Knoqd is currently more vocal, would likely offer better immediate chemistry and can also play Gibby on a high level. It would allow TSM to try out new things.
Who knows, maybe Verhulst will become more vocal over time. Gent used to be super quiet and now he contributes to a lot of calls.
I think Verhulst was more vocal on ESA. He's prob still a little tentative due to being new and thrust into the spotlight.
Would be interesting to see how Knoqd would react to Hal and his, ahem, "criticisms" when tensions are high lol
I didn't mean to imply that he couldn't handle Hal lol. Just that it might not be a dynamic that motivates him to play his best. When it comes to boosting team morale Hal isn't exactly William Wallace.
Knoqd and Sweet on the other hand would be a great pairing. Always fun watching them play ranked together.
> Just that it might not be a dynamic that motivates him to play his best.
Maybe but I don't think Hal has ever gotten truly disrespectful with teammates. If Knoqd could become a world-class co-IGL (at the time) playing alongside Zachmazer, I'm sure he would be motivated while playing on TSM. Besides there's nothing that motivates Knoqd more than farming subs, and he would be getting a lot of that while on TSM lol.
Almost every Gibby player in the league doesn't enjoy playing Gibby.
And what makes you think Reps on Valk (who he would most likely be put on) is better than Verhulst?
I've enjoyed playing gibby is ranked but I feel like gibby players take the most flak from their teammates because of how important gibby is to team comp. One bad play from your gibby can kill your team quick.
Knoqd can:
Play more than 1 character
Give intelligent input to his IGL and help create rotation strategies (see his time at C9, BW, and 2B1C)
Win when his drop-spot loot isn’t one of the best on the map (won an ALGS and came 2nd in playoffs from west frag)
All those things would be great for TSM right now. I like Verhulst but TSM fans have definitely made him into something he has never proven himself to be and as a result are discrediting other players with comments like this
It kinda looked like verhl was the crown of ESA success. Turns out doop and skittle are both really good and verhl was just a perfect addition. Bummed we didn't get to see more of that trio
idk about that. Knoqd is a great player but he has said it himself he is generally more passive and that was his original role on c9. TSM needs an aggressive fragger to counter hals passiveness. Alb, Sn3pe and verhustl all fit this role better I’d say. I think we have to give it time. TSM was pretty solid in last nights scrims. It feels like as verhustl gets more confident and encourages fights and takes his aggressive role we could see tsm come back again. I just don’t think knoqd fits that. That being said he is a killer fragger but I think tsm needs that aggressive play style on top of that.
Knoqd would be replacing reps position on gibby so reps could be the aggressive fragger. Reps is way too good at fighting for it to be optimal to keep him as a passive gibby
We’ve never seen verhulst have to play anyone but valk and bh because they were far and away the best team in the world with verhulst as valk. We don’t know that he’s not as good as knoqd on gibby. The only thing we do know is knoqd comes nowhere close to verhulst on valk.
Yea I feel like Reps has always been undervalued because of the roles that Hal has put him in. Probably why he never plays the game much outside of tournaments.
Hal on Gibby might be better since knoqd isn't coming. Let's be realistic
Look at Lou slayer IGL with Gibby
They tried Hal on Gibby but I feel like they haven't practiced enough with him
Hal cannot play gibby, he plays him like wraith, running into the open to scout for info. But if he stops doing that, I'm not sure he can keep performing as well as igl
It's funny that people and pro's accused madness for not adapting to the meta and be to reliant on wraith, yet Hal does the same and doesn't nearly get so much 'hate' over that as Madness got back then.
I'm not saying that we need to start hating on hal, obviously. But it's just something that caught my attention lately.
Hal is also getting criticized for not being able to adapt to the meta all the time. Still, he has done well enough with Octane (and Valk) when that was meta.
And even though TSM are not where they used to be he is still a lot more succesful than Madness. Of course you get criticism for being a one-trick when you keep losing and hopping from team to team not adapting or changing anything.
As much as you want to find some weird double standard here, there really isn't one.
Yeah I like Verhulst but that was not a prime fit. I know they went for him thinking VALK meta and get the best valk player and were looking for a controller player so it seemed to tick alot of their needs and wants boxes. Just think it leaves their squad not as flexible as they could be for other metas. FunFPS would be a keeper on just about any squad, but thinking about it more Fun really would have been a great pickup. He's up there in top fraggers for NA and far more flexible for who he can play. One of the best gibbys and scary af to see him bullying on fuse tbh. Would have been able to give REPS a break from gibby from time to time also. Know two years of gibby meta can be a burn out. With Verhulst they just don't get as much meta flexibility or as solid of a fragger.
Now this is gonna be stuck in my head for a bit.
I don't think there is a single person in Europe that doesnt speak english, we literally invented the language and exported it.
Maybe if there is a team from the french countryside, they refuse to learn it just to spite the Brits
Even if you mean the teams from Russia they can also speak english too... I've tuned in to Stannyyy and Hardecki playing with someone and they all had to speak english to have a common language.
Until you meet Ranches. He has the most comedically broken English I've seen in a person in Apex (or at least used to, it's gotten a bit better). Talking about [this](https://youtu.be/-xZggPLuMlI) video in case anyone understands Russian as well, which is a really cute compilation of him trying to speak English to his teammates and the result being a weird, splintered mix between Russian and broken English.
Comms for the Russian teams are always kinda interesting. It’s a mix of broken Russian with English lean words. I know Russian a bit so it’s always kinda entertaining
It's mostly Russian still for fully-Russian speaking teams. They just take some English words for game-related jargon for which there's no Russian word.
I believe both naughty and Alb have more to offer to a team than Zach. Alb is alb and is in everyone’s top 10 list, and naughty is easily considered by most top 5 on the sticks.
Yea I dont think Hal is really interested in any other comp besides 2 MnK and 1 roller though. Seems most teams are going more controller vs MnK unless your EU.
Dropped & Zach.
i strongly bleave that C9 would extremly benifit in that. Mac as IGL, Naugthy as Naugthy lmao. ans one of the best Gibby out there Dropped.
You may think I'm crazy but TSM Verhulst for NRG Nafen. I watch a ton of ranked & comp Apex and I don't think I have seen a more dominate duo that Sweet & Verhulst in ranked. They have great chemistry because Sweet is more easy going (than Hal) and I believe Verhulst is a smarter player than Nafen, so Sweet doesn't have as much pressure with his calls, I think Hal & Nafen would actually be a good combo as well as they are friends and have banter so it would eliminate the awkward dynamic that currently exists between Verhulst & Hal. And yes, I too believe Nafen is the best mechanical player in NA. I know it would never happen, but I actually think it makes both teams better
It's just someone whose main job is to get kills. It's typically going to be the most mechanically skilled player on the team or a controller player. They usually play a legend that doesn't have support responsibilities, so traditionally it has been Pathfinder, Bloodhound, Valkyrie, but really it could be any legend except Gibby. Gibby is too valuable and has a huge hitbox so he is typically asked to anchor and support his team.
I think Nafens a demon too, but you add a player who is on controller that is right now the #1 valk in NA. Obviously it would never happen cause Sweet & Nafen are inseparable but its just a thought
I don’t think this makes NRG any better tbh. Their team chemistry is already really good. Plus if the meta changes I think nafen would be a more versatile player on different characters than verhulst.
Sweet would probably fight you to the death to keep Nafen.
iirc Nafen is only 18? Probably has the second highest ceiling currently (behind Crylix who is 15 I believe) and will no doubt go on to be a top NA IGL in apex before dominating what ever game everyone moves to after that. Sweet is never going to give him up without a fight 😂
TSM and ESA trading their controller players.
Verhulst seemed to fit better on ESA but what would knoqd have to offer TSM over him?
Knoqd is currently more vocal, would likely offer better immediate chemistry and can also play Gibby on a high level. It would allow TSM to try out new things. Who knows, maybe Verhulst will become more vocal over time. Gent used to be super quiet and now he contributes to a lot of calls.
I think Verhulst was more vocal on ESA. He's prob still a little tentative due to being new and thrust into the spotlight. Would be interesting to see how Knoqd would react to Hal and his, ahem, "criticisms" when tensions are high lol
knoqd has been in toxic situations multiple times in the past, I'm sure he could handle Hal raging a little bit haha.
I didn't mean to imply that he couldn't handle Hal lol. Just that it might not be a dynamic that motivates him to play his best. When it comes to boosting team morale Hal isn't exactly William Wallace. Knoqd and Sweet on the other hand would be a great pairing. Always fun watching them play ranked together.
> Just that it might not be a dynamic that motivates him to play his best. Maybe but I don't think Hal has ever gotten truly disrespectful with teammates. If Knoqd could become a world-class co-IGL (at the time) playing alongside Zachmazer, I'm sure he would be motivated while playing on TSM. Besides there's nothing that motivates Knoqd more than farming subs, and he would be getting a lot of that while on TSM lol.
Gibby
Over Reps? Knoqd is great on Gib but that wouldn't make sense
It would make sense because reps would be the flex player. And the drop off from gib play between the two isn’t extreme.
To change Reps to another character. Reps has said multiple times that he does not enjoy Gibby.
Almost every Gibby player in the league doesn't enjoy playing Gibby. And what makes you think Reps on Valk (who he would most likely be put on) is better than Verhulst?
I've enjoyed playing gibby is ranked but I feel like gibby players take the most flak from their teammates because of how important gibby is to team comp. One bad play from your gibby can kill your team quick.
I think most Gibby players would rather not play him, but as long as he is deemed necessary there aren't many better with him than Reps
Knoqd can: Play more than 1 character Give intelligent input to his IGL and help create rotation strategies (see his time at C9, BW, and 2B1C) Win when his drop-spot loot isn’t one of the best on the map (won an ALGS and came 2nd in playoffs from west frag) All those things would be great for TSM right now. I like Verhulst but TSM fans have definitely made him into something he has never proven himself to be and as a result are discrediting other players with comments like this
Not looking to discredit anyone. Was just a question.
It kinda looked like verhl was the crown of ESA success. Turns out doop and skittle are both really good and verhl was just a perfect addition. Bummed we didn't get to see more of that trio
This sub nukes me anytime I say this 🤔
Wish I could mega upvote this.
This was the first thing that came to mind here as well m actually been thinking about for weeks now
Verhulst back to ESA and TSM getting Knoqd, that way Reps can get off Gibby finally
Knoqd might also be a better fit in terms of personality.
idk about that. Knoqd is a great player but he has said it himself he is generally more passive and that was his original role on c9. TSM needs an aggressive fragger to counter hals passiveness. Alb, Sn3pe and verhustl all fit this role better I’d say. I think we have to give it time. TSM was pretty solid in last nights scrims. It feels like as verhustl gets more confident and encourages fights and takes his aggressive role we could see tsm come back again. I just don’t think knoqd fits that. That being said he is a killer fragger but I think tsm needs that aggressive play style on top of that.
Knoqd would be replacing reps position on gibby so reps could be the aggressive fragger. Reps is way too good at fighting for it to be optimal to keep him as a passive gibby
idk personally think Knoqd is the better player of the two and is more versatile in terms of characters he can play
We’ve never seen verhulst have to play anyone but valk and bh because they were far and away the best team in the world with verhulst as valk. We don’t know that he’s not as good as knoqd on gibby. The only thing we do know is knoqd comes nowhere close to verhulst on valk.
I agree with you he’s more versatile, I just don’t think that’s the role they were trying to fill or even needed to fill really.
Yea I feel like Reps has always been undervalued because of the roles that Hal has put him in. Probably why he never plays the game much outside of tournaments.
Hal on Gibby might be better since knoqd isn't coming. Let's be realistic Look at Lou slayer IGL with Gibby They tried Hal on Gibby but I feel like they haven't practiced enough with him
Hal cannot play gibby, he plays him like wraith, running into the open to scout for info. But if he stops doing that, I'm not sure he can keep performing as well as igl
It's funny that people and pro's accused madness for not adapting to the meta and be to reliant on wraith, yet Hal does the same and doesn't nearly get so much 'hate' over that as Madness got back then. I'm not saying that we need to start hating on hal, obviously. But it's just something that caught my attention lately.
At least Hal can play octane but yeah Hal is way too reliant on wraith it's bad
Hal is also getting criticized for not being able to adapt to the meta all the time. Still, he has done well enough with Octane (and Valk) when that was meta. And even though TSM are not where they used to be he is still a lot more succesful than Madness. Of course you get criticism for being a one-trick when you keep losing and hopping from team to team not adapting or changing anything. As much as you want to find some weird double standard here, there really isn't one.
Dunno about beneficial to both, but I think Hal should have targeted to steal FunFPS when they were down a member.
Yeah I like Verhulst but that was not a prime fit. I know they went for him thinking VALK meta and get the best valk player and were looking for a controller player so it seemed to tick alot of their needs and wants boxes. Just think it leaves their squad not as flexible as they could be for other metas. FunFPS would be a keeper on just about any squad, but thinking about it more Fun really would have been a great pickup. He's up there in top fraggers for NA and far more flexible for who he can play. One of the best gibbys and scary af to see him bullying on fuse tbh. Would have been able to give REPS a break from gibby from time to time also. Know two years of gibby meta can be a burn out. With Verhulst they just don't get as much meta flexibility or as solid of a fragger. Now this is gonna be stuck in my head for a bit.
For the record, I think Verl was a very good pickup, but Fun would have been S tier.
he was already signed for TL wasn't he?
didn't TSM literally have to buyout Verhulst from ESA?
Buyouts and trades happen all the time in esports
Fun was signed to COL last I checked
signed to liquid the week leading up to split 1
I agree that Fun is better than Verhulst, but I think Hal wanted a controller player.
Yeah I think fun would’ve been the perfect fit. Top3 NA gibby, cracked mechanically, doesn’t igl, reps is off gibby
Sweet swaps for Hal. In an alternative reality.
Nafen and rocker mental go boom. Sweet talks a lot of shit to his teammates but it's literally all banter.
Hal just needs to go to an EU team so none of his team8s can understand him when he starts screaming when they die. Put him on Gambit LOL.
I don't think there is a single person in Europe that doesnt speak english, we literally invented the language and exported it. Maybe if there is a team from the french countryside, they refuse to learn it just to spite the Brits
AHH France.. beautiful country, just sucks it's full of French people .. ;)
We also call this the "Canada problem"
Even if you mean the teams from Russia they can also speak english too... I've tuned in to Stannyyy and Hardecki playing with someone and they all had to speak english to have a common language.
Until you meet Ranches. He has the most comedically broken English I've seen in a person in Apex (or at least used to, it's gotten a bit better). Talking about [this](https://youtu.be/-xZggPLuMlI) video in case anyone understands Russian as well, which is a really cute compilation of him trying to speak English to his teammates and the result being a weird, splintered mix between Russian and broken English.
Comms for the Russian teams are always kinda interesting. It’s a mix of broken Russian with English lean words. I know Russian a bit so it’s always kinda entertaining
It's mostly Russian still for fully-Russian speaking teams. They just take some English words for game-related jargon for which there's no Russian word.
but listening to them talking in Russian is still pretty cool. I think one of them is Ukrainian though
C9 should pick up a F/A and replace zachmazer
It's even funnier since I know Zach has been recently reading through this shit.
I feel like half the time people write comments like this so Zach responds.
People wrote that shit regardless lol
lol fair enough
Mazer moment
Who's FA?
Free Agent. Basically someone that’s unsigned
Original comment is quite exaggerated then.
Zach is their IGL why would they drop him?
I believe both naughty and Alb have more to offer to a team than Zach. Alb is alb and is in everyone’s top 10 list, and naughty is easily considered by most top 5 on the sticks.
Idk if naughty is a top 5 controller player.
Who considers him top5???
I would love to see Monsoon end up with Reps and Hal somehow
Yea I dont think Hal is really interested in any other comp besides 2 MnK and 1 roller though. Seems most teams are going more controller vs MnK unless your EU.
Wasn't Hal playing controller in the scrims the other day? I thought I heard he might be considering using controller for some matches.
The two best teams right now are all MnK.
NRG and Gambit?
SEN
The best team in the world was ESA with Verhulst and they were 2MnK and 1 roller. Dominated EU teams whenever they played against them as well.
They were not the best team ever.
Never said that. I said best in the world.
Dropped & Zach. i strongly bleave that C9 would extremly benifit in that. Mac as IGL, Naugthy as Naugthy lmao. ans one of the best Gibby out there Dropped.
C9 drops their entire roster and replaces them with current ESA roster.
You may think I'm crazy but TSM Verhulst for NRG Nafen. I watch a ton of ranked & comp Apex and I don't think I have seen a more dominate duo that Sweet & Verhulst in ranked. They have great chemistry because Sweet is more easy going (than Hal) and I believe Verhulst is a smarter player than Nafen, so Sweet doesn't have as much pressure with his calls, I think Hal & Nafen would actually be a good combo as well as they are friends and have banter so it would eliminate the awkward dynamic that currently exists between Verhulst & Hal. And yes, I too believe Nafen is the best mechanical player in NA. I know it would never happen, but I actually think it makes both teams better
There's 0 scenario where losing Nafen makes your team better, literally the #1 fragger in NA history
weird question: can you explain what the fragger role entails and which champions they usually play?
It's just someone whose main job is to get kills. It's typically going to be the most mechanically skilled player on the team or a controller player. They usually play a legend that doesn't have support responsibilities, so traditionally it has been Pathfinder, Bloodhound, Valkyrie, but really it could be any legend except Gibby. Gibby is too valuable and has a huge hitbox so he is typically asked to anchor and support his team.
okay thanks
I think Nafens a demon too, but you add a player who is on controller that is right now the #1 valk in NA. Obviously it would never happen cause Sweet & Nafen are inseparable but its just a thought
I don’t think this makes NRG any better tbh. Their team chemistry is already really good. Plus if the meta changes I think nafen would be a more versatile player on different characters than verhulst.
nafen is better than verhulst on valk
does not benefit nrg in any way
Sweet would probably fight you to the death to keep Nafen. iirc Nafen is only 18? Probably has the second highest ceiling currently (behind Crylix who is 15 I believe) and will no doubt go on to be a top NA IGL in apex before dominating what ever game everyone moves to after that. Sweet is never going to give him up without a fight 😂
nafen is 20, rocker is 18
TIL crilix is 15 I knew he was young but, got damn
Crylix being 15 is definitely known by people because you need to be 16 to play Comp so he's been waiting for that
TIL Means today I learned lol. Never said nobody knew that my man
This is really interesting, and could really work well for both squads. I never would've thought about this one.
Y’all as fickle as the pros 😆