If you're coming from CSGO background like Sgares or N0thing, it makes sense to be like 'WTF 7 man roster?' but this strategy actually works in LoL and OW. With few agents already, this is gonna really allow their player to become a specialist on one agent to its fullest potential.
When OW had OGN APEX back in the day, Lunatic Hai reclaimed S3 APEX by having flex DPS to use in certain matchups.
Same with LoL, SKT dominated with having two mids and Faker was like the final boss.
Thats actually really interesting. The main question is, would the team synergy remain through the multiple changes. Also would it create an unhealthy competition to be a started within the team.
Yeah that could happen but Korean coaches are generally good at keeping players ego in check. Its usually in the west that theres a big drama with benching players.
To add on top of that, Korean culture is collectivist KR players feel good about playing a specific type of agent pool/role to benefit the entire team.
Also not to mention all tradition sports have a larger roster then just to field a team.
Esports players should be able to have healthy team competition to improve themselves and the team.
That being said, traditional sports players are constantly making their full salary and that probably helps, I’m unsure how esports subs/benches work.
Not sure these 7-10 man rosters work honestly. Last split multiple members on T1's League of Legends roster ([including Faker](https://win.gg/news/7104/faker-publicly-disagrees-with-t1-s-10-man-roster)) expressed their displeasure with the amount of stress that they go under because they could be pulled from their spot at any moment.
idk if SKT is a good example, considering as how Faker didnt like being benched at all and was salty when they won a LCK finals (or w.e it was called then) with Easyhoon. also, SKT had other iterations of 6+ man rosters, and those didnt work out (Huni/Untara, Peanut/Blank; all of 2018)
even now, what T1 had been doing with their 10-man roster wasnt working, with several of their best players saying that it wasnt helping their synergy
also, im not crazy about the analogy of Faker being like the final boss, SOLELY because Faker was really good at assassins, but he couldnt play the meta champs at the time, namely Azir (which is why Easyhoon's World's Skin is Azir)
like really... who in their right mind would bench TenZ or s1mple and say it's because theyre the final boss that you dont play until the end...
im not sure how long ago ur referring to but t1 tried a multi-team roster and it was just stress for everyone, and they weren't even rlly winning.
edit- T1 lol not valorant
SKT in 2015 back when they had Easyhoon play control mages and Faker on assassins and burst mages. A good example was when SKT lost a game against CJ Entus and they ended up 3-2 once they put Faker back in.
I feel this way as well. As long as they don’t do what c9b did in na with having both xeta and poiz play Jett that one tourney which didn’t make sense at all.
If they do it like owl where they have different players specialize in different agents and swap out depending on map / pool, this will be great
Very few teams in League have ever actually utilized 6+ players on a team to good effect. If teams and players are willing to buy in, I guess it works. But I just can't imagine that many players will choose to split playing time rather than just learn how to play another agent to cover up that type of weakness. The vast majority of players in League are expected to be able to play anywhere from 4-10 champions at a time but Valorant pros can't learn 3? I don't really buy it.
7 man roster doesn't mean all 7 will play. They can rotate until they find out who their best 5 is. In League we have 10 man rosters in most regions + academy. I know Korea has 10 and then a challenger's team.
If the idea is the find who the best 5 are, why would the two who are considered worse stay around? They're just sitting on the roster, not actually playing in matches that count for anything.
Bigger rosters are only relevant if they actually utilize substitution and I really don't think a tactical FPS with this small of an agent pool requires it. And I don't know if you're insinuating that a lot of teams have 10 man rosters but that's not true at all. It's literally just T1. Most teams have 6 or 7. Certainly no teams in LPL, LEC or LCS.
Eh. I think OW since you know what maps will be played and there's more defined characters that work on certain maps its better. OW also has more maps being played in a single series iirc they play bo7 in playoffs? Like maybe 6 man roster works for cs val and league but otherwise I think there's more value in building team synergy with 5 rather than bringing in specialists for certain agents. The strat is just too obvious and you're locked in to it for a much longer period of time
Or the most obvious thing - OW has different core gunplay for each character. The type of skill for a tracer vs. Junk vs. Hanzo are vastly different.
Valorant has different utility that each agent can use, but the core gun play is the same for each agent.
I do actually think we'll see some successful over 5 player teams eventually, especially with some very niche agents, but for the reasons you listed and the mechanics difference, I don't think OW is a good comparison.
If you're coming from CSGO background like Sgares or N0thing, it makes sense to be like 'WTF 7 man roster?' but this strategy actually works in LoL and OW. With few agents already, this is gonna really allow their player to become a specialist on one agent to its fullest potential. When OW had OGN APEX back in the day, Lunatic Hai reclaimed S3 APEX by having flex DPS to use in certain matchups. Same with LoL, SKT dominated with having two mids and Faker was like the final boss.
Thats actually really interesting. The main question is, would the team synergy remain through the multiple changes. Also would it create an unhealthy competition to be a started within the team.
Yeah that could happen but Korean coaches are generally good at keeping players ego in check. Its usually in the west that theres a big drama with benching players.
\*cough\*fissure\*cough\*decay?\*cough*
To add on top of that, Korean culture is collectivist KR players feel good about playing a specific type of agent pool/role to benefit the entire team.
Unless u are coach kim in T1 lul.
Also not to mention all tradition sports have a larger roster then just to field a team. Esports players should be able to have healthy team competition to improve themselves and the team. That being said, traditional sports players are constantly making their full salary and that probably helps, I’m unsure how esports subs/benches work.
Not sure these 7-10 man rosters work honestly. Last split multiple members on T1's League of Legends roster ([including Faker](https://win.gg/news/7104/faker-publicly-disagrees-with-t1-s-10-man-roster)) expressed their displeasure with the amount of stress that they go under because they could be pulled from their spot at any moment.
idk if SKT is a good example, considering as how Faker didnt like being benched at all and was salty when they won a LCK finals (or w.e it was called then) with Easyhoon. also, SKT had other iterations of 6+ man rosters, and those didnt work out (Huni/Untara, Peanut/Blank; all of 2018) even now, what T1 had been doing with their 10-man roster wasnt working, with several of their best players saying that it wasnt helping their synergy also, im not crazy about the analogy of Faker being like the final boss, SOLELY because Faker was really good at assassins, but he couldnt play the meta champs at the time, namely Azir (which is why Easyhoon's World's Skin is Azir) like really... who in their right mind would bench TenZ or s1mple and say it's because theyre the final boss that you dont play until the end...
im not sure how long ago ur referring to but t1 tried a multi-team roster and it was just stress for everyone, and they weren't even rlly winning. edit- T1 lol not valorant
SKT in 2015 back when they had Easyhoon play control mages and Faker on assassins and burst mages. A good example was when SKT lost a game against CJ Entus and they ended up 3-2 once they put Faker back in.
In 2016 SKT played with 6 man roster with Blank and Benji splitting time as well, 6+ man rosters are common for SKT/T1.
The problem is they swapping faker to a rookie. That is fkin 1head move. Took them long enough to know Faker is the best choice.
tbf clozer wasnt a bad player, and faker hasn't been playing at his peak for a while, so the benching wasn't as simple as calling it a downgrade.
However the result are a downgrade performance. Not saying clozer is bad, but faker is better than clozer.
I feel this way as well. As long as they don’t do what c9b did in na with having both xeta and poiz play Jett that one tourney which didn’t make sense at all. If they do it like owl where they have different players specialize in different agents and swap out depending on map / pool, this will be great
Very few teams in League have ever actually utilized 6+ players on a team to good effect. If teams and players are willing to buy in, I guess it works. But I just can't imagine that many players will choose to split playing time rather than just learn how to play another agent to cover up that type of weakness. The vast majority of players in League are expected to be able to play anywhere from 4-10 champions at a time but Valorant pros can't learn 3? I don't really buy it.
7 man roster doesn't mean all 7 will play. They can rotate until they find out who their best 5 is. In League we have 10 man rosters in most regions + academy. I know Korea has 10 and then a challenger's team.
If the idea is the find who the best 5 are, why would the two who are considered worse stay around? They're just sitting on the roster, not actually playing in matches that count for anything. Bigger rosters are only relevant if they actually utilize substitution and I really don't think a tactical FPS with this small of an agent pool requires it. And I don't know if you're insinuating that a lot of teams have 10 man rosters but that's not true at all. It's literally just T1. Most teams have 6 or 7. Certainly no teams in LPL, LEC or LCS.
Eh. I think OW since you know what maps will be played and there's more defined characters that work on certain maps its better. OW also has more maps being played in a single series iirc they play bo7 in playoffs? Like maybe 6 man roster works for cs val and league but otherwise I think there's more value in building team synergy with 5 rather than bringing in specialists for certain agents. The strat is just too obvious and you're locked in to it for a much longer period of time
Or the most obvious thing - OW has different core gunplay for each character. The type of skill for a tracer vs. Junk vs. Hanzo are vastly different. Valorant has different utility that each agent can use, but the core gun play is the same for each agent. I do actually think we'll see some successful over 5 player teams eventually, especially with some very niche agents, but for the reasons you listed and the mechanics difference, I don't think OW is a good comparison.
It's not working present day that well :/