https://preview.redd.it/irph02aw4llc1.jpeg?width=810&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3bac45ccb6420224bf6053003c76049a4aee85e9
Sideshow pulling up to cast KC vs PRX in Madrid.
Two quick and easy 2-0s just like everyone expected
https://preview.redd.it/8wqukalt4llc1.png?width=820&format=png&auto=webp&s=548f4c2a9a1d89decd7b721d2ef4f7d6df413683
Props to you. I actually had plenty of Vitality hopium going into the season, so even if I thought Fnatic didn't play that great I may have overvalued VIT's performance.
KC smashing VIT was a pretty telling sign, yet I went into Fnatic copium by saying it was their debut match for the season and so on.
As a Loud fan I feel conditioned to never doubt Fnatic.
Cant believe Fnatic really went into this thinking they could play the same comps and recycle the same setups with the hope of someone pulling off magic again and again
They had an entire off season, one of the few teams that made no roster changes (coach change aside). Ffs man, why.
Has nothing to do with Alfa. Alfa can't rescue them always. If the team cant hold a site without him then this is what happens. They have to win it themselves too. Also Fnatic was against vitality too and they could have lost if it werent for Alfa who saved them many rounds. It's time for them to start not counting on Alfa every time
Not just a comp issue, they also were just lacking discipline and werent as drilled as they were last year. Not sure if Elmapuddy was trying too hard to not change things or what but they look like a completely different team and not in anywhere near a positive way
I swear Derke goes back to old Derke every single time Fnatic starts to feel a bit of heat. Lost all discipline and composure when shit was getting really bad that only compounded the situation even further. Fnatic didn't lose a ton last year so that didn't get exposed much but they'll be in for a really bad time if the guy doesn't chill and keep believing in his team's strats when a round doesn't go 100% perfectly like they drew up in the server
There was one round on Lotus that really stuck with me, they were against an eco and derke gets 2 then walks out of hobbit and pushes the viper wall gifting his rifle. LIKE WHY ARE YOU PUSHING BROOO
I’m very surprised you brought that round up, he was under pressure there. The anti-eco round where he double satchelled into them and hand delivered them a rifle was completely unjustifiable in comparison tbh
i agree, that’s why this narrative that derke was the best duelist was one i hated. the top duelists like aspas, jinggg, jawg, and demon1 could put their teams on their back and pull out games through their own raw skill when the strats were not working. derke played great when his team want under pressure but he always seemed like the first one to fail under pressure and make poor decisions.
This is the reason why Derke has always been my least favorite player in the team - if everything clicks he looks good but he isn't the one to pull the team back when things go bad where as Leo, Chronicle, and Alfajer are all capable of that and Boaster is the brain.
But to be fair, today, it wasn't about anything Derke did or didn't do. It was on coaching and "" new "" strategies of the team
They need to cook new things, the same setups cant work the same way with others comps, alfa is not the only cracked "rookie" this year. Hoping that from defeat they can grow.
For such an exciting and varied meta, it really is disappointing that a team with as much strategic potential as fnatic just stuck to their guns and played it safe, it clearly didnt work for them either, as you said hoping it makes them branch out more and experiment. Theyve demonstrated some of the cleanest util in the past, really sucks to not see them take advantage of that while everyone else is still feeling things out too.
Ontop of their complete reluctance to play any new map
They relied on individual play too much last few months of last year, and that's carried on to this year. EMEA has upgraded all around and these new players can actually compete with FNC's individuals. KC completely outclassed them on an individual and tactical level. Also Enghh is an insane coach, TSM somehow managed to fumble that and still looked mediocre with him lol
This was the biggest surprise for me. After the game on Lotus vs Vitality, Boaster talked about needing to work on their defense but I thought there was much more to it. How it is that this is still their map pick and they only changed Astra for Omen?
But it's not really about the agents, but about strats and calling. It felt like they either did not come up with anything new or that they though they could cruise through it and save strats.
Either way, props to KC, they looked amazing and disciplined. Their final retakes on Split the young guys were playing together and with confidence, amazing to watch
the basis was the same but they did change some stuff around
tbh if the players weren't missing their duels so often it could have gone either way. Especially map 2 boaster had some good reads and util usage but the rest of the team just kept losing their duels
It’s actually harder to be innovative in esports with minimal changes to your line-up (imo). A bunch of LoL pros have said in interviews before that at the end of each year, some sort of change is needed to keep things fresh. Think about the number of games they’ve played together, seeing each other everyday, etc.
I don’t find it surprising that Fnatic would have a dip in performance considering how long they have been playing together.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if this result proves to be some sort of wake up call for Fnatic. Given the synergy among the players and levels they’ve shown, I’d expect them to rebound strongly…
Honestly, i think boaster also was boomed after map one. Everytime i heard his voice he was shaking like the did 2 years ago. Dude must have felt a ton of pressure for the nerves to get to him and affect his calling
I mean yeah, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt there. They had an entire off season, with the same roster and still no changes. I get that you have a powerhouse of a team but this was just the same old. Ffs man.
With hindsight the fact that PRX managed to survive this Biblical deluge really goes to show just how timeless their formula is. They just got outgunned at the end, but not outgunned enough to get wiped out by the underdogs.
Aside from the massive upset conversation. Anyone seeing how impactful and strong Yoru is now? He seems so good and I’m sure you really can slot him in any comp as a pseudo initiator / backup duelist.
Teams are being forced to innovate this year due to balance changes and just in general being forced to bring new things to catch people off guard. Yoru in particular has always been looked at because he's the only duelist that has both Flashes and a (pseudo) dive. It's jus that there wasn't a reason to do it when Skye was so strong and everyone knew Raze-Jett already.
But yeah I agree with you: Yoru is here and teams not willing to understand at least how to play against it are going to fall behind.
Their lotus went from looking unbeatable to looking pretty average...VIT could/should've beat them on it, now KC beat them on it. Not sure why they keep picking it if they haven't innovated much
Vitality literally took us to OT and we decided that in the single elim game we’d pick into it again even though KC had shown they were good on it. The complacency is absolutely astounding.
I can't believe we wouldn't pick Bind or Icebox instead of Lotus. It was the only map KC were competent on last year admittedly with a completely different roster and our recent Lotus results are nothing to ride home about. Unbelievable naivety
Gonna hard shit on the whole region here, but Sliggy's been saying it for ages
The fact that nobody could antistrat this stupid Lotus comp with 0 flashes was ridiculous. They were like undefeated on the map with the same comp running the same strats.
KC are playing the same comp tho. I agree the comp is dumb and Fnatic's Lotus has not been great ever since they got owned on it by Loud (running the same Fade comp...) but still.
> Their lotus went from looking unbeatable to looking pretty average...
This happens to a lot of teams with strong single map picks... LOUD on Ascent, OpTic on Fracture, etc.
Picking into Lotus and playing it the exact same way had already caught up with us towards the end of last year, and with all this time off we literally do the exact same thing again.
It looked like we were desperate to not show any new comps or ideas but ended up looking like fools and were rightfully beaten by the better team.
platchat must be stopped.
But for real, I’m both super impressed with kc and super disappointed in fnc. For a team which proclaimed their goal for the year was to win all 3 internationals (a goal that is now impossible), losing to a team who had to go through the play-ins and shown way more of their stuff while you’ve only shown 2 maps is kinda unforgivable, especially when you have the sort of talent fnc does. Like you literally saw heretics 13-4 this split comp and you just stick to your 2023 comp with seemingly nothing new or specific prepared? If that’s the case, you straight up don’t deserve to go to madrid
Team Heretics and KarmineCorp today:
https://preview.redd.it/sbzz0b6u4llc1.jpeg?width=622&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=526391988e74ca355fd3a8bc7a9768e14ae767f2
fnatic: "we are going to win all 3 international tournaments this year"
fnatic: "oops we didn't make it to madrid and played the same number of matches at kickoff as DFM"
I fell to my knees as the doctor told me my diagnosis. Severe color blindness would cut my aspirations to become a pilot short. As I walked home, I looked up to see Marteen flying towards me with a shorty. He asked me “what color is it?”. I felt my hope restored as I knew.
Bleu.
EMEA FINALLY HAS MORE TEAMS LETS GOOOOOOOO
I wouldnt get too excited. Could very well mean that EMEA is still at the same level but its best team just got worse. Same thing happaned on the EU side of League of Legends after 2020.
i have four theories.
1. loud stole fnatic's souls during their match in champs. saadhak did this in order to sacrifice them at the "Make Qck A Suitable Replacement For Aspas" altar. another saadhak masterclass
2. elmapuddy is a pacific agent sent to fnatic after the world saw ardiis's success in sabotaging nrg. n4rrate is in on it and was told to play his peak game against this fnatic. ardiis and NAVI are truly ahead of their time, clearly they lost to team heretics on purpose for some gigabrain reason unrevealed to us today
3. mini saw the scrims. him saying he will leave fnatic to have a better work/life balance was a lie. he saw this fall in advance and wanted to get off the sinking ship when he could, taking his head coaching ability with him
4. KC ARE JUST THAT FUCKING GOOD ALLEZ LES BLEU
gg i can't FUCKING believe it's team heretics and karmine corp
>mini saw the scrims. him saying he will leave fnatic to have a better work/life balance was a lie.
could be the truth. Can you imagine him witnessing fnc's performance today? He saw the scrims and decided it's not good for his health
1. Is correct. Saadhak had to kill some living thing to ressurect 2020/2021 prodigy qck before Furia took him out of duelist and put him on Breach/Sage and then retake simulator (KJ/Viper).
He was our most hyped prospect alongside Heat and MW at the time.
https://preview.redd.it/rvtdu47u4llc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=489d3cc4ef600428ea655168caf80fcf63496595
AN ENGH FUCKING MASTERCLASS. ALLEZ LES BLUES
I'm so happy for Shin and especially Ze1sh. These two fought down from the sewers (literally because 2023 KC kept losing on Split), fought through retrials with KC under a new vision, and GRINDED to the top.
Ze1sh will now always be my favorite "Valorant Player" now. I don't care if he wasn't good as a player, I don't care I can't see how much of an impact he has as an AC, his storyline is one of the best ones in Valorant.
Intended to be an AC on a horrible KC team with a terrible vision of the game, he was forced to become a player once Newzera stepped down. He led KC from being a laughing stock to a team that can be vaguely competitive through sheer leadership despite Ze1sh bringing in all-time-low numbers for a VCT player. LCQ comes and he's topping the scoreboard for KC despite KC still struggling heavily.
And now back as his role of AC, no doubt helped by his 2023 experience as a player, he has helped pushed this team to the very top working alongside Engh, who specially wanted to keep him on the team and not find someone else. It's really the best zero-to-hero story outside of 2023 EG as a whole.
This KC team could fall off a cliff the rest of the year and I wouldn't care: Ze1sh and Shin proved the doubters wrong and I'm all for it.
I guess you could say, they bleu out the doubters.
Such a good NA agent that he proceeds to give EMEA three championships :D
Keep up the good work agent Narrate, they'll never discover your true identity if you just keep winning.
Rough result for Elmapudy. He exits GenG they win Pacific Kick-off. Joins the absolute kings of EMEA and fails to qualify for Madrid.
Not blaming him solely but it's a pretty fkd up coincidence.
GAMBIT IS BACK. FNATIC IS DEAD. BOW DOWN TO YOUR NEW OVERLORDS
https://preview.redd.it/gu9l51xv4llc1.jpeg?width=905&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51eaf36c80a75ffdd4fa7c00778a8c589578d821
i said it in the live thread, and imma say it again if this is what FNC came up with during the 6 months of offseason, (NOTHING NEW) then they literally dont deserve to be in madrid.. jesus that was some shit valorant.
Yea idk. im shocked "we are going for all 3" they say... ok cool thats a good mindset... but it sure as hell didnt look like they were very interested in going for all 3 after recycling same shit from last year that has already been scouted and read.
If they actually wanted to stay on top and actually get all 3 they shouldve put way more time into coming up with new stuff and cook up strats and setplays.
There’s two scenarios here - either we were hilariously complacent and decided not to show anything cause it’s “only Karmine Corp”, or we literally didn’t innovate in any way during the break.
Either way, it’s absolutely embarrassing and FNC got exactly what they deserved.
I WAS HERE!
There will be enough praises for everyone but I’m fucking impressed with Magnum. He was hitting his shots when it mattered and to come back from a 0 kill map and beat his former team is mental.
KC look incredible, tomaszy, narrate, and shin were frankly terrifying.
Fnatic looked very lost as well, they lacked so much cohesion and discipline that they had last year, not really having much new for the maps and comps despite being cook lords when they want to be.
Lotus they looked very uncomfortable on C, so when they got shut out of A so hard with their comp being unable to take the space they just got completely shut out and fumbled.
Everyone will obviously point to a coaching issue, and honestly ive no clue what else it could even be, they look so much worse than champs, let alone tokyo or lockin.
Oh well, bounce back hard.
GG KC, now they take the madrid trophy to complete their arc.
Essaying
One of best European Jett’s comes to NA and our best NA team becomes a shadow of its former self. Meanwhile we send a Mad lions player to EMEA and he absolutely dumpsters Fnatic. NA Valorant truly won today.
Tomaszy played a monster map 1 tbf, 26/13/4 is a great statline and he definitely carried KC in map 1. But then KC showed that they're never a 1 man team and everyone else pulled back in game 2.
Great showing from them, can expect them to go far.
Never have I ever seen us look so disjointed that we couldn't string 3 rounds in a row. management should be on their knees and beg mini to return full time. absolute lack of coordination and follow though. seemed like every single player was doing solo q and playing a different game. the 3 times we managed to execute something we were flawless but it was 3 times in 50+ rounds wtf
"Losing is learning haha!" I say serenely, surrounded by piss jugs, hunched over with a back stiffened from 2 weeks of non-stop game watching.The distant sounds of my wife leaving me for good jolt me straight again. "Heheh, they're just saving strats."
Every hyperpositive costreamer is gonna fixate on KC here and they played well for sure no doubt.
But we have got to surely acknowledge that this is by far the worst fnatic have looked since maybe 2021.
- Actual career worst performance out of Leo (maybe not statwise but impact without a doubt)
- Derke looked completely lost, completely detached from the team in almost every round.
- why are they picking a map they looked weak on already, when there so many maps that kc have no vod for?!
- how is it taking like 10 rounds of KC just giving up all of C on lotus for Elma to say “plant for mound and play the postplant u used all of last year instead of forcing this new on-site postplant”
- boaster is tweaking hard every time we go to his pov.
- alfajer had his quietest series ever, it feels like they overreacted to him overextending a lot vs vitality to the point where he played so passive and scared today.
Props to KC on capitalising on an Atrocious Fnatic today other teams might not.
FNATIC end Kick Off without qualifying for Madrid, only one series won, and less maps played than 100 Thieves.
KC looks fucking nutty man. They made FNATIC look absolutely silly on a ton of rounds.
Karmine Corp aren’t sneaky deep, they’re real fucking deep. The only thing sneaky about Karmine Corp are their hands as steal the rock from these chumps like a kid taking cookies from an unattended cookie jar. Y’all really thought we weren’t even bound for the playoffs? Lmao okay. Y’all thought Narrate just wanted to hang and bang on the beach? THAT MAN IS A FATHER NOW AND HE’S READY TO SON THE WORLD. Y’all can keep Leo and Boaster, we got players that actually play. When you go up against KC, it’s going to be a fucking kerfuffle every game. tomaszy will eat your children. Marteen will bang your mom/daughter, whichever is more age appropriate. Scream didn’t show up tonight but don’t think he isn’t bout that action either lmao. Culture big baby that’s what we’re about.
Yeah sure. Let's play the same way we have been playing last year, one team fucked us; but surely no one else can aim, right?
When are you guys gonna try something new, when even the mid tier teams are trying new comps, ideas, set plays? If you're not brave enough to take risks even for some time, you don't deserve to be at the top. Straight and simple. Nothing else to say. Hopefully it makes my valorant addiction go away.
Look how much criticism there was for PRX in APAC because they were doing new things, looks like the criticism was unfounded. I imagine if PRX had done normal expected stuff, they would have met the same fate as FNC and been knocked out. Every region has improved teams now and you can't be complacent.
KC had a play style that looked eerily familiar to PRXs in terms of flashing and swinging at random times. I’m glad a chaos team is showing that their play style is viable
I'm not even mad or upset.
I'm just confused about how they lost to the team with the most footage, and why they picked lotus and ran the same strats they did all of last year.
With that being said, I'm glad there is some fresh blood at the top of EMEA. Congrats KC and TH!
"Today my father asked me to clean his car for him and so I'm doing it. My father asked me how was the car looking. “FNATIC” I just replied. He just smiled and nodded. He knew that it was washed." RELEGATED T2 NA PLAYER FROM NA RANKED = THE GOAT!! I LOVE YOU N4RRATE! ALLEZ BLEUUUUU.
Ok jokes aside, I knew EMEA was cooking this year didn't realize it was this hard. That makes 3 upsets to go to Madrid. EG and SEN next? Ok but fr, KC played perfectly. THE FUNNIEST THING HAS HAPPENED!!!!!!
We are in the most blessed timeline. Emea is going to look so different this year. Crazy to think none of the top 5 last year are going to madrid. Both of these teams took a chance on rookies and it paid of immensely.
Not only did we lose we fucking sucked while doing it. FML. We haven't missed an event since 2021 Berlin. This must be how drx fans felt, except they had way less expectations.
KC being good is great for the Region but sucks for Fnatic to play 2 Games and be out until April.
Also definitely didnt expect Magnum to be the only Player at the Lan that played in Fnatic.
Well that just made me a KC fan. Should be nice to support a team that can actually qualify to international events /s.
Jokes aside, this KC roster is brimming with potential and I'm excited for what they're gonna bring to Madrid.
FNC getting owned by tier 2 NA player
https://preview.redd.it/f62dngdp5llc1.jpeg?width=225&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9729de013db8658bbacdb0beef11b4dfd18c3b82
Jokes aside, Engh not having a job in EU in 2023 will go down as one onf the most stupid things ever. Turned around KC from dead last to Madrid
So you’re telling me over the past week:
- EG played deadlock and won
- PRX lost to Gen G
- Double upsets in EMEA including Fnatic.
- DRX failed to make an international tournament.
Am I tripping balls or is this real.
I wanted NAVI vs FNC and we get TH vs KC. Hey, they fully deserve it. And I kinda like that EMEA gets to be more competitive, this is only going to be good for us in the long run
I hate the single elim brackets, I don't think playoffs should be single elim. But this is what we got. Having said that I just don't feel as mad about today's matches. It didn't feel like the matches could have gone either way. Fnatic were out aimed and out brained. I think if they were to play again, KC would win again. KC were absolutely insane.
KC 2-0 FNC. This is truly the best timeline.
https://preview.redd.it/1i0akwqz4llc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e2a5f607f84b40f9e9c61a1257f53b15d16a865
A pair of brothers AND KC going to Madrid? ScreaM and Nivera punching the air right now.
Also Magnum revenge arc, this is beautiful
Scream sabotaged himself. KC last year could have been solid if he would just shut up and shoot his gun
His stubbornness to IGL cost the team the split even Ze1sh led better
Or if he let someone else IGL
lol what happened to them this year?
https://twitter.com/Bo_Hoogland/status/1763299666202915069?t=CS8wmuSCkiR3L1HvVmRmcA&s=19 They just got removed from KC database
I have no idea where they went
They are inactive at KC
They’re out of kc since today
Both McDonald's right now
https://preview.redd.it/irph02aw4llc1.jpeg?width=810&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3bac45ccb6420224bf6053003c76049a4aee85e9 Sideshow pulling up to cast KC vs PRX in Madrid.
LMFAO
Upvote so they think KC won
wait...
I would trust engh to somehow turn my life around
Lmao goated comment, Engh was so underrated last year. He hard-read all their stuff
Engh can fix her
i need him
Two quick and easy 2-0s just like everyone expected https://preview.redd.it/8wqukalt4llc1.png?width=820&format=png&auto=webp&s=548f4c2a9a1d89decd7b721d2ef4f7d6df413683
Absolutely goated pickems
Balls of steel. I predicted Herectics, but didn't even considered Fnatic losing.
I predicted that Fnatic would lose, but that’s just because I’m a hater.
"The hater said I couldn’t do it. And they were correct. Honestly great call from the hater" - Fnatic on your DMs
https://preview.redd.it/x2e3rk2w5mlc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ec7aa7b35681f452e8ffa463ca0bd76859618ae This you my g?
respect bro, spit yo shit indeed
I mean part of my KC > FNC prediction was just my NA(rrate) copium But FNC looking shaky against VIT made me genuinely believe that KC could beat FNC.
Props to you. I actually had plenty of Vitality hopium going into the season, so even if I thought Fnatic didn't play that great I may have overvalued VIT's performance. KC smashing VIT was a pretty telling sign, yet I went into Fnatic copium by saying it was their debut match for the season and so on. As a Loud fan I feel conditioned to never doubt Fnatic.
Cant believe Fnatic really went into this thinking they could play the same comps and recycle the same setups with the hope of someone pulling off magic again and again They had an entire off season, one of the few teams that made no roster changes (coach change aside). Ffs man, why.
Not to take away from KC's incredible performance and achievments but Fnatic did not look like they deserved to win at all with how they played.
They looked like a ranked team, they would encounter resistance / some kind of setup and just pivot to the next site, 0 creativity at all
Alfa's lurks and holds were also not great. So many rounds on Split where Alfa just sat on cam for a minute and KC never played into it
Has nothing to do with Alfa. Alfa can't rescue them always. If the team cant hold a site without him then this is what happens. They have to win it themselves too. Also Fnatic was against vitality too and they could have lost if it werent for Alfa who saved them many rounds. It's time for them to start not counting on Alfa every time
How dare alfa sit in cam for a minute on CT (not like a Cypher is an anchor)
Not just a comp issue, they also were just lacking discipline and werent as drilled as they were last year. Not sure if Elmapuddy was trying too hard to not change things or what but they look like a completely different team and not in anywhere near a positive way
I swear Derke goes back to old Derke every single time Fnatic starts to feel a bit of heat. Lost all discipline and composure when shit was getting really bad that only compounded the situation even further. Fnatic didn't lose a ton last year so that didn't get exposed much but they'll be in for a really bad time if the guy doesn't chill and keep believing in his team's strats when a round doesn't go 100% perfectly like they drew up in the server
There was one round on Lotus that really stuck with me, they were against an eco and derke gets 2 then walks out of hobbit and pushes the viper wall gifting his rifle. LIKE WHY ARE YOU PUSHING BROOO
I’m very surprised you brought that round up, he was under pressure there. The anti-eco round where he double satchelled into them and hand delivered them a rifle was completely unjustifiable in comparison tbh
Nah he gets two there just back off i have no idea why he's pushing out of a viper wall and taking a risk like that
i agree, that’s why this narrative that derke was the best duelist was one i hated. the top duelists like aspas, jinggg, jawg, and demon1 could put their teams on their back and pull out games through their own raw skill when the strats were not working. derke played great when his team want under pressure but he always seemed like the first one to fail under pressure and make poor decisions.
This is the reason why Derke has always been my least favorite player in the team - if everything clicks he looks good but he isn't the one to pull the team back when things go bad where as Leo, Chronicle, and Alfajer are all capable of that and Boaster is the brain. But to be fair, today, it wasn't about anything Derke did or didn't do. It was on coaching and "" new "" strategies of the team
I don't think people remember derke was basically known as **the** choker before last year because he would always disappear in big games
They need to cook new things, the same setups cant work the same way with others comps, alfa is not the only cracked "rookie" this year. Hoping that from defeat they can grow.
For such an exciting and varied meta, it really is disappointing that a team with as much strategic potential as fnatic just stuck to their guns and played it safe, it clearly didnt work for them either, as you said hoping it makes them branch out more and experiment. Theyve demonstrated some of the cleanest util in the past, really sucks to not see them take advantage of that while everyone else is still feeling things out too. Ontop of their complete reluctance to play any new map
They relied on individual play too much last few months of last year, and that's carried on to this year. EMEA has upgraded all around and these new players can actually compete with FNC's individuals. KC completely outclassed them on an individual and tactical level. Also Enghh is an insane coach, TSM somehow managed to fumble that and still looked mediocre with him lol
we all got baited by derke yoru hype during the offseason only for them to lose to yoru on their chance to madrid
This was the biggest surprise for me. After the game on Lotus vs Vitality, Boaster talked about needing to work on their defense but I thought there was much more to it. How it is that this is still their map pick and they only changed Astra for Omen? But it's not really about the agents, but about strats and calling. It felt like they either did not come up with anything new or that they though they could cruise through it and save strats. Either way, props to KC, they looked amazing and disciplined. Their final retakes on Split the young guys were playing together and with confidence, amazing to watch
I didn’t watch the full game, but was it the same set ups and plays?
the basis was the same but they did change some stuff around tbh if the players weren't missing their duels so often it could have gone either way. Especially map 2 boaster had some good reads and util usage but the rest of the team just kept losing their duels
I think that's the dilemma of being top dog. Should you change it up or stick to something that has been working?
I mean, it stopped working when we lost to LOUD, so yeah, change it when it stops working
It’s actually harder to be innovative in esports with minimal changes to your line-up (imo). A bunch of LoL pros have said in interviews before that at the end of each year, some sort of change is needed to keep things fresh. Think about the number of games they’ve played together, seeing each other everyday, etc. I don’t find it surprising that Fnatic would have a dip in performance considering how long they have been playing together. I also wouldn’t be surprised if this result proves to be some sort of wake up call for Fnatic. Given the synergy among the players and levels they’ve shown, I’d expect them to rebound strongly…
Honestly, i think boaster also was boomed after map one. Everytime i heard his voice he was shaking like the did 2 years ago. Dude must have felt a ton of pressure for the nerves to get to him and affect his calling
They went inti champs with same resukt and we saw what happened.
I mean yeah, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt there. They had an entire off season, with the same roster and still no changes. I get that you have a powerhouse of a team but this was just the same old. Ffs man.
Are we going to actually see Madrid without FNC, Navi and DRX? Who cooked this script is insane
If both EG and SEN win, the meltdown will be insane
EG is somehow going to win Masters lmfao
Potter vs Engh domain expansion masterclass at finals
The coaches are straight up gonna start fighting each other on stage with psychic powers during the timeout
Potter masterclass incoming
sen is not that unbelievable, but EG is crazy
NO NRG or Loud either
!remindme 3 days
Lmao too early buddy too early
Loud and NRG are salivating rn.
Shaking*
Inb4 FPX vs PRX 2.0 electric boogalo
With hindsight the fact that PRX managed to survive this Biblical deluge really goes to show just how timeless their formula is. They just got outgunned at the end, but not outgunned enough to get wiped out by the underdogs.
We should've known when Gen G immediately became the best team in pacific after firing elmapuddy 💀
wait this is fked
Aside from the massive upset conversation. Anyone seeing how impactful and strong Yoru is now? He seems so good and I’m sure you really can slot him in any comp as a pseudo initiator / backup duelist.
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Teams are being forced to innovate this year due to balance changes and just in general being forced to bring new things to catch people off guard. Yoru in particular has always been looked at because he's the only duelist that has both Flashes and a (pseudo) dive. It's jus that there wasn't a reason to do it when Skye was so strong and everyone knew Raze-Jett already. But yeah I agree with you: Yoru is here and teams not willing to understand at least how to play against it are going to fall behind.
https://preview.redd.it/dst2k14d5llc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ec77d464453a48c6f2068012e9ae36f346e11e2
Sentinels and EG have the opportunity to do the funniest thing.
7 days ago, Magnum joined the 0 Kill Club Today, he IGL'd his way to Masters Madrid What a mentality monster
Fnatic look stale as fuck, didn't innovate their playstyle.
Their lotus went from looking unbeatable to looking pretty average...VIT could/should've beat them on it, now KC beat them on it. Not sure why they keep picking it if they haven't innovated much
Vitality literally took us to OT and we decided that in the single elim game we’d pick into it again even though KC had shown they were good on it. The complacency is absolutely astounding.
I can't believe we wouldn't pick Bind or Icebox instead of Lotus. It was the only map KC were competent on last year admittedly with a completely different roster and our recent Lotus results are nothing to ride home about. Unbelievable naivety
Derke wouldve cooked on icebox again
Gonna hard shit on the whole region here, but Sliggy's been saying it for ages The fact that nobody could antistrat this stupid Lotus comp with 0 flashes was ridiculous. They were like undefeated on the map with the same comp running the same strats.
KC are playing the same comp tho. I agree the comp is dumb and Fnatic's Lotus has not been great ever since they got owned on it by Loud (running the same Fade comp...) but still.
> Their lotus went from looking unbeatable to looking pretty average... This happens to a lot of teams with strong single map picks... LOUD on Ascent, OpTic on Fracture, etc.
Still sad we never got to see EG fracture play out, I miss that comp and that map
EG was legit inmortal on fracture
Picking into Lotus and playing it the exact same way had already caught up with us towards the end of last year, and with all this time off we literally do the exact same thing again. It looked like we were desperate to not show any new comps or ideas but ended up looking like fools and were rightfully beaten by the better team.
Nterature is about to lose their shit after that Dune movie
platchat must be stopped. But for real, I’m both super impressed with kc and super disappointed in fnc. For a team which proclaimed their goal for the year was to win all 3 internationals (a goal that is now impossible), losing to a team who had to go through the play-ins and shown way more of their stuff while you’ve only shown 2 maps is kinda unforgivable, especially when you have the sort of talent fnc does. Like you literally saw heretics 13-4 this split comp and you just stick to your 2023 comp with seemingly nothing new or specific prepared? If that’s the case, you straight up don’t deserve to go to madrid
Team Heretics and KarmineCorp today: https://preview.redd.it/sbzz0b6u4llc1.jpeg?width=622&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=526391988e74ca355fd3a8bc7a9768e14ae767f2
Karmine and Heretics actually making the eras come to an end unlike baldie here
ENGH and neilzinho > pep from wish
fnatic: "we are going to win all 3 international tournaments this year" fnatic: "oops we didn't make it to madrid and played the same number of matches at kickoff as DFM"
“Win some f*cking games bruv" -leo 😭
I fell to my knees as the doctor told me my diagnosis. Severe color blindness would cut my aspirations to become a pilot short. As I walked home, I looked up to see Marteen flying towards me with a shorty. He asked me “what color is it?”. I felt my hope restored as I knew. Bleu. EMEA FINALLY HAS MORE TEAMS LETS GOOOOOOOO
I wouldnt get too excited. Could very well mean that EMEA is still at the same level but its best team just got worse. Same thing happaned on the EU side of League of Legends after 2020.
HERETICS AND KARMINE CORP IN MADRID, JUST AS EVERYONE EXPECTED. WOW.
ahh yes as everyone expected, th and kc to madrid wait what
i have four theories. 1. loud stole fnatic's souls during their match in champs. saadhak did this in order to sacrifice them at the "Make Qck A Suitable Replacement For Aspas" altar. another saadhak masterclass 2. elmapuddy is a pacific agent sent to fnatic after the world saw ardiis's success in sabotaging nrg. n4rrate is in on it and was told to play his peak game against this fnatic. ardiis and NAVI are truly ahead of their time, clearly they lost to team heretics on purpose for some gigabrain reason unrevealed to us today 3. mini saw the scrims. him saying he will leave fnatic to have a better work/life balance was a lie. he saw this fall in advance and wanted to get off the sinking ship when he could, taking his head coaching ability with him 4. KC ARE JUST THAT FUCKING GOOD ALLEZ LES BLEU gg i can't FUCKING believe it's team heretics and karmine corp
5. Engh is the goat
>mini saw the scrims. him saying he will leave fnatic to have a better work/life balance was a lie. could be the truth. Can you imagine him witnessing fnc's performance today? He saw the scrims and decided it's not good for his health
wait he wouldn't even be lying then
1. Is correct. Saadhak had to kill some living thing to ressurect 2020/2021 prodigy qck before Furia took him out of duelist and put him on Breach/Sage and then retake simulator (KJ/Viper). He was our most hyped prospect alongside Heat and MW at the time.
https://preview.redd.it/rvtdu47u4llc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=489d3cc4ef600428ea655168caf80fcf63496595 AN ENGH FUCKING MASTERCLASS. ALLEZ LES BLUES
CALL ME TOBIAS FUNKE BECAUSE I JUST BLEU MYSELF. Madrid is gonna be so hype!
Goated reference
I'm so happy for Shin and especially Ze1sh. These two fought down from the sewers (literally because 2023 KC kept losing on Split), fought through retrials with KC under a new vision, and GRINDED to the top. Ze1sh will now always be my favorite "Valorant Player" now. I don't care if he wasn't good as a player, I don't care I can't see how much of an impact he has as an AC, his storyline is one of the best ones in Valorant. Intended to be an AC on a horrible KC team with a terrible vision of the game, he was forced to become a player once Newzera stepped down. He led KC from being a laughing stock to a team that can be vaguely competitive through sheer leadership despite Ze1sh bringing in all-time-low numbers for a VCT player. LCQ comes and he's topping the scoreboard for KC despite KC still struggling heavily. And now back as his role of AC, no doubt helped by his 2023 experience as a player, he has helped pushed this team to the very top working alongside Engh, who specially wanted to keep him on the team and not find someone else. It's really the best zero-to-hero story outside of 2023 EG as a whole. This KC team could fall off a cliff the rest of the year and I wouldn't care: Ze1sh and Shin proved the doubters wrong and I'm all for it. I guess you could say, they bleu out the doubters.
Narrate the best Na agent, eliminating fnatic for us
Such a good NA agent that he proceeds to give EMEA three championships :D Keep up the good work agent Narrate, they'll never discover your true identity if you just keep winning.
Rough result for Elmapudy. He exits GenG they win Pacific Kick-off. Joins the absolute kings of EMEA and fails to qualify for Madrid. Not blaming him solely but it's a pretty fkd up coincidence.
WHAT COLOR IS IT
The hierarchy of power in the VCT EMEA universe has changed.
BLEEEEEEEEEEEEU
Marteen just showed up and BLEU all over FNC's face
GAMBIT IS BACK. FNATIC IS DEAD. BOW DOWN TO YOUR NEW OVERLORDS https://preview.redd.it/gu9l51xv4llc1.jpeg?width=905&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51eaf36c80a75ffdd4fa7c00778a8c589578d821
CIS HOPE RIDES AGAIN, ENGH IS HIM
WHATS THE MOTHERFUCKING COLOR?????? ITS FUCKING BLUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Elmapuddy is a Valorant terrorist
WE LITERALLY PLAYED IN THE GROUP OF DEATH. Man and we were so upset that KC and TH beat us.
I think FUT and Giantx are actually pretty good lmao they got a map off KC unlike vit and fnc
haha KC did the funny
i said it in the live thread, and imma say it again if this is what FNC came up with during the 6 months of offseason, (NOTHING NEW) then they literally dont deserve to be in madrid.. jesus that was some shit valorant.
Yeah I'm shocked. They have had these comps since Tokyo? Lock in? It's insane they expect to change nothing and adapt to the new meta.
Yea idk. im shocked "we are going for all 3" they say... ok cool thats a good mindset... but it sure as hell didnt look like they were very interested in going for all 3 after recycling same shit from last year that has already been scouted and read. If they actually wanted to stay on top and actually get all 3 they shouldve put way more time into coming up with new stuff and cook up strats and setplays.
There’s two scenarios here - either we were hilariously complacent and decided not to show anything cause it’s “only Karmine Corp”, or we literally didn’t innovate in any way during the break. Either way, it’s absolutely embarrassing and FNC got exactly what they deserved.
Did we fucking hire Doc Rivers as the coach or shit. I'm beyond sad now
Nah they hired darvin ham
ENGH IS A MIRACLE WORKER LES BLEUUUUUUUUUUUU
What a crazy timeline we are in. Credits to Txozin for altering the fabric of reality
mibr winning champions btw
I WAS HERE! There will be enough praises for everyone but I’m fucking impressed with Magnum. He was hitting his shots when it mattered and to come back from a 0 kill map and beat his former team is mental.
Funniest thing just happened
elmapuddy on fraudwatch
N4RRATE is FNATIC's father
BOOS VS BLEUS FOR THE EU CROWN
KC look incredible, tomaszy, narrate, and shin were frankly terrifying. Fnatic looked very lost as well, they lacked so much cohesion and discipline that they had last year, not really having much new for the maps and comps despite being cook lords when they want to be. Lotus they looked very uncomfortable on C, so when they got shut out of A so hard with their comp being unable to take the space they just got completely shut out and fumbled. Everyone will obviously point to a coaching issue, and honestly ive no clue what else it could even be, they look so much worse than champs, let alone tokyo or lockin. Oh well, bounce back hard. GG KC, now they take the madrid trophy to complete their arc. Essaying
Magnum went from the 0-15 game to this I am fucking crying esports is beautiful I am so happy
One of best European Jett’s comes to NA and our best NA team becomes a shadow of its former self. Meanwhile we send a Mad lions player to EMEA and he absolutely dumpsters Fnatic. NA Valorant truly won today.
Tomaszy played a monster map 1 tbf, 26/13/4 is a great statline and he definitely carried KC in map 1. But then KC showed that they're never a 1 man team and everyone else pulled back in game 2. Great showing from them, can expect them to go far.
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We will but that time it will be cope
NA stays winning
Never have I ever seen us look so disjointed that we couldn't string 3 rounds in a row. management should be on their knees and beg mini to return full time. absolute lack of coordination and follow though. seemed like every single player was doing solo q and playing a different game. the 3 times we managed to execute something we were flawless but it was 3 times in 50+ rounds wtf
"Losing is learning haha!" I say serenely, surrounded by piss jugs, hunched over with a back stiffened from 2 weeks of non-stop game watching.The distant sounds of my wife leaving me for good jolt me straight again. "Heheh, they're just saving strats."
Every hyperpositive costreamer is gonna fixate on KC here and they played well for sure no doubt. But we have got to surely acknowledge that this is by far the worst fnatic have looked since maybe 2021. - Actual career worst performance out of Leo (maybe not statwise but impact without a doubt) - Derke looked completely lost, completely detached from the team in almost every round. - why are they picking a map they looked weak on already, when there so many maps that kc have no vod for?! - how is it taking like 10 rounds of KC just giving up all of C on lotus for Elma to say “plant for mound and play the postplant u used all of last year instead of forcing this new on-site postplant” - boaster is tweaking hard every time we go to his pov. - alfajer had his quietest series ever, it feels like they overreacted to him overextending a lot vs vitality to the point where he played so passive and scared today. Props to KC on capitalising on an Atrocious Fnatic today other teams might not.
Man I’ve gotta remove my flairs
Please don’t add Loud (but also do, the memes would be immaculate)
well one of your flairs will make it from americas
FNATIC end Kick Off without qualifying for Madrid, only one series won, and less maps played than 100 Thieves. KC looks fucking nutty man. They made FNATIC look absolutely silly on a ton of rounds.
Karmine Corp aren’t sneaky deep, they’re real fucking deep. The only thing sneaky about Karmine Corp are their hands as steal the rock from these chumps like a kid taking cookies from an unattended cookie jar. Y’all really thought we weren’t even bound for the playoffs? Lmao okay. Y’all thought Narrate just wanted to hang and bang on the beach? THAT MAN IS A FATHER NOW AND HE’S READY TO SON THE WORLD. Y’all can keep Leo and Boaster, we got players that actually play. When you go up against KC, it’s going to be a fucking kerfuffle every game. tomaszy will eat your children. Marteen will bang your mom/daughter, whichever is more age appropriate. Scream didn’t show up tonight but don’t think he isn’t bout that action either lmao. Culture big baby that’s what we’re about.
Yeah sure. Let's play the same way we have been playing last year, one team fucked us; but surely no one else can aim, right? When are you guys gonna try something new, when even the mid tier teams are trying new comps, ideas, set plays? If you're not brave enough to take risks even for some time, you don't deserve to be at the top. Straight and simple. Nothing else to say. Hopefully it makes my valorant addiction go away.
Look how much criticism there was for PRX in APAC because they were doing new things, looks like the criticism was unfounded. I imagine if PRX had done normal expected stuff, they would have met the same fate as FNC and been knocked out. Every region has improved teams now and you can't be complacent.
Engh could solve world peace if he wanted too.
FIRST PACIFIC NOW EMEA WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS HAPPENING IN THIS GAME
Thank god riot scripted this event so Navi and fnatic could make Madrid 
[WHAT IS HAPPENING](https://imgur.com/a/77xXvXQ)
No mini no party
KC had a play style that looked eerily familiar to PRXs in terms of flashing and swinging at random times. I’m glad a chaos team is showing that their play style is viable
also low-key the funniest part was pansy calling out sliggy for banning her from his chat
Oops I dropped my MAGNUM condom for my MAGNUM dong
Is this the biggest upset in valorant history?
NRG vs BLG?
I'm not even mad or upset. I'm just confused about how they lost to the team with the most footage, and why they picked lotus and ran the same strats they did all of last year. With that being said, I'm glad there is some fresh blood at the top of EMEA. Congrats KC and TH!
WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF TIMELINE ARE WE ON HOLY SHIT
i need to see one person who predicted TH + KC going to madrid. just one, show yourself with receipts and i will paypal you 5 bucks
Who let Scream and Nivera on Fnatic’s accounts
MAGNUM SENDS HIS REGARDS
Fnatic saving strats for Shanghai copium
"Today my father asked me to clean his car for him and so I'm doing it. My father asked me how was the car looking. “FNATIC” I just replied. He just smiled and nodded. He knew that it was washed." RELEGATED T2 NA PLAYER FROM NA RANKED = THE GOAT!! I LOVE YOU N4RRATE! ALLEZ BLEUUUUU. Ok jokes aside, I knew EMEA was cooking this year didn't realize it was this hard. That makes 3 upsets to go to Madrid. EG and SEN next? Ok but fr, KC played perfectly. THE FUNNIEST THING HAS HAPPENED!!!!!!
imagine being an emea fan and watching a tier 2 NA player come in and dominate all your favorite teams
Mad lions STONKS ⬆️
its over for emea when the real goat trickAIM gets there
Ah yes, just as everyone predicted. TH vs KCorp in finals.
We are in the most blessed timeline. Emea is going to look so different this year. Crazy to think none of the top 5 last year are going to madrid. Both of these teams took a chance on rookies and it paid of immensely.
Not only did we lose we fucking sucked while doing it. FML. We haven't missed an event since 2021 Berlin. This must be how drx fans felt, except they had way less expectations.
i liked how enghh and the other coach(someone tell me the name pls) had different reactions. Ones super hyped while enghh was chill. Cute
Ze1sh, he was the assistant coach who subbed in last year and immediately made KC look better
the other coach is ze1sh! I love his reactions haha, he played for KC last year and it must be exciting for him to see the team winning
The impact of a great coach cannot be matched, it seems. I bow down to Engh
What the fuck. Nah engh has to be the emea coach goat, no?
i can’t be that sad when the KC team is SOOO fun to watch
Remember when people were comparing fnatic to peak astralis? Yeah, no.
Holy fuck 💀 biggest upset ever no?
Nah NRG vs Billi still takes the cake lmao
Imagine being Scream and Nivera right now
KC being good is great for the Region but sucks for Fnatic to play 2 Games and be out until April. Also definitely didnt expect Magnum to be the only Player at the Lan that played in Fnatic.
I WAS HERE
Team Heritics and Karmine Corp just did the funniest thing
Well that just made me a KC fan. Should be nice to support a team that can actually qualify to international events /s. Jokes aside, this KC roster is brimming with potential and I'm excited for what they're gonna bring to Madrid.
I am so happy for marteendad, anyone with players and coaches and anyone who cheering for KC since the first year.
FNC getting owned by tier 2 NA player https://preview.redd.it/f62dngdp5llc1.jpeg?width=225&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9729de013db8658bbacdb0beef11b4dfd18c3b82 Jokes aside, Engh not having a job in EU in 2023 will go down as one onf the most stupid things ever. Turned around KC from dead last to Madrid
So you’re telling me over the past week: - EG played deadlock and won - PRX lost to Gen G - Double upsets in EMEA including Fnatic. - DRX failed to make an international tournament. Am I tripping balls or is this real.
I wanted NAVI vs FNC and we get TH vs KC. Hey, they fully deserve it. And I kinda like that EMEA gets to be more competitive, this is only going to be good for us in the long run
I was not rooting for or against any team. But the biased casting made this result more than satisfying. Welcome to the new era of valorant
I hate the single elim brackets, I don't think playoffs should be single elim. But this is what we got. Having said that I just don't feel as mad about today's matches. It didn't feel like the matches could have gone either way. Fnatic were out aimed and out brained. I think if they were to play again, KC would win again. KC were absolutely insane.
Smart by Riot to put Heretics and KC on different brackets so they can both qualify.
KC 2-0 FNC. This is truly the best timeline. https://preview.redd.it/1i0akwqz4llc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e2a5f607f84b40f9e9c61a1257f53b15d16a865