina (Saadhak)
Chile (Mazino)
Thailand (JitBoyS)

That was NOT you 😭

(If you're missing context, please feel free reference the original VALORANT World Cup project thread: https://www.vlr.gg/493514/valorant-world-cup-simulation/)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Group E
🇷🇺 Russia vs. Finland 🇫🇮
🇹🇭 Thailand vs. Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦

Group F
🇺🇸 United States vs. Poland 🇵🇱
🇫🇷 France vs. India 🇮🇳

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇷🇺 Russia 2-0 Finland 🇫🇮

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/YxA78fm.png

Map 1: Ascent
🇷🇺 13-2 🇫🇮
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/zCVagpa.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/qMEdNkP.png

Map 2: Lotus
🇷🇺 18-16 🇫🇮
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/TRxn9A3.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/AUI0TlI.png

Russia was statistically the best team to come into this tournament, and they could've easily taken this series losing only 5 rounds.

Map 1 was the most one-sided map we've seen so far this tournament. A very quick 13-2 from them, with Jemkin going 20/9, also saw the first π of this tournament, with H1ber on KAY/O only registering 3 kills in the map's 15 rounds.

Lotus looked to be more of the same, with Russia carrying over their momentum from map 1 and getting up to 12-3 with fragging from Jemkin, nAts, and vo0kashu. That was where we saw the Russians falter. Thanks to fragging from Derke and Famsii, and especially H1ber, Finland would win a straight 9 rounds to take us to overtime. This included a 1v3 ace clutch from H1ber, who somehow managed to end the map with 10x as many kills as the previous one. In the end, though, Russia took it 18-16 thanks to heroics from nAts, giving us the most fake comeback of all time. Even though Russia prevailed, Finland set a statement that they aren't the unstoppable force we perceived them to be.

Match MVP: 🇷🇺 nAts

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇹🇭 Thailand 2-1 Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/BJKUPEs.png

Map 1: Haven
🇹🇭 13-11 🇸🇦
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/sv6jgWu.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/hNt5Z21.png

Map 2: Sunset
🇹🇭 10-13 🇸🇦
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/dpNVxXO.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/P6GqG8S.png

Map 3: Icebox
🇹🇭 13-8 🇸🇦
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/4rIgxzV.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/aqfU8hG.png

Thailand started Haven hot, with Primmie running down the Saudi defense, getting an ace in round 4 to put himself at 11/2 (https://i.imgur.com/iQbpqXL.png). Down 8-4 at the half, Saudi Arabia needed to prove they could hold their own. They won 7 attacking rounds, including an ace from str1keR late in the game (https://i.imgur.com/9Ps93zK.png). The gap would be too big to close, though, as the Thai would take Haven 13-11.

Sunset saw a very interesting clash of ideas, with Primmie and seph1roth on Waylay and Gekko heading into str1keR's Chamber. This map started a lot closer, with Killua's ace sealing a 6-6 half (https://i.imgur.com/qrv4hfT.png). Despite Killua and Primmie fragging, however, Moh, KHaaLiD, and str1keR would prove to hold more firepower on their attacking half, taking a 13-10 victory to take us the distance.

Icebox would be our decider, and we saw our first Sage pick of the tournament in Moh. The battle Sage would prove vital to Saudi Arabia, with him going 27/14 and pulling off a 1v5 on their attack half to keep them in the match a little longer (https://i.imgur.com/EH21HPT.png) Unfortunately for him, though, his teammates couldn't keep up, and Killua's 30 kills on Sova brought Thailand a 13-8 win to clinch the series 2-1.

Match MVP: 🇹🇭 Killua

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇺🇸 United States 2-1 Poland 🇵🇱

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/A9iBJwy.png

Map 1: Sunset
🇺🇸 7-13 🇵🇱
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/bn5yK6n.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/oQALdUT.png

Map 2: Lotus
🇺🇸 13-10 🇵🇱
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/0WJOPNq.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/R6T1R4u.png

Map 3: Pearl
🇺🇸 13-7 🇵🇱
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/NIAXcKB.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/6I31mZ7.png

This was the biggest question mark of the day. Either team could've won this, and any underperformance could've been costly.

Map 1 was simply MOLSI proving himself. There were questions as to why he should igling the team over starxo or zeek, but MOLSI's Sova shut down those doubts, with an ace on round 10 cutting zekken and leaf's momentum and giving Poland the upper hand (https://i.imgur.com/3DFbLDV.png). Despite several multikills from the Americans, they couldn't convert their chances, and Poland won 6 straight attacking rounds to take Sunset 13-7, with MOLSI going 27/11 and PROFEK also having a great map.

Map 2 would be Pearl, and while the first half was close, the map itself was not. With leaf fragging superbly and valyn's reads being flawless (https://i.imgur.com/SNHd57m.png), the United States would take a 13-10 to bring it to Pearl.

Map 3 was by far the sloppiest map of tournament so far, with leaf opening us off with a messy 1v3 sheriff ace on round 1 (https://i.imgur.com/Ob3WjVc.png). Despite valyn's quesitonable calling, with the US opting to save in a 3v4 against classics in the following round, Poland had their own problems, not being able to put together the funds for a rifle round until round 6. From there, the rest of the first half was just MOLSI having poor reads on the defense and the US not being able to play against a retake. After a 6-6 struggle, zekken decided he'd had enough, and powered through the Polish side's attack, giving them just one round and taking the series with a 2-1 scoreline. kaajak was very uncharacteristic this map, ending Pearl 3/19 despite being one of the highest rated players in the server—he still managed to end above both valyn and westside in the series, though, who both had terrible performances and will look to do better in their next matches against France and India respectively.

Match MVP: 🇺🇸 leaf

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇫🇷 France 2-0 India 🇮🇳

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/JeEKWiM.png

Map 1: Icebox
🇫🇷 13-10 🇮🇳
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/HrA3JeR.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/U25BgAq.png

Map 2: Lotus
🇫🇷 13-8 🇮🇳
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/Aaeq2p0.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/EdeIAH6.png

As with Matchday 2, the final faceoff of the day proved to be the most uneventful.

India started strong on Icebox, converting a thrifty after losing the pistol and stringing together a couple rounds to build a buffer. It didn't matter in the end, though, as with r1seN being their sole fragger in a lot of their rounds, France were simply able to mow them down, with TakaS frying on the entries and K4DAVRA never failing to get at least one on his lurks. The map ended 13-10.

Icebox seemed to be only a warmup for the two of them, as Lotus would be even more one-sided. Takas started the map 11/0 and K4DAVRA's ace in the 8th round only seemed to add to their momentum (https://i.imgur.com/UrNxZyw.png). France's throw-it-back Raze Phoenix comp got the better of Venka's Iso, helping them take the map 13-8 and end a swift and decisive series.

Match MVP: 🇫🇷 K4DAVRA

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here's how the table stands after half the first set of matches in groups E and F: https://i.imgur.com/Vv5COOu.png

This is what Matchday 4 will look like:

Group G
🇰🇷 Korea Republic vs. Singapore 🇸🇬
🇨🇿 Czechia vs. Belarus 🇧🇾

Group H
🇧🇷 Brazil vs. Hong Kong 🇭🇰
🇦🇺 Australia vs. Germany 🇩🇪

If you want to check the other groups for future matchups, everything is listed in this thread: https://www.vlr.gg/493814/vwc-group-stage-draw

At this point, who do you have making playoffs?

FUR raafa - duelist
NRG FiNESSE - recon
BBL vakk - flashes
DFM Art - controller
AG HanChe - sentinel

Coaches: GX pipsoN + ZETA Carlao

I gave this team 3 igls with 3 different approaches to metagame. I put 5 of the players with the lowest stats this year all on off roles, and I made sure none of them speaks the same language (they speak Portuguese, English, Lithuanian/Turkish, Japanese/Korean, and Chinese respectively). I also added two poor performing coaches who don't speak the same language (English and Portuguese/Japanese) and I gave them equal levels of power for maximum chaos.

But I can

https://www.vlr.gg/488304/harbor-buff-rework-concept

Fair point.

But also Harbor :3

Macarona béchamel 😋

W post

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhRaQ8ETcdg

eeiu

Updated, thanks! :)

Updated, thank you! 🫡

Thanks for catching that! I'm on phone right now, I'll update in an hour or so 👍

Jsyk though Leo dropped 80 and Alfa dropped 82

Will see you around then :)

USA vs. Poland banger 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Thanks! 🫡

To TL;DR it for you, I'm running a simulation to see who would actually win a VALORANT World Cup. This thread is a recap of 4 of the group stage games

If you're curious, here's the main info threads:
Concept thread: https://www.vlr.gg/493514/valorant-world-cup-simulation/
Group stage draw + players ratings: https://www.vlr.gg/493814/vwc-group-stage-draw

(If you're missing context, please feel free reference the original VALORANT World Cup project thread: https://www.vlr.gg/493514/valorant-world-cup-simulation/)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Group C
🇹🇷 Türkiye vs. Sweden 🇸🇪
🇦🇷 Argentina vs. Mexico 🇲🇽

Group D
🇨🇱 Chile vs. Philippines 🇵🇭
🇱🇹 Lithuania vs. Spain 🇪🇸

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇹🇷 Türkiye 2-1 Sweden 🇸🇪

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/4tZAPCK.png

Map 1: Lotus
🇹🇷 16-14 🇸🇪
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/2l8gUm4.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/g11cJfs.png

Map 2: Split
🇹🇷 12-14 🇸🇪
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/s9mQ7IT.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/0Z6XPBN.png

Map 3: Haven
🇹🇷 13-10 🇸🇪
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/HpP4Snc.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/jaS8kbh.png

As with Matchday 1, the first map of the day proved to be the most hectic. Türkiye won the pistol, but Sweden converted the thrifty round that followed, and used that momentum to dominate early on Lotus, much to my surprise. Leo was playing to his usual standard, but Zyppan and Sayf both stepped up as well, getting a few multikills between them. Zyppan picked up an ace to end a 9-3 defensive half (https://i.imgur.com/NuqH16g.png). Down 11-4, hero plays needed to be made, and Alfajer stepped up with an ace on the first buy round of the half to keep Turkish hopes alive (https://i.imgur.com/KQdF3ys.png). From there, Türkiye brought it all the way back, with RieNs' 1v4 ace clutch sealing overtime in the final round of regulation (https://i.imgur.com/orx6hg9.png). Things were back and forth from there... 4ks from Leo, Alfajer, and Wo0t with the operator... until in round #30, Alfajer dropped his second ace of the map to clinch a tense comeback victory for the Turks (https://i.imgur.com/qQKWTYv.png). Generational performance from him, going 41/19 on Viper.

Split was similar but not as intense. Again Sweden looked to have the early momentum, getting up to 8 rounds in the first half thanks to many plays from Leo and a 1v4 from Meddo—would've been another 9-3 but Wo0t with an op ace in the 12th round had other plans (https://i.imgur.com/ltyGL8Q.png). Türkiye won the next pistol but got thriftied once again, which didn't bode well for them. Fortunately for Türkiye, Sweden forgot how to attack again, losing 5 of their 12 offensive rounds on time. It then went to overtime, but Sweden was able to close things out this time. Last map was all Alfa... this map was all Leo, going 32/15 on Skye.

The final map was the most straightforward of the three. Not too much to talk about... good performances from Alfajer, Wo0t, and MrFaliN helped the Turks take the series with a 13-10 victory on Haven. A very anticlimactic finale to a very climactic series.

Match MVP: 🇹🇷 Alfajer

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇦🇷 Argentina 2-0 Mexico 🇲🇽

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/kBzNBOK.png

Map 1: Haven
🇦🇷 13-9 🇲🇽
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/Io2Grck.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/XSn2KnF.png

Map 2: Icebox
🇦🇷 14-12 🇲🇽
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/cKNXs1E.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/ayhx8f8.png

Map 1 was Haven... we saw Dante on the Neon for Argentina, and Peloncito/otaQ running a Breach/Tejo for Mexico. A very uneventful map, with Argentina casually stringing together rounds without any real standout performers. nzr did frag well to start the game, but the map did end with lack of a headline.

Map 2 was a bit more memorable, however. Saadhak's side ran a Harbor Viper comp into seven's Chamber. However, it was Mephisto who had the most success with the op, buying it early and getting a 4K, crashing Argentina's economy. solution also pulled off an ace on round 11, giving Mexico a comfortable lead going into the second half (https://i.imgur.com/myq6Qro.png). Mexico would win the following pistol and anti-eco, putting them up 10-4, but their luck ran short on the attack side. The Argentinians won 10 of the following 12 rounds to complete a comeback and take the series 2-0. The MVP went to Dantedeu5, but the fact is that Argentina look like a unit, with no real standout performers. The same could be said about Mexico, but they're not looking as strong, and they definitely need to step things up for their next match against a formidable Swedish side.

Match MVP: 🇦🇷 Dantedeu5

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇨🇱 Chile 1-2 Philippines 🇵🇭

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/hkyiplU.png

Map 1: Ascent
🇨🇱 13-4 🇵🇭
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/1S3ZarZ.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/QqGBuXC.png

Map 2: Pearl
🇨🇱 10-13 🇵🇭
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/juE680B.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/SMeWlWt.png

Map 3: Haven
🇨🇱 12-14 🇵🇭
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/PECaZw9.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/s7CapUx.png

Ascent was our first map, and Chile hit the ground running. Mazino kicked off the series with a sheriff ace on the attacking Deadlock (https://i.imgur.com/Ley0OQ9.png). That set a very unfortunate precedent for Philippines for Ascent. It was all Chile, with keznit and erde seemingly taking turns getting multifrags. The Philippinos seemed lost, almost forgetting how to play defensive Ascent at times (https://i.imgur.com/WYA6TPY.png). After a 10-2 half, Chile closed out a very convincing Ascent 13-4, making the Cypher Deadlock look like a force to be reckoned with. invy was the only one for the Philippines who went positive, let alone hit double digits. Shoutout to erde, who had a great performance, walking out with a KD of 3 after coming into this match as the lowest rated player.

The southeast Asian nation stole all the momentum early on Pearl, though, converting a thrifty after losing the opening pistol. Chile ran a double sentinel again, with Mazino and Shyy on Vyse and Chamber, but they couldn't hit a site with it this time, with invy, PatMen, and Papi delivering blow after blow to give the Philippines a 9-3 half. Chile managed to make it dangerous but a late 1v4 from invy sealed a 13-10 to take us the distance (https://i.imgur.com/3QVbEsP.png).

Our third Haven map of the day pitted a strange Neon Harbor Viper comp from the Chileans against Jremy's Reyna. keznit looked to end it quickly, doing what Mazino did on Ascent and opening with a sheriff ace (https://i.imgur.com/CS9DSBq.png). This map would be much more back and forth, however. Interestingly, the metagame seemed inverted, with both teams heavily fighting for C space almost every round (https://i.imgur.com/WLEpR8h.png). In the end, though, the southeast Asian side took what some would consider an upset victory over the LATAM side.

Match MVP: 🇵🇭 invy

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇱🇹 Lithuania 2-0 Spain 🇪🇸

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/YEIZcvw.png

Map 1: Haven
🇱🇹 13-6 🇪🇸
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/Jj0gHrg.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/rj9xEXD.png

Map 2: Sunset
🇱🇹 13-6 🇪🇸
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/fEpbspb.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/ogCx1uf.png

I don't have enough characters left to cover this in full, but there's not much to say, anyway... Lithuania dominated Spain the entire match, only losing 12 rounds in 2 maps.

Match MVP: 🇱🇹 Boo

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here's how the table stands after half the teams have played one match: https://i.imgur.com/8hRHQrD.png

This is what Matchday 3 will look like:

Group E
🇷🇺 Russia vs. Finland 🇫🇮
🇹🇭 Thailand vs. Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦

Group F
🇺🇸 United States vs. Poland 🇵🇱
🇫🇷 France vs. India 🇮🇳

If you want to check the other groups for future matchups, everything is listed in this thread: https://www.vlr.gg/493814/vwc-group-stage-draw

What are your thoughts on the results so far? 🤔

Demon1 Harbor is a wild thought

nAts*

I feel you, man

Good pun, wrong time, wrong place

Canada's is arguably the easiest country in the world to get into, so I'm not sure where else you want Riot to hold international events

https://indeed.com/

Fair enough

Idk, every time I see JonahP on Viper or senti he frags out. Maybe the simulation knows something ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

He had a bad game map 1 and they got destroyed map 2. He'll be back against 🇵🇹 for sure 🫡

😭😭😭😭

Any team would look washed in their first game if they played against China tbf

They've got a very solid roster, that's for sure. Chile will be a tough opponent but I believe they can escape this group and make a run regardless

Haha will do 🫡

(Though tbh I think Boaster and benjy are already too much for the UK to handle LOL)

Oh, I've already locked in rosters, I'm not changing anything. Was just curious 👍

Also yeah for a simulation ideally you just pick the five highest rated players. But where's the fun in that? :)

Are there any notable Welsh players other than YaBoiLewis? He's the only one I know

(If you're missing context, please feel free reference the original VALORANT World Cup project thread: https://www.vlr.gg/493514/valorant-world-cup-simulation/)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The VALORANT World Cup is underway! 4 matches were played yesterday—the first set of matches in groups A and B.

Group A
🇨🇳 China vs. Canada 🇨🇦
🇹🇼 Taiwan vs. Portugal 🇵🇹

Group B
🇮🇩 Indonesia vs. Japan 🇯🇵
🇬🇧 United Kingdom vs. Egypt 🇪🇬

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇨🇳 China 2-0 Canada 🇨🇦

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/fDJCTtM.png

Map 1: Icebox
🇨🇳 19-17 🇨🇦
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/BoTcbya.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/ga4092h.png

Map 2: Icebox
🇨🇳 13-6 🇨🇦
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/5ICmT8A.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/Mk0gVfS.png

This was a match much closer than the scorelines suggest. The majority of the rounds came down to 1 or 2 players left standing, and either side could've taken this series.

The first map of the tournament was back and forth, and came down to OT, where China looked to take the map 14-12. Canada decided to hit A and ran into ZmjjKK's op (https://i.imgur.com/6o3zVgY.png). It looked like it was over... until JonahP pulled off the improbable 1v5 clutch to hold off a retake on B (https://i.imgur.com/bguobW6.png). The overtime went on for another 10 rounds before China took it. (We do NOT talk about mada's KD this game, by the way)

Map 2 wasn't nearly as close as map 1. ZmjjKK hit the ground running with two 4Ks in the first 5 rounds, and China took that momentum (with help from an ace from Kangkang later in the first half) and converted a 13-6 to win the series 2-0.

Match MVP: 🇨🇳 ZmjjKK

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇹🇼 Taiwan 2-1 Portugal 🇵🇹

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/iDYxs9S.png

Map 1: Ascent
🇹🇼 13-8 🇵🇹
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/SmVJycc.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/sqfUqXx.png

Map 2: Icebox
🇹🇼 11-13 🇵🇹
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/KBUseY7.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/I63ioeW.png

Map 3: Split
🇹🇼 13-5 🇵🇹
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/7FMBe7R.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/rLOKWur.png

This match should've been much more in Taiwan's favour, but no one can deny Portugal put up a good fight.

Ascent wasn't too eventful. A mirror match in terms of the composition, and no real notable performances other than happywei on the Cypher, logging a 4K and 3 different 3Ks.

Map 2 came about, and instantly things improved for Portugal. They kept opting into gamble stacking a site to counter the hit-a-site-and-play-postplant metagame of Icebox (https://i.imgur.com/InySECW.png). On other defensive rounds, they put starkk alone in different parts of the map, and I guess all he needed was some space, because he did damn well to stop hits, getting multiple multikills and even an ace (https://i.imgur.com/K2A4hWU.png). Taiwan almost brought it back in the second half, but the Portuguese had already done enough to level the match.

Split was the decider, and it looked as if map 2 had never happened. Taiwan had all the momentum in this game, and Spring's fragging in tangent BerLIN and happywei's lurks made sure Taiwan was able to wrap the series up cleanly.

Match MVP: 🇹🇼 Spring

(Thank you to saebr and yukky for casting Icebox and Split, by the way! I was able to stream the majority of this series and quite a few people turned up to watch, which was amazing. I appreciate everyone who's invested in this little project 🤍)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇮🇩 Indonesia 2-0 Japan 🇯🇵

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/gGQyHQn.png

Map 1: Ascent
🇮🇩 13-7 🇯🇵
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/ftYbjUy.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/2E3heA5.png

Map 2: Icebox
🇮🇩 13-9 🇯🇵
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/3onxfnz.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/LERUTmw.png

Japan was one of the teams with the most to prove coming into this tournament, and in their first match, they'd have to face the biggest dark horse of them all, Indonesia.

Map 1 was, again, plain old Ascent, with a mirror comp on both sides (only difference being xffero on Cypher and SyouTa on Killjoy). In fact, rounds 1 through 18 weren't memorable whatsoever. In round 19, however, Monyet was defending A and pulled off a s0m-2023-esque ace on Japan as they were coming through the choke (https://i.imgur.com/ZjuGVVK.png), putting Indonesia at map point. Meiy did everything he could to keep Japan in the map, getting 4 picks, but Famouz said no, converting a 1v5 against a lost-looking Japanese side to take Ascent 13-7 (https://i.imgur.com/1XccHwh.png).

Icebox to Japan was similar to what it was for Portugal; they seemed to find their footing a lot more. A thrifty on round 2 helped them end the first half up 7-5. Indonesia, though, took back the reins of the match and won 8 of the next 12 rounds to steal Icebox away and take a comfortable 2-0 victory in the series. Monyet proved stellar this map, as he went 29/12 on Viper (though he didn't really lurk much, to be honest... it was mostly running in after Famouz on site execs).

Match MVP: 🇮🇩 Monyet

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🇬🇧 United Kingdom 2-1 Egypt 🇪🇬

Match page: https://i.imgur.com/CWFAIaX.png

Map 1: Sunset
🇬🇧 9-13 🇪🇬
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/iMCIlst.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/Wl1oXDC.png

Map 2: Haven
🇬🇧 13-6 🇪🇬
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/h20Z3Q7.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/gKLwIxs.png

Map 3: Pearl
🇬🇧 13-5 🇪🇬
Timeline: https://i.imgur.com/sPLNjgO.png
Stats: https://i.imgur.com/hF7aKgC.png

The final match of the day brought surprises from both teams.

Sunset was first off, and Avez set a statement right off the rip. After a questionable pistol conversion from Egypt, he aces with the Spectre to keep the UK from getting a thrifty (https://i.imgur.com/EuCUgUI.png). But he wasn't done; just two rounds later, he secures round 4 for Egypt by getting a 1v4 ace clutch (https://i.imgur.com/RBwEn3J.png). This put him at 2 aces in the span of 3 rounds, and Egypt carried this momentum through the first half. The UK weren't playing particularly well either, losing three consecutive attack rounds on time. Avez ended the first half with what could've very easily been a third ace (https://i.imgur.com/UIAmeeB.png), and despite a late streak of rounds from the British, Egypt would take map 1 13-9. Avez's KD was 33/15... no one else on Egypt was positive, and only two others even hit double digits.

The following two maps proved two things: Egypt is overly reliant on Avez's Raze, and the UK have a lot of fight in them. These maps weren't as eventful as Sunset, with both being blowouts for the UK. Haven was an easy map for them, with everyone shooting well and Avez going double negative on Jett. Pearl was a bit more notable... Egypt went up 4-1 before the UK won 12 of the next 13 rounds to take the map 15-13. Egypt's double flash duelist comp should've boded well against Britain's double controller, but Boaster and Keiko on the Viper and Harbor made sure that didn't happen, going 22/8 and 20/11 respectively.

Match MVP: 🇪🇬 Avez

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That was all for Matchday 1!

Here's how the table stands after the first 4 matches: https://i.imgur.com/I11NyEb.png

Not sure how many games I'll get through today, but here are the matches I can confirm will happen on Matchday 2:

Group C
🇹🇷 Türkiye vs. Sweden 🇸🇪
🇦🇷 Argentina vs. Mexico 🇲🇽

Group D
🇨🇱 Chile vs. Philippines 🇵🇭
🇱🇹 Lithuania vs. Spain 🇪🇸

If you want to check the other groups for future matchups, everything is listed in this thread: https://www.vlr.gg/493814/vwc-group-stage-draw

Hope you're enjoying this tournament so far! 🫡

You should say أنا جاي in an Egyptian accent. It means "I'm straight"

No worries 🫡

LOL

Bump!

Games to be played on Matchday 1 (will cover these in the next thread):

Group A
🇨🇳 v 🇨🇦
🇹🇼 v 🇵🇹
Group B
🇮🇩 v 🇯🇵
🇬🇧 v 🇪🇬
Group C
🇹🇷 v 🇸🇪
🇦🇷 v 🇲🇽
Group D
🇨🇱 v 🇵🇭
🇱🇹 v 🇪🇸
Group E
🇷🇺 v 🇫🇮
🇹🇭 v 🇸🇦
Group F
🇺🇸 v 🇵🇱
🇫🇷 v 🇮🇳
Group G
🇰🇷 v 🇸🇬
🇨🇿 v 🇧🇾
Group H
🇧🇷 v 🇭🇰
🇦🇺 v 🇩🇪

I've heard enough, mickey mouse tournament

I'd put Sacy over cauanzin if I could, but he's retired (see roster rules in the original thread, link is at the top of this post)

😭😭😭😭 dude imagine Hong Kong was also in this group

I'm inclined to agree, but honestly China's one of those teams that'd make it deep regardless of their group

Someone puts effort into a post and this is what happens 💔 no wonder people ragebait instead

(If you're missing context, please feel free reference the original VALORANT World Cup project thread: https://www.vlr.gg/493514/valorant-world-cup-simulation/)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the original thread, which I put up two days ago, I shared mainly two things: the concept of this simulated tournament, and the teams I originally created. Thanks to help from many of you, we were able to finalize the teams and move on to the next phase: the group stage draw.

To reiterate, the group stage will be identical to a FIFA World Cup group stage—8 groups of 4 teams, to be drawn via a pot system. The way the pot system works is by sorting teams into 4 different pots based on projected team strength/quality, and then drawing one team from each pot into each of the groups. This helps keeps groups relatively balanced while avoiding completely free groups (as well as groups of death containing, say, 4 of the teams expected to make the top 8).

Well, how do we sort the teams? The easy thing to do is just handpick the pots, but people may call that out for bias. So I decided to give each participating player a personal OVR (using things such as lifetime VLR rating and number of months in tier 1). All player ratings use the same formula, and it took me a while to figure out a decent baseline, so I won't take any objection to player ratings (especially since it'd mean I'd have to redo this entire process, including the draw itself).

The player ratings are too long for me to put them in this post. You can find them here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sDC_AhdGUWWN-IHT8Uti5pLBCO3n9WfF-oldj0VuR_I/

Once that was done, I simply took the average rating of each nation and used that value to assign them into pots. I'm honestly really happy with how this all turned out, as I do believe the teams are (mostly) accurately placed.

Here are the pots:

Pot 1 — 🇷🇺 🇰🇷 🇺🇸 🇮🇩 🇧🇷 🇹🇷 🇨🇳 🇨🇱
Pot 2 — 🇨🇦 🇵🇱 🇸🇬 🇸🇪 🇵🇭 🇭🇰 🇫🇮 🇯🇵
Pot 3 — 🇱🇹 🇨🇿 🇬🇧 🇦🇺 🇹🇼 🇫🇷 🇹🇭 🇦🇷
Pot 4 — 🇩🇪 🇪🇬 🇵🇹 🇧🇾 🇪🇸 🇸🇦 🇲🇽 🇮🇳

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With all the prerequisite work done and dusted, I held the live draw on Discord about an hour ago. As a result, these are the groups for the VALORANT World Cup simulation:

Group A
🇨🇳 ZmjjKK, Kai, slowly*, Smoggy, CHICHOO
🇨🇦 mada, eeiu, TenZ, Zander*, JonahP
🇹🇼 Spring, Nicc*, S1Mon, BerLIN, happywei
🇵🇹 tomaszy, Addicted*, Fragger, starkk, Fizzy

Group B
🇮🇩 Famouz, Kushy, f0rsakeN*, Monyet, xffero
🇯🇵 Meiy, Xdll, CLZ*, gyen, SyouTa
🇬🇧 Keiko, Lime, aNguiSt, Boaster*, benjyfishy
🇪🇬 Avez, Shniider, Depyro, chrollo*, Sand

Group C
🇹🇷 Wo0t, MrFaliN*, RieNs, Ruxic, Alfajer
🇸🇪 Zyppan, Leo, Creamydreamy, Sayf*, Meddo
🇦🇷 Dantedeu5, nzr, rubkkoide, Cebando, Saadhak*
🇲🇽 Mephisto, Peloncito*, otaQ, solution, seven

Group D
🇨🇱 keznit, erde, Mazino, kiNgg*, Shyy
🇵🇭 Jremy, JessieVash*, PatMen, Papi, invy
🇱🇹 MiniBoo, Destrian, Boo*, ceNder, vakk
🇪🇸 Fit1nho, kyrrz*, Guardy, lowel, Saiz

Group E
🇷🇺 Jemkin, Shao, Chronicle, vo0kashu, nAts*
🇫🇮 Derke, Famsii, H1ber, Jamppi*, hoody
🇹🇭 Primmie, Killua, seph1roth, JitBoyS, Laz*
🇸🇦 ExiT, Titan, KHaaLiD*, str1keR, Moh

Group F
🇺🇸 zekken, trent, N4RRATE, valyn*, leaf
🇵🇱 kaajak, kamyk, MOLSI*, PROFEK, westside
🇫🇷 TakaS, nataNk, CyvOph, sh1n, K4DAVRA*
🇮🇳 Venka, r1seN*, Kohliii, Lightningfast, Yuvi

Group G
🇰🇷 t3xture, iZu, Munchkin*, MaKo, Meteor
🇸🇬 Jinggg, grumble, nephh*, Juicy, Deryeon
🇨🇿 marteen, Ambi, MAGNUM, Jesse, Minny*
🇧🇾 SimonD4rk, zeddy*, 7ssk7, Winteryrook, diseased

Group H
🇧🇷 aspas, cauanzin, artziN*, pANcada, Less
🇭🇰 riya, coconut, SiuFatBB*, YOU, heybay
🇦🇺 SWERL, Maple, pl1xx, Minimise, Autumn*
🇩🇪 Click, tex, xanarchy, Felix*, al0rante

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The group stage will follow a FIFA World Cup style format (yes, I'm a big fan of the tournament, how could you tell?), with each team playing every other team. The top two teams from each group (based on map differential, followed by round differential if necessary). More details will come on the knockout stages as we get closer to them.

Well, that's all for now! The first set of matches will be simulated a day or two from now—I'll make a new thread with the results from those matches when they've been decided. 🫡