He's on a trial right now though and hasn't been signed.

You're misunderstanding slightly, what he's trying to say is that there is still freedom to pick whichever agent you want, you can just see which agent they pick as well so you can develop strategies.

Actually so true

I, personally, completely biased for NA would initially think "oh, we can just remove one spot from EU and BR problem solved!" But then those player bases would be mad. Either way someone is mad.

Ok, let's phrase this different: There's only 10 spots for the Masters event. Which regions should get a cut?

(Assuming 2 EU, 1 TR, 1 CIS)

If you really want to talk specifically, I think if EG wanted to pursue competitive valorant instead of building their brand, they wouldn't have signed some of the players they have. However, I do still think that there are enough free agents on the market for a new team to step in and make a roster. We'll see though.

DHBK is obviously a PUG team in their mannerisms and the way they play, but what surprised me is how disciplined some of their players are and how well they worked together through the chaos. They got quite a few good set pieces off. That being said, I think they had quite an easy road to here. They were in an already weak side of the bracket, with Renegades, Built by Gamers, beastcoast, and Space Station Gaming. It was hard to predict who would come out on top for good reason. Their aim may be true, but will it stand the test of time against an organized, ready team? I'm guessing not. 2-0 Luminosity.

Incoming TSM choke...

But seriously, this is (in my opinion) one of the most even matches of the quarterfinals and should be streamed especially with the fanbases attached to both organizations.

TSM has moved in quite a different direction from when we last saw them play against GenG (rip double smokes). I think this makes the match more interesting. It seems their strategy as a whole is better, and with a couple key players in form I think they're quite a bit better since the previous bout. With that said, with all the streamed matches you'd have to think both teams are completely ready for this match. I think GenG take the first map on Icebox but then TSM take Ascent and Bind. 2-1 TSM

In general, I don't know why you would have an event with only 10 teams. 12 and 16 are both better numbers for a tournament, and it seems some regions are underrepresented. I was hoping this event would be a lot bigger in the first place, like doubling all these numbers. Maybe it had something to do with money or COVID.

I would actually say android is on par with Asuna, but even so 100T have tons more firepower so this dude is clueless.

Both fair points. Maybe things will change after this year for champions when (hopefully) teams will meet each other in the same location.

They also beat SSG and BBG, the #6 and #11 seeds (Beastcoast is #19)

I mean... how would you adapt picks? Like killjoy instead of cypher if you see an omen (obviously not a good example but you know what I'm trying to say). In what situation would you change the comp?

As much as I agree with you, I think both jetts are mechanically capable. It just looks like they're lost.

I feel bad for dicey and I hope he gets picked up by a really good team and has loads of success in the future :(

Yeah I mean you can't really fault the man, he's a big friend of skadoodle. He's also a player entitled to bias, not a caster without bias. So yeah if you're a big fan of c9 maybe don't watch.

I actually don't think it's a "we'll have you play, but just on split" thing. I think they just saw an opportunity for a learning experience, regardless of map, and wanted to give him a shot. I have no reason to believe poiz is just good on split.

I mean Roza ult is at least still a little funny... c'mon

All I know is that apparently her ult is bullet-proof and sound-proof

Both systems are gonna be flawed at least a little bit. It doesn't see which team is best at the moment like a power ranking does because the systems encourage amount of wins and don't take into account how good the teams actually are. For example, I don't think people will argue with the fact that G2 currently aren't the best team in Europe (or it's at least very close). However, since they won a lot before they weren't that good, the next best team has a lot of ground to make up for them to pass them on the rankings. So there's no best system for this, you just gotta look at the teams and decide for yourself who you think is better.

That's like saying an NFL team is bad in preseason... they're still new together and they're not playing 100%

beastcoast could be really underrated... they did better against Envy on Bind than Sentinels even.

I know poiz didn't do that great game 3 but I'm especially glad they're giving him game time even in an intense game 3. Especially putting him in over xeta.

Would definitely be one to tune in for... calling back to the days of first strike and before.

This was possibly the best offensive showing on split I've ever seen.

That's a lotta rounds

It's not my opinion, but I've heard from multiple people that they think EU is the best meta because of their sort of style of map control. NA players (might?) have the better aim, but their style is (in general) more puggy and chaotic, and thus more liable to thoughtless mistakes.

u never know with this community man no offense

Great comment, but I seriously cannot tell if you're sarcastic. Still getting an upfrag.

I actually agree, I think the team with the map deficit should get first ban and first map pick to make it just a little more fair, and I also think there should be bans in the first place

With the current vlr.gg ranking system the top 10 would be (obviously these are just comparing the teams regionally, I'm just making a list of their ratings per region and acting like it means something overall, and is also not my opinion just so that it's clear):

1. 1999 Vision Strikers (KR)
2. 1992 G2 Esports (EU)
3. 1933 Team Heretics (EU)
4. 1932 Sentinels (NA)
5. 1918 Gamelanders (BR)
6. 1898 FunPlus Phoenix (EU)
7. 1892 ex-EXO Clan (AU)
8. 1867 Envy (NA)
9. 1856 TSM (NA)
10. 1848 Absolute JUPITER (JP)

I'm sure we could have some fun with this thread for making power rankings and theorizing though!

Well the main problem would be ping. You can't have a North American team play a European team all online and have it be equal footing. I'm sure you could find some server where they would have even ping, but it would take a lot of work to figure out for each region for each match. So, the matches would have to be against each other in person, which is very hard to do with the current state of the world.

It's funny how some fans are saying "they're Sen's kryptonite" after saying "there's no chance they win, we won 7-0 of our matches so far".

I guess a possible alternative to the map advantage is Envy being able to choose all 5 map order.. but it wouldn't be as effective and maybe even ends up being more unfair.

Reminds you of someone else...

Greatest post ever

In addition, if there was no game disadvantage, do you think it would've been a closer match?

Ok well, my counter is that in a normal single elimination tournament without a loser's bracket they would've already won.

when was this?

Well I guess aproto plays raze on a couple of the maps, but he still counts as a support player in my eyes. However, I'd say Shot Up (plays breach occasionally) doesn't fit that bill.

Seeding could be the difference between winning and losing. Example, as Sentinels I'd much rather play NRG or GenG than 100T.

I think in terms of clutch factor Hiko and crashies should be considered as well

I'd like the first comment to talk about TSM, so that's what I'll do. I think that TSM is in need of a roster change, and as much as I value Subroza and Drone, and as much as they may synergize, someone needs to be replaced. I think between Subroza and Drone someone should be changed because of their conflicting personalities. I think both players do their best work on duelists, and this team doesn't have enough room for both of them. I think dropping one of them, maybe cutler too, and finding someone for those support roles would be a good move. Maybe letting go of hazed too as much as I don't like it. Good idea? Bad? Let me know.

It could be in terms of ability usage, or in terms of aim, but I'd be interesting to hear any thoughts! My instincts say that aproto, crashies, and nitr0 are definitely up there.

As much as I think DIG is underrated, I think Version 1 are the better team as of right now.

and Shawn from GenG

roca's good too

Not 100%, but I'm fairly certain both Wardell and Subroza are better aimers than Drone, he's just a god at phoenix

This statistical analysis is flawed by a little bit -- you have to look at the maps comparatively. I'd say there's about a 75-25 chance for SEN to win Haven and NV to win Bind. Icebox is like 60-40 for SEN and Ascent is like 60-40 for NV, but Split is around 50-50 for this matchup I'd say. Now this means because of the map disadvantage, Sentinels would have to win either Bind or Ascent, Split, Icebox, Haven. I'd say it'll be challenging for them to win, but they definitely stand a chance, especially on Ascent. We'll see though. Assuming SEN get first map pick, the maps should go: Icebox, Ascent, Split, Bind. So also assuming Bind is a no-go for Sentinels, they'd have to win Icebox, then Ascent, then Split back to back to back which is challenging for any team, especially against the best of the best.