noot noot down (karie and brick got exposed by a 3rd party for being a toxic instigator and a gold digger respectively)

This isn't some smalltime he-said, she-said break-up Valorant drama. This is an extensive investigation on matchfixing and collusion. Of course he won't drop accusations right now or anytime soon because he is an actual adult with a brain who understands that there is no benefit and only drawbacks if you blurt out some nonsense without the proper backing. He even hated it when someone tried to drop hints on what he is looking at because that is going to backfire his whole investigation - people will act differently, hide or destroy some of the evidence he needs to verify the claims. Don't focus on it now and let Sean Gares gather everything. There's plenty else in Valorant and the wider world to occupy your time.

I'll be honest. With how FNATIC are constantly improving, we will see his Optic peak. He already dominates on maps like Fracture. He might go ham at Masters.

His aim improvement is notable and it really is making a world of difference when he has to close out a round.

The glow up on his performances is huge. His impact and overall joy reminds me of his Optic days.

Nats' speeches pre-game and in between maps, you can hear how much he cares for each individual player. He can carry a game, call it and still keep team morale in balance. You got to give him his props for taking on a lot of management of the emotions when some players feel like they're having a bad map - I think it was right after Map 1, you can see him talking quite a bit to Keiko who might have felt like a burden to the team. Keeping Keiko away from spiralling out probably helped keep their chances of a series win.

Fair enough if the victim forgave him, I appreciate if the issue was defused between them, but regardless of age, you cannot show explicit pictures of minors on the internet. Edit: And I agree that the allegations against flor are much more severe. Definitely got to see whether it will go the full distance for repercussions and investigation.

Oh yeah, that was 2023 - keenc was removed for "inappopriate and misogynistic behaviour" according to EG GC right before the championship.

There have been a few incidents in the past - the only one I recall is from the Cloud9 White days where new signing Keiti got exposed for blackmailing

I was just about to ask what Florescent did and saw the thread about the allegations. It's pretty appalling if it's true, but we have to see how this incident pans out. In the past when it comes to these allegations, the person alleging the claims usually stops at screenshot messages and such.

Okeanos though, that guy as good as he may seem now literally admitted to a mazzaleen - a full on crime and he still played on in Tier 2 and is now in Tier 1. I got nothing personally against the guy, but I have to question how Riot did not intervene at any point after his admission.

LOUD couldn't get VISAs for their new players in time.

Thinking back when I watched Sym, he would hit some crazy shots but then bot out and do dumb shit the following rounds. He could be just an inconsistent player. Let's just wait for the allegations to be investigated.

Nope, FNC have been running the Sage for their Icebox. It's a good pick. The utility pairs well with Tejo on Icebox.

Most people pick Clove because they didn't get their instalock and they just wanna play aggro. Ranked =/= Professional, I think that's quite obvious. Comps do not matter as much especially since the majority of the player base is not playing with the strategic efficiency of a radiant or pro player. It's also easier to have one pocket pick smokes and Clove seems easy enough for people to use since it's just tap and place 2 smokes.

This isn't to say other smokes agents are harder by a large margin, but you would have to know how to play more agents if you picked the optimal agent for each map (i.e.: Viper for Icebox/Breeze, Omen for Ascent/Lotus, Astra for Pearl). Clove definitely has huge drawbacks as solo smokes since the duration is quite a bit shorter than other options meaning your team has to play fast and aggressive especially on defence. Also, whilst the smokes after death is seemingly a positive, most players either do not use this or smoke randomly without communication. Furthermore, a lot of these Clove instalocks tend to not care about smoke placements so you end up with some sloppy smokes that benefit the enemies retaking.

Honestly, it's better to have a Clove smokes player than no smokes even in the least optimal maps. Just remember to focus on your game since you most often cannot change what your teammates do when their mindset is most likely run it down.

THIS IS ROCKET LEAGUE

At the start of Valorant, there were a lot of orgs who had GC teams along side their main roster. Over the years, the bigger name orgs have dropped out like Faze, EG, C9 White. Orgs are gonna pull out if they see there is no money to be made and Riot should be incentivising these orgs to stay and sign the GC players. NA GC last year and this year has had max 3 big name orgs in the league and the remainder are smaller orgs or pick-up teams. On that front, Riot should be trying to get more orgs to help platform these GC players.

On top of that issue, what I was originally discussing was Riot having stricter vetting process on players because a lot of the GC pick-up teams drop out after 2 stages so they're not staying for a full season. I agree, that the players are an issue for not being serious or upholding professional integrity. However, Riot should still be working to enforce those professional standards including better identification/verification of players to avoid another noot noot incident.

Deryeon and Udotan could both play a better duelist than PatrickWho

Crashies is going to a Masters and potentially Champs if FNATIC keep form. He isn't going to have a little reunion in Tier 2. Yay is also doing well on EG and there is a possibility they could sneak into the 4th slot for Champs.

Particularly the NA GC scene is cooked. EMEA, APAC and basically all of South and Central America take the scene decently serious and have dedicated orgs. Sure, the investment might be low in some of these regions or the quality of play might not be as high, but I have more respect for the integrity of these regions which have official orgs containing rosters that will play every game they are appointed. NA feels like an anomaly since there have been 3 big orgs investing in the scene at a time with the rest being either smaller orgs such as Hakikimori or just pick-up teams with a silly little name. I just wish Riot would take the scene a bit more serious in NA and put some vetting rules on players to enable that orgs pick up reliable individuals and give the fans more players to truly root for.

Statistically, PRX should have won the series. PRX clobber teams at their best, but they still have small flaws like clearing smokes and corners or anti-eco strategies which disable them from closing out maps. I hope Mini gets to talk some more with Alecks since PRX need to have some strategy against ecos and stinger-buys going against the international opponents.

Then how did they beat T1 and DRX - the two teams who went to Bangkok? They have fairly good callers on their team. Stax is definitely a better caller than crazyguy.

Watching the whole series, it's not down to the IGL calling here. RRQ played very well - Jemkin and Kushy were going nuclear on the overtime maps (Split and Pearl) whilst Monyet, xffero and crazyguy were playing great support. PRX played well also, but they made some key mistakes against ecos such as not using prowler on smokes or clearing certain corners.

PRX definitely need to figure out anti-eco strats for every map as well as anti-stinger strats since the American teams will be ensuring that any big lead or pistol round won is nullified.

Honestly, Jemkin and Kushy just shot really well which made Map 2 and 3 winnable for them. Kushy looked like prime Meteor on Pearl with his lurks and multikills. I will say that when Patmen is on it, he is so difficult to beat. His impact is so impressive and if he continues to polish his plays by using his prowlers and util more diligently, PRX can go another step up. I did not fancy PRX on Split to be fair since they played the 2023 comp. Yoru's presence and Fade's util with Raze is undeniably great.

Honestly, a really good head-to-head. Both are recommendations by DubsteP and both are proving their quality as flex players.

They do have a tournament where they can play normal. It's called the regular GC season. Obviously, more LAN tournaments for GC would be great, but the instalock tournament is more of a fun concept. There's also the Spotlight tournament which is mixed between main rosters and GC rosters which I think is definitely a lot better for bringing traction to GC and promoting their skills as being able to hang with some of the top players.

Instalock is basically a tournament which is a bit more about having fun whilst using the common "duelist instalock" that a lot of people experience in Valorant comp. 3 duelist is considered abnormal for professional Valorant since you limit the amount of reusable util in favour of aggro util that refreshes if you get 2 kills. It's an unsustainable composition basically so it's used here as more of a "for fun" event.

RobbieBk, Pancada, Juicy, Francis if I had to nominate 1 player from each league. You still have players like purp0 who is jacked, natank who has god-tier beard, Kushy, Nats and quite a few more.

TE definitely doesn't now, but last year they were making their name in Champs. They took down Leviatan with Aspas. Current pro meta is definitely moving back to dedicated simple roles. I feel like Demon1 should be more of a secondary duelist and then tex plays duelist. Demon1 on Iso would also be great to see, but unfortunately it's probably never going to happen.

Honestly, it's crazy to think in less than a year, LEV have benched 3 players. Demon1, natank and Rossy. It feels so bad given the talent potential these guys have.

Demon1 should and probably has tried to learn to play as a dedicated duelist, hard-entrying for the team, but it is probably his personal playstyle to be calm rather than super aggro. If you recall his EG days, he wasn't extremely dynamic. In fact, he said at the time that he enjoyed playing agents like Astra.

Also, to say that other teams' duelists aren't flexing like Demon1 is just not true. Kai and FengF were flexing duelists and sentinel roles depending on maps during the times that they attends internationals. The issue right now is Demon1's agent pool isn't favoured especially with teams trying to lean into the Yoru meta. Jett is still favourable on maps like Ascent and Icebox, but it's becoming evident that Yoru-Breach-Tejo-Omen-Viper is the meta comp with variations swapping out Breach and Viper depending on the map.

Joliinaa

They should have honestly shown us the pick-rate numbers for Tejo in ranked as well as his win-rate. For pro-scene, it's definitely more transparent, but if Tejo is still not getting a lot of picks in ranked, I don't see why they have to go overkill. It gives more reason for people to instalock duelist, Sage, Clove or even Chamber to have a lot more engagements in the game. I hope that they review this nerf and give him the cooldown buff in a future patch since he was a great way to shake up the meta where Sova + Kayo/Breach dominated on the majority of maps.

You do realise that part of the game is retaking. Like it or not, you will have to retake. Better to retake as a team than to die solo because you thought you were playing old Chamber where you can just hold a site by yourself with an operator.

The suppress is pretty useful and it is literally intended to open space and punish people who might hold a tight angle or off angle.

As for your complaint that "Iso's util does not have an easy counter" - his shield is literally breakable with 1HP of damage. You can blind shot a molly or shock dart or anything else which damages and it breaks his shield nullifying it's utility until he gets a kill - which by the way is a lot harder without his shield tanking a hit.

You complain that Iso counters how Chamber plays and you're mostly right. However, you can still take that early aggression with a teammate. You have to make more conscious decisions throughout the match rather than depend on your agent alone to hold a site. Remember, Valorant is a team game. You have to pick and pull apart your opponents to get the best results.

You complain that your pocket pick has a counter - why not try different agents at the same time. You are not meant to have one instalock and expect to win every game. And even if you still think you can play one instalock, you should embrace the challenge of playing against a hard counter like Iso.

Honestly, I liked Tejo and would still use him, but the removal of cooldown timer is literally what killed Skye. Yes, Skye was practically being picked every map and had an information flash which is so strong, but the fact that you have less utility and that you may have to depend on jiggle peeks which is very risky hurts the confidence in the agent. A long cooldown like 40-45s would be fair. Drone increased in cost is fair since Sova drone is 400 creds. The rebound reduced cost is whatever since few people use the ability or at least to a high quality degree with the bounce. Ult going to 9 is fine since it is a very strong ability in the grand scheme.

Honestly, they should consider the timer for his Salvos since he is not a pure info initiator, but a mid-range like KAY/O and Breach.

Yeah, I know. Joined madv and Mary, both of whom I really enjoy seeing play well. Madv has got some nice aim when she is playing well. Shirazi is on Nova GC as well with Clem

Xipto/SMG since they were basically the female PRX. Still think about that Lotus win vs. EG GC using 4 duelists and their main duelist player was on Cypher.

It takes 1hp of damage to break the Iso shield. Literally could have a teammate with a rifle just prefire, throw damaging abilities or even just wait out the shield. It's an awp counter, but it really isn't that strong. Neon's constant movement is more of a difficult problem since it regens quite fast throughout the round.

Stun is a small change. I will say that it probably should have been kept at 4s since you have to place the star, wait until it is set and then use it rather than just aim your stun like Neon or Breach. Stuns overall are kinda ass since you still get a lot of that "cosmetic stun" and enemies hit you just fine.

On top of all of that, they play fairly aggressive and impressive Valorant. There is still some tactician work from Frod and artzin, but some of these plays just make your jaw drop. You can tell everyone in the org right now is feeling good about where they are - Aspas is taking more of a leadership role, Verno has more expression with his playstyle, Cortezia and Xenom being so hype after every round win and Artzin looking like a beast despite being the main caller.

Wanna be my Guatemama?

Credit where credit is due: GENG's coaches cooked on some of the strategies and tore through BOOM. PRX definitely need someone to support on a tactical front to point out errors and fine tune the plays. I feel like Mindfreak is kind of doing that as the 6th man - he is giving his player perspective to help with Alecks' strategy book.

Even then, the individuals on each of these lower bracket teams can flip a round. HYUNMIN from DRX, Primmie and Killua from Talon, Dambi from NS, Meteor and iZu from T1, as well as dos9 and famouz for BOOM. When any of these players are feeling it in a round or a series, it feels so much more difficult to run through them. Sure PRX have Jinggg, F0rsaken and Something, but these guys will take turns in having a crap series (obviously not intentionally) and because they want to fight to recover their mental instead of play to support more, they lose out even harder. It will take a lot of hard work to ensure performances can be upheld all the way through for PRX if they want to go to Masters.

Honestly, GENG turned up with a much more refined gameplan. I know it can be frustrating when you've seen GENG go on an inconsistent patch of form, but they seemed to figure out how they wanted to play their maps and they ensured to do it well. My personal take is that the whole team looked a little lost and off form compared to GENG who were hungry for another Masters appearance. There's something about Karon when it's time to get a trophy or punch a ticket to an event, he goes crazy.

I would loved to see 2 Indonesian teams go to Toronto, but I have my doubts for BOOM to survive the lower bracket since even if they beat either NS or Talon, they need to beat DRX who are able to claw their way out with amazing plays from HYUNMIN and Mako.

Teenage prodigy for ENVY. Puts up high kill numbers in pretty much every pro match he has been in. Lately his girlfriend broke up with him and the tweets are basically exposing his behaviour he conducts in private.

Head to head match score, then head-to-head map differential, then head-to-head round differential, then overall map differential, overall round differential and lastly Strength of Victory which I am unsure how that is calculated.

Watch this video essay from Commend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMMh22ikCI8

Commend interviews Mini about Leo and it puts into perspective how good Leo is because I feel a lot of people look for extremely flashy plays when Leo was consistently making intelligent decisions. A lot of the stuff behind some of his last matches makes you realise how crazy he was. The 26/9 masterclass in EMEA Stage 1 Grand Finals Map 5 is crazier when you realise how ill he was and that he could barely comm. Truly absurd how he played through his illness in some of these games.

Lewn has a crazy overheat problem. If he can dial it in, then he would be an insane problem for most teams. Xeus is definitely a beast though - could have been FNATIC's pick. Kaajak is still worthy if FNATIC can drop him an op and play more of his style of Valorant.

Very rare case in a 3-way tie between DFM, GE and PRX. I can't recall in recent times there ever being a tiebreaker Bo1. Maybe pre-franchising, but it is very unlikely. It will probably be more likely for a 2-way tie in which, yes, it would go to head-to-head.

Oh yeah, head-to-head match scores would count in that case. I always find this a bit weird, but it makes sense in the rulings. So in that case, PRX need to beat GE and DFM. If it's a 3-way tie where GE, DFM and PRX are on 1-4 records, then it would proceed to the steps of my original comment. So map differentials, round differentials. This would only come about if PRX beat GE but lose to DFM (DFM lost to GE in Week 1). This is the messiest outcome.

Yes. If PRX beat GE and DFM, they finish 2-3. They would need GE to lose to GENG to comfortably land 4th to go through to playoffs. DFM's last game won't matter if they lose to PRX. If GE somehow beat GENG, it will come down to map differential, round differential and in the rare chance those are even, it goes to a Bo1 tiebreaker.

I just remembered another one from VCT 2023 - Alfajer "the Wonderkid" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m76ia6L_Eg 1:27

Nah, it has to be Rb (Raid Boss).