XIPTO made lots of mistakes which can and have been punished by better teams (SR). You can see that in some of their contact plays and dives, they got punished by conir and romi.

The Pearl comp I don't think is sustainable against a top team especially if they have sentinel util you need to break. Abyss mainly looked good due to their post plant plays on attack, but it can still be punished by flanks which KRU did not use as much.

Another issue is XIPTO seem to have a weak map pool. Their main permaban is Ascent and they did not look good on Sunset or Haven. Split was also very close and Bind, we haven't seen as it is another of their main bans. Couple it with a now readable Pearl and Abyss, there could be big problems.

NA needs more investment in GC from orgs.

LMAO, GC NA is so poorly invested that this is a backwards step for Tier 2 players in every facet. You do realise only 3 legit orgs stand in GC NA at the moment. SR and FLYQUEST RED are pretty much wholly invested into GC and they're relatively bigger than YFP so YFP X probably doesn't have the best salaries and could eventually drop out like EG GC did.

TLDR:

• Sarah is good enough for Tier 2.
• SR can't qualify for Challengers and play to get into Tier 2.
• GC players get a salary and play in a tournament which will make them more memorable.
• EMEA GC > NA GC for no. of legit orgs
• Going into Tier 2 means taking a risk starting from the bottom.

I think it's definitely the way it's been since she joined V1/SR. Probably a PR move from the org, but it definitely exacerbates the issue since it becomes evident who they don't want to be seen despite flor's immense presence in GC. Admittedly flor is pretty socially awkward and young so maybe it could be a case of not enjoying the cameras and talking.

Flor has probably been told by SR to not look at social media during tournaments. A common piece of advice in Tier 1 for players who lose a match and are at the mercy of toxic commenters.

Agreed on Sarah. She definitely has well-proven skill that could put her in the options for a Tier 2 player. Not sure about Starbound given they had some good moments in GC, but not on the same level as Sarah. Another issue that relates to OP is that the deadline to lock in rosters for NA Challengers and the end of GC is the same date so there is no chance for SR to even get a chance at Challengers now let alone Tier 2. That being said, there was last year when SR bombed out in open qualifiers for Challengers to pick-up teams. There is definitely a path for GC teams to get into Tier 2, but it is very, very rough and in this year's situation, it is unfair due to timings. Top GC players can earn a decent salary in a top org - few of which actually exist in NA, but there are plenty in EMEA and even APAC - but it is more so winning trophies and being remembered which is what counts for a lot of these players who get to go to GCC. Going into Tier 2 means starting at the bottom again which is a huge risk that some of these players don't want to hazard, but it will be a long-term benefit if they eventually improve and fight to ascend.

Dunno who downvoted this comment, but this is true. Mel is a great IGL and the rest of the team helps facilitate flor's kills. Sarah's util is probably some of the best in GC and it kinda surprises me how sarah doesn't get as much discussion if she should play Tier 2 valorant given she has the aim and game sense to probably keep up there. She also has hit that 1000RR threshold like florescent so she can put in the grind and output something. Though it would be fine, it would not be the same level of dominance.

Seangares said he wanted to give trials to florescent, but he couldn't due to the closing date to lock in rosters coming right as GC finishes. So no GC team can play in Challengers to qualify for Tier 2 as the teams locked in for the groups are essentially confirmed via Twitter.

So GC's whole statement is that it is "a tournament for women and marginalised genders". You will get this response from any mod, but with how things have gone the last few streams, they probably just instaban anything that could be implied as transphobic. To answer your question, there is no limit on the mix - you can play 5 women, 5 trans/nonbinary people, it's all within the regulation for GC. There is no politics asides a lot of identity politics going back and forth so I would always say to not pay too much mind to what's going on. If you are enjoying the stream, just watch the game. If you don't like what you see, by all means feel free to click off because there are thousands of Valo streamers on Twitch.

dawg is either a 0.000001% filipino or he is stomping in the chunkiest FILAs for that 6-inch height boost

lmao, evv slipped in there as well

For one thing, it's a huge PR nightmare for any org since it's always gonna be a question of "Why?" Plenty of guys in high radiant you can pick up and you got a NB/Trans person. The majority of fans in Valorant are guys so it's easiest to relate to a guy. That's why some nonbinary/trans players play in GC. Who knows, maybe this thought could change but as of now, most players who can't make it into Tier 1/2 will opt for GC because of the salary

This hypothetical is extremely rare to begin with, but I doubt a FTM would be disallowed into GC because at the end of the day, they are a marginalised gender group which would fall in line with Riot's ethos on GC.

Some of these GC players are aimers as seen in the Spotlight Offseason Tournament and even in Day 1 of this event. But there is definitely advantages in the calling from Tier 1 to GC. Mimi even said that Valyn calls things faster in the G2 Chozen run video. There is probably some underlying factors like confidence and the fast micro calls which create a world of difference in a game like Valorant

Interesting and fun crossover! I feel like Gekko would be a lot higher due to him and Reyna having a very positive and seemingly close relationship story-wise. It would be like how Muzan and Kokushibo have a "business relationship" in Demon Slayer. I feel like Gekko would parallel interestingly with UM4 given that he has multiple buddies kind of like how UM4 has multiple personalities that fight. Iso definitely feels a lot like Akaza (UM3) given that Iso's ult is just a pure 1v1 fight. Fade reminds me of LM1 given that his abilities were based on dreams and Fade's abilities are nightmares. Harbor is similar to UM5 with his water abilities. Perhaps Yoru is UM2 given that he seems to have the most lines where he is beefing another character kind of like how UM2 isn't the most likeable by his peers. Neon is also similar to an upcoming character, but I won't spoil for those who haven't read the manga. Side note, I know Gekko isn't inherently a Radiant, but it's still interesting having him there in the context of this crossover. If anything, it probably adds more to the comparison to him and Kokushibo.

Coming off of a Grand Final in Champs in 2023, expectations for PRX were always gonna be high. This year was definitely a huge let down and I would personally not have them assertively in rank 1. But I don't feel like PRX is anything below 4th. They got to every international event and placed 2nd, 1st and 3rd across their region. Monyet is a seriously great, flexible player and I really wish he was kept for the 2023 season. His flexibility to play smokes opened up for potential to have better map pools. Admittedly, if I was to pick 1 player who I wanted to play Raze during that Raze-dominant map pool, I would pick Jinggg every time. The downside of Jinggg is he literally plays Raze, Sage and on the odd occasion, Clove. That agent pool sucks since Sage has so much use before teams can anti-strat that. And his Clove looked so lost. Overall, PRX are definitely a bit overrated at the moment, but I see other people acting like PRX is middle-of-the-pack. This tier list looks completely recency-biased and random. SPG are heavily overrated despite their amazing run - they might run into a Jinggg style issue with Dambi playing exclusively Neon. DRX and RRQ being so low is confusing given Kush looks like a solid player and DRX's new roster seems more refreshed. GE feels too high given we have nothing confirmed on their new players.

VCT season is definitely an issue in of itself. It would have been nice to have 10 games for Stage 1 and 2, but then it would draw questions of if it's too much on the players schedule-wise and how will they adjust to new patches being rolled in if they have games so close together. Unlike CS, Valorant has a lot more variables which can change the way teams play multiple maps as well as what maps to focus their effort on. Still, you have to understand that 3/12 games won is still pretty poor returns even in such a small sample of games. Watching M8s play, they threw a lot of maps and rounds quite easily. And now with a new VCT season, you have to try something new. This definitely goes against what is clearly working for the best orgs - i.e.: have the best of your core stick together and scout talent to upgrade on roles. If Natank and Kadavra stayed, it would be fine. RobbieBk, Minny and Click would be fine additions. RobbieBk is the strong Sova player that M8s were missing all season. Plus, he can IGL and frag so he will be a surefire upgrade over Beyaz. Logan and Wailers were both good on Sentinel at times and either could have been fine to stay. But Minny definitely looks hungry to win. Shame GoNext choked their ascension run hard.

Just think of it like football clubs who promote. You need to make some changes if you're at risk of relegation. When things don't go your way, you have to try something new. New coaches, new players, etc. There is no guarantee these changes will work, but if whatever wasn't working before remains, there is a greater chance you won't see the change in the outcome. Being totally honest about M8, TakaS was very flip-flop on his performances. He's a good duelist, but could be a lot more consistent. Beyaz was an okay IGL, but it felt like he had little impact in rounds. Wailers was looking similarly inconsistent, but he picked up his performance on the sentinel role. Logan and Natank were arguably the best players on the org and I feel bad for the former since he could be good on any other team. Natank is most likely going to NAVI or another org - he is the most flexible player for that org's crazy comps. However, M8's rumoured pick-ups are looking very promising. Click as a strong duelist, RobbieBk is the necessary Sova player and IGL to lead the team, Minny is a nice sentinel player and Zyppan has got quality to still give despite his poor previous season. The coaching staff is the big question since Ex6TenZ was dropped due to some issues around toxic attitude.

Yeah, I think next year BBL will be in their TH phase since they got BBL PCFIC as their Tier 2/Academy roster. Lar0k, Comeback and Loita turn 18, they go to BBL main roster with Rose probably.

He literally did though. Not the best chance, but 5 games and he was clearly not bringing much in terms of stats. He's definitely more suited to duelist so this current role he played definitely didn't help. But at this point, Tier 1 and 2 are filled with young talent who have a higher mechanical ceiling than the older generation of players. If the rumours are true that Heat is coming in, then that is a promising upgrade given the quality he has put out to help get KRU to Champs. Maybe xand will try out tier 2, but it unfortunately looks like every option has a better alternative available.

I can see a few valid arguments for the hate/criticism on something. He tends to overpeek, not clear angles and it did result in a huge disappointment at Shanghai and Seoul. He's still a great duelist and I think now that he has upped his sens, he might be more confident. MiniBoo was having a seriously tough time during EMEA Stage 2 playoffs. People definitely doubted him, but he turned up when his team needed him at Champs. Got to a Grand Finals and he looked incredible. He's still young and got an impressive future ahead with this rookie year. TenZ hate is inevitable due to part jealousy and part of his fanbase being insufferable. He proved he has still got it and ended the career on a high note. He is a 2-time Masters winner. Sure, he has no Champs, but how many pros can say they got trophies?

Now on the icy hate, I have to admit that I was riding on this bandwagon because I just didn't rate him as a duelist. Don't get it twisted though. I can see him being an incredible sentinel-role player. But he did not seem like a player fit for the duelist when the current best of the best are able to take over rounds. I get that a lot of people say he does well to open space, play for the team. But so does every other duelist at this point. Icy has some good rounds and games, but he is not consistently dominating. I would argue valyn and JonahP this year had more dominant performances on support roles. Watching icy play was kind of frustrating because he would play to stall opponents and it works. It felt like how a sentinel should be played. Icy is still a good guy and I think the hate will subside for him especially if he gets more free reign on the next team he plays for.

True it was a G2 win in that match, but it can be argued EDG got better as Champs progressed. Couple this with their strong map pool and G2 tend to struggle on Bo5, then this match is nothing meaningful. If anything, by the kill differential metrics and first kills to first deaths, EDG should have won that game. They definitely squandered their lead in numbers during rounds, but it was a close series nonetheless and one that tested EDG's ability to adapt to really slow methodical Valorant. Unfortunately G2 couldn't get past LEV and FNC with icy being the bottom frag in both series with triple negative numbers:
https://www.vlr.gg/378832/g2-esports-vs-fnatic-valorant-champions-2024-lr1
https://www.vlr.gg/378824/g2-esports-vs-leviat-n-valorant-champions-2024-ubqf

His numbers were a bit underwhelming considering Leaf was the previous duelist and did arguably a much better job putting up numbers. Icy had few games where he was far away the top fragger on his team and in fact had more games going negative on K/D and in the lower end of frags. With a name like icy and how he was #1 radiant on a few occasions, you would expect he has crispy cold aim, but he was lukewarm on impressions. G2 definitely use the duelist more as a distraction to get kills for the other teammates rather than telling the duelist to "go kill". It's worked out to a great extent undeniably, but this line of thinking will only put a ceiling on G2's potential. The teams who have won trophies have shown that they have teams with great tactical depth like G2, but paired with a duelist who can hold their own and rally the team with their fragging capability.

I see this line of reasoning all the time - "he opens space", "he plays for the team". If that's the case, then play a different role. The duelist is meant to get kills off their util. The duelist is meant to get the majority of opening frags. And I think this is something key, but the duelist is meant to be the last resort when strats aren't working exactly as intended - a top duelist will be able to take over and adapt to the situaiton because of their raw mechanical skill in movement and aim. Icy unfortunately is not as mechanical as other duelists. He's a good team player, but you need someone who can pop-off and ride momentum. Valyn does well regardless since he is a top tier IGL. His calling at the best is pinpoint surgery and his aim can win out rounds. JonahP and Leaf are consistently amazing due to their dialled in mechanical aim. Trent is a very solid initiator especially on Sova.

I agree with the sentiment that icy is probably below the quality G2 need if they wanna win a Masters or regional trophy, but JonahP catching strays is crazy when he has been arguably their most consistently great player. The man clutched a 1v4 to ace and knock out Heretics. But icy definitely holds the current G2 back from potentially getting trophies given other duelists have such a dominant presence that locks icy out of a map. He even said it himself after the loss to FNATIC. It's either drop icy for a new duelist or swap his role with leaf's. I like leaf on Sentinel, but he was frying on duelist for C9. He seems a lot more confident in his aim and aggressive with the util compared to icy.

Hiroronn showed his true potential on sentinel. Yuran, I'm still yet to see why he got picked for Tier 1 whilst boasting a bit of confidence (this stems from the VCT Pacific "Know Your Enemy" Ep1). Perhaps Yuran might prefer duelist like iZu, but played the initiator/viper flex to accommodate for Dep. The only highlight moments for Yuran were 3-0 wins against GE. Other than that, most of his games are lacklustre and don't back up his confidence.

You can make a shortlist of some pretty bad players. Technically, PA1NT and Shahzam are two of the worst - and I know that's based on one performance, but it's a technicality they are franchised players. But if it's players still currently signed to an org, yuran from ZETA Division has to be among the biggest flops. I remember seeing the video with him and other Pacific rookies thinking he might improve a lot and live up to his confident claims. But no, he has been severely underwhelming and possibly the worst player in all of VCT Pacific. Some people might say yay's season was very bad and that's true statistically, but there are a myriad of reasons as to why he's still not a bad player, but just on the wrong roles. The game has changed since yay was the Chamber GOAT.

In Americas, it looked like havoc was possibly one of the worst players. Consistent weak performances, but he bucked up in the end. MIBR had some stinkers too with frz and jzz, but I would have to say one of the worst players in this franchise league is G2 icy. Yes, he went to two LANs, got 3rd place at Shanghai and 2nd place regionally in Americas. However, I would say that success is more attributable to valyn's impressive calling, JonahP and Leaf dominating maps and Trent being clutch in the most unlikely of moments. Icy has been probably one of the most jarring duelists to watch since he doesn't have the same cracked out aim or raw mechanics. He depends more so on stall play, chip damage and playing with the team. To me, this is more of a sentinel's playstyle. Icy has had, at best, good performances and, at worst, been the losing condition. When his util doesn't do any of the work, you see the real icy. He's still a far cry from one of the best rookies. And this claim might be tough to accept for a lot of fans.

EMEA, it's difficult to call. A lot of teams were close to playoffs and got wins off each other. Despite long claims that EMEA is a one-team region, I think this season has shown the fire of the teams playing. But if I had to say who has been the most frustrating players to watch: Mistic, TakaS and possibly Ange1. I'll start off with Ange1 and say that his IGLing this year has been so confusing. Constantly switching roles, going for unnecessarily crazy plays and overcooking when things matter the most. NAVI could have had their revival with their FPX roster reunion, but they squandered so many matches in Stage 2. This might look like unfair blame on Ange1, but he has stayed and the issues of NAVI persisted after a coach change. Mistic has had so many lacklustre performances. He may still have some good maps, but I just constantly saw that he rarely did much of value for TL. And sadly it was Jamppii getting the lion's share of blame despite having to flex roles. Mistic just felt so unstable. Enz0 also for the longest time was terrible. But I think he is simply not suited to the IGL role. TakaS - this one might be a more personal gripe since I wanted M8s to have at least one shot in playoffs. But this guy just stank it up as duelist when the games mattered the most. Constantly dying first and not getting his picks, you would have thought that he was match-fixing with how many back to back rounds he died first.

Apologies for the long response, this was a good question and I just wanted to get all my thoughts out on this topic. If you read all of this, thank you for taking the time and I hope you share some explanations behind your picks for some of the worst franchised players.

Jinggg is barely a flex given the only sentinel he will play is Sage and he has on the odd occasion picked Clove. His duelist pool is full of niche picks like Phoenix, Neon, Reyna asides his main pick of Raze. I don't think the flexing is bad. The issue is the constant changing of agents for maps especially with f0rsaken and d4v41. Plenty of teams have shown you can have players flex between two primary roles. Trace Esports have FengF and Kai flex duelist/sentinel depending on if it's a Raze or Jett map. EG did the same thing but duelist/smokes between Jawgemo and Demon1. In my opinion, and I have been spouting his idea a lot, but I think Jinggg needs to flex like FengF and play Killjoy if he cannot play Raze. The narrow map pool has made maps like Icebox, Sunset and Lotus which PRX were formerly dominant on look like closer affairs and potential losses. I get that the Battle Sage is a crazy idea that works in Paper Rex's favour. However, it's not viable and it leaves so much to be desired from Paper Rex's comp and also capability to play other maps. Haven and Ascent are almost always permabans since Paper Rex cannot go for a meta comp whilst their crazy comps are not stable.

P.S.: I don't agree with a lot of people just slandering Jinggg saying he's a bot or worse, a nepo-baby. I saw the latter comment on a Youtube video and I just facepalmed because he is genuinely a top tier player and there is no proof he is in PRX due to connections with the org hierarchy. He just needs to broaden his horizons like Meteor did for GenG. Making willing sacrifices for the betterment of the team and the org.

F0rsaken as an IGL would be interesting and it could be like how Kingg operates as an IGL for Leviatan. F0rsaken has the aim and fragging power to be a solid caller whilst not falling off in kills. It's just a matter of if he has the capacity to call strats well and fine tune the details in the executes. An alternative issue is if the calling will take a toll on his ability to take fights and get kills.

I still believe the hivemind PRX can work. They all have good ideas to call plays. However, they need to go back to square one. Revise fundamentals until there is no issue. Create agent comps which are known to work consistently and effectively. Not overpeek like they did on Sunset (seriously, two 5v2 scenarios whittle down because PRX can't stop egopeeking). There are so many aspects that can be elevated in this PRX team. That Lotus switch-up was the worst thing. Skye and Raze are not the agents that they once were. The information gathered by PRX was often very weak and resulted in getting picked first. I question why they didn't stick with their old comp if their loss to G2 was down to "not sticking to the game plan" - THEN LET'S SEE WHAT THE COMP CAN DO WHEN THEY STICK TO IT. Now there is plenty of wasted potential on an exciting team.

I know Jinggg is currently getting a lot of criticism. His raze ults were so pathetic and did nothing on Sunset. Roza'd 3 times. However, he needs to be reviewed to play a role like sentinel-flex. Not being able to play Haven and Ascent because you don't have someone who can play KJ or Cypher means that their best maps will get read more quickly. Sure, d4v41 can play sentinel, but that would mean Jinggg plays something like Kayo or Breach which he is historically not too comfortable playing. I love Jinggg as much as the next guy, but he needs to seriously make some compromises for the better health of his team. Having barely a 3-map pool that you can win on is naive. And on those 3-maps, they can lose - sometimes very badly.

No more "nice try" or "ggwp". If you are serious about getting a trophy as a non-traditional eSports country, start reflecting better than riding the temporary highs. One day you're happy about smoking a team with clipworthy plays, the next team will be exploiting the flaws you didn't see or think about because you thought it was good enough.

Real af. PRX are very unserious and Alecks saying that the team didn't follow the plan shows that there needs to be a lot more stringency and discipline on how PRX approach maps they're not dominant on. They depend so much on hero plays and pop-off rounds that it's not sustainable or consistent across games. I understand W-gaming is their identity, but it's not gonna work if they just overpeek or peek one-by-one. The rounds they win often feel too close for comfort and the rounds they lose feel painful to watch as they get outclassed. Alecks definitely needs to be more strict on the guys since saving their feelings isn't working.

I agree especially on the flashes part. Icy clearing angles with flashes truly made it unplayable for PRX to play their surprise angle peeks. They could play the sova and the kayo, or even gekko and kayo, but it would require a huge shift in how Jinggg plays the map. The macro was another big issue for PRX since they just kept trying to deathball into site and forgot about the flank which often had 3 people crunching in and taking out the turret.

Jinggg's clove was not even that good. I'm gonna make a fairly hot take and say that Jinggg needs to learn to play agents like Killjoy alongside maybe Gekko and Neon. The sage plays on icebox seem to be getting less and less effective. And honestly, it's either sacrifice flashes on KAYO for recon/ult on Sova or vice versa. PRX's icebox comp has quickly expendable util and depends on contact play which G2 was punishing. If Jinggg could play more flexibly, d4v41 and f0rsaken could play some more comfort picks. Having said that, PRX as a whole need to work on how the play the sova. The ult usage was terrible in particular.

You can use a football comparison like playing for Birmingham City who are mid-table in the 2nd tier of English football and then playing for Borussia Dortmund who pursue trophies and international competitions.