i would've liked to see a b05 lowers at least, but i don't necessarily mind a bo3 here since both teams are going to ascension (though 10k on the line is still big, but less important than ascension)

weird that the playoff game wouldn't count. honestly the masters 1 win would be enough to make sense as to why they would get the nod over 100T.

also valo format is even worse this year than last. how is champs in only 12 days?? how is Leo Faria (and his team) still employed

true, 100T have had a very bad stage 2. honestly i don't think us or kru would (or will) look good at champs, at least compared to G2/Lev. but also with the points system, since both teams have 12, is sen through based on masters 1 trophy?

i mean, this conversation would be reversed if Ethan were in Asuna's place right now. NRG are not good this year. and not to discredit Asuna's kayo, he's insane too, been watching him since his early days on 100T

i think Ethan might have a better kayo overall, very clean

this feels rushed considering their season just ended and they have nothing coming up. chet i'm not surprised by, especially with the CS return rumors. but idk why they'd remove a key player right away.

is FNS the Hooxi of valorant?

how is this team sick at almost every event

Mary been looking very strong this lower bracket run, but G2 still better team. 3-0

yeah?

an upper bracket map advantage on such a small tournament with already weird/dumb agent rules is wild

seems like a lateral move rather than an improvement, but we'll see

GenG 3-1 either team

It is completely about map pool. I don't really care about either of these teams. If Ethan played slightly better on map 1, then it would've been NRG 2-0. And I'm glad Sentinels were able to close map 1 and get us to map 3. Both teams will improve from this and I'm excited to see what Sen can do at Madrid.

NRG doesn't have a map pool deep enough to handle better teams. Their first ban is always Bind. They banned Lotus, which we haven't seen them play this tourney. Sen played it once, 13-5 100T. And clearly they aren't great on Split either.

how does this team never fail to lose against eco/half buys

it says bo1 on the stream graphics too though. so i feel like it is intentional, but i don't see any reason for it.

haven't paid too much attention to the stream, why is this a bo1?
edit: especially weird given that literally every other match is a bo3, why the upper final specifically?

-misu o7

this only beats EG's run if they win out and perform very well at Champions. otherwise it will still be very impressive, but not up to the same level

the first change i'd make is getting rid of mikeshd. or at least putting him back to assistant coach and finding a new head coach. obviously seangares was amazing for 100T, but i doubt he'd ever come back to competitive esports as a whole. unsure who else they would grab, i don't pay much attention to coaches and have no idea who would be available (besides M80's coach)
speaking of M80, they are the perfect team to start drawing from assuming 100T does kick players (very likely). first to go probably derrek. i don't really know how to judge stellar given that he's an IGL and he's shown flashes of brilliance but he probably would go too. bang and asuna i'm not too sure. both of them are extremely capable, i think they just need better coaching and igl to reign them in and work around them. cryo obviously stays.
EDIT: i've seen the trend of -derrek +eeiu for a bit now and i think that would be a good experiment. eeiu has been very good in ascension, and even was solid back in T1 on NRG.

real

he's a good igl. has to be. yeah his teammates are some of the best mechanically at what they do, but pure mechanics don't win tournaments.

WHO IS THIS MAN

honestly if they fix some of the smaller issues in their gameplay they could be an even better team and possibly even put more rounds up against Loud (or won). it's just weird that there's these rounds where at least one of their players is doing something stupid like running through mid somewhere without clearing, or needlessly overswinging something. if potter can help the boys secure the fundamentals then they'll be a seriously dangerous team at Tokyo

HOLY CRYOCELLS

truly anything is better than what they currently are doing

revisiting this. 100T has been on a decline ever since sgares left, so it has to be a coaching thing. sykko obviously had a bad tenure with sentinels, but he has experience at the top and was cryo's coach when he was at his best (so far).

doesn't help that smokes aren't actually smokes. just opaque bubbles

Riot needs to do something about this current meta of spraying through smokes. valorant esports has been so annoying to watch with just how many kills come from spraying through smokes and walls now. genuinely would be interested in seeing just how many kills came through smokes/walls this season alone

sdy (somedieyoung)
not valorant, but i've always liked his name

as funny and fucked as it is with what happened to sentinels' roles, i think 100T's roles are perfectly fine how they are (and no one in their right mind would change them).
100T have seemingly lost track of the basics and their strats have been deteriorating in quality and success ever since seangares' departure.

could be an interesting experiment. Sykko reunites with Cryo and could hopefully free him up and bring back his confidence as a star rifler/duelist. also mikes could go back to his role as assistant coach where he seemed to do well in while seangares was head coach.

realistically i think keep derrek. and replace asuna and cryo.

OR completely rework coaching staff because results have been steadily going downhill since seangares left. RBHG was a great showing, lock-in was a pretty decent performance overall, but they haven't shown any signs of hope this season

never said tex was/is better than ardiis. in terms of what we've already seen ardiis clears. but as of late ardiis has been underperforming on his new team while tex has been looking very solid.

statistically speaking, this is true. but what comes into question is how they all play as a team and if there's better chemistry with ardiis vs tex.
impossible to know or tell. but tex has been playing insane lately with the guard while ardiis isn't performing at his expected level.

JoshRTz - Guard coach

to an extent what she's saying makes sense, but at the end of the day the GC event is an open qualifier. someone can put together a team just for shits and giggle and play if they want to. while dsg does have a pro gc player, it's clearly meant as an experiment and more so as a test and to have fun for the streamers/content creators.

bro what are these teams. frttt absolutely wins

i don't think it's likely but it would be interesting. have yay go back to the same core he was with and c9 can see how they mesh with ardiis instead

he's insane

exactly. he's been on flex ever since Will was first added, and especially so with Cryo now.

if he continues to underperform in this tournament then i agree. but it's still just one match so far.

i'm sure it's been discussed before but why don't we have a bomb timer for streams/observers? seems like such a basic/simple thing to have to make watching the esports stream more enjoyable and accessible.

there's many things wrong (imo) with the current HUD and what is made visible to observers (and also the overlay that valorant esports uses) but i feel like this is the most basic and one of the easiest things to add to the streams.

i don't have their placements right. technically those teams range from 5th-12th but you get what i mean

just my opinion on the format but i'm not a fan of having another big 5-6 day ro256 tournament to determine who makes it into challengers (especially since it's only to determine 2 more teams and as a last chance qualifier)

instead i think a quarterfinals system would've been better and just allow the teams that placed (tied for) 3rd-5th from the open qualifiers to play:
3rd: The Nation / The Silk Road
4th: OREsports / Rat Attack
5th: Happy2bHere / The Ganaccis / Nearest Airport / NSIC

these teams were the next closest to qualifying and are the most deserving of being part of a "last chance qualifier"

glorious model o pro

well damn

highly unlikely imo. in competitive play cryo > tenz. 100T knows that someone who is more of a flex player is who they need as a 6th man. 100T tenz simply isn't happening unless he's retiring from pro play.