He should be playing for a real contender.

Narratives create views and the developing story between two Americas' top in-game leaders: 100 Thieves' Boostio and G2's Valyn, has become must see TV.

While watching Tarik's watch party of G2 vs Leviatan yesterday, I couldn't help but notice the high level of trash talk, slander and shade Boostio was throwing towards both teams, specifically G2. Whether it is overconfidence or arrogance, the 2023 VCT Champion has every right to have such a critical opinion of G2, having bested only two days ago (2 maps to 1) and sending them to the lower bracket. His arrival to 100 Thieves has put them back in the winner's circle and his presence has rejuvenated a once vaunted team from the earlier days of Valorant competition.

Valyn, however, is out for blood today. His exemplary performance yesterday against Leviatan yesterday in the Lower Finals demonstrated his desire to prove all the naysayers wrong about G2's place in the VCT. In five maps he posted a 101-80-43 (K/D/A), +21, stat-line that's typically unheard from IGLs.

Boostio's scathing comments though on G2's Ascent performance though should provide plenty of fuel to this developing rivalry. Several times throughout the final map he pointed out how sloppy the play was from both teams, and mentioned before the Lower Finals match kicked off that 100 thieves played G2 at "roughly 40-50% and still beat them." He feels G2 are not deserving of a spot at Shanghai.

Conversely, Valyn mentioned in his post-match victory interview, "I want to get my revenge on Boostio because that boy is standing up a lot and I want to sit him down.". G2's IGL will need some major support from the rest of the team to be able to keep Boostio in his seat for the entirety of the Finals today.

Regardless of Boostio's comments, G2's hard work has truly shown and paid off as they went from winning the Ascension League to facing off against 100 Thieves in the Grand Finals and earning their trip to Shanghai among the best teams in the world. This match up today is BOX OFFICE and I'm getting my popcorn ready.

Prediction: 100 Thieves > G2 3-1; Valyn may outperform Boostio again here individually, but the better IGL will come out on top here. "I hope this little piggy talks shit." - Boostio

Unfortunately, like most esports professional scenes, Valorant is now experiencing a level of gatekeeping within its pro community. Moose was relegated to the Tier 2 scene after underperforming for Luminosity, then Shopify Rebellion. It's tough to see a player that has clearly demonstrated struggles with competing at the highest level get another opportunity to do so again when there are more deserving players in the world who should be first in line for this opportunity.

Recycling talent is a problem that plagues the esports scene. I saw it as early as the 2000s with Counter-Strike and its still prevalent today. It's understandable that its probably easier for a full team of five to stand out (i.e. The Guard) and be picked up by a world renowned org (G2) than have one player continuously shine and hope they've made the right connections to land themselves on a better team.

The problem is is that these esports orgs need to do a better job scouting out the scene and vetting the talent before glancing at a Tier 2 players' resume and saying, "Well they've been here before so experience is on their side," and then extending a tryout and contract. Nepotism plays a huge factor here as well with influential players like Vanity who can leverage his power to bring in his friends and former teammates who may either never be ready for the scene or still need development.

I like C9, this isn't a post to blast Moose and I'm Wishing him the best of luck. But at some point we have to take a harder look at the playerbase as a whole (whether it be NA or Global) and take into major consideration what essential pieces are missing on the team and who is adept to fulfill those roles.

This is a MASSIVE W for the competitive scene. Would love to see the stats integrated with vlr and the spike websites too.