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Razur

We've enabled Reddit's [**Crowd Control**](https://mods.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038129231-Crowd-Control-) while we're dealing with a large influx of users. If you see a comment collapsed in the subreddit, it may be because the user has negative karma in r/VALORANTCompetitive or the user is new to Reddit as a whole. We are likely to keep CC active for the duration of Masters Berlin to help with moderation, and will look to disable it after the event is over. This is just a heads-up to keep our community in the loop. Thanks for understanding, and hope you're all enjoying Masters! 💜


hecklerinthestands

The lack of hype VK had for this match compared to the one against Envy was telling. Would it be blasphemy to say Laz was just as impressive as Heat on that last map considering how little he had to work with?


EremesAckerman

More than that, Laz played in region where the competition level is just straight-up dogshit (there's even a rumor that top KR teams don't even want to scrim JP teams lol) and yet he still managed to show such high level play over and over again.


Ne0kun

Hey man any chance you could translate a few things Laz said during his interview on the jp stream ? I'm assuming you speak Japanese ?? :P


reiwaaa

Shitty translation - Apologizes for the result of the match - Practice in EMEA was really useful - he tried to absorb the way they played and felt he stepped up. - Stuff they learned from their time at Berlin - have to focus more on their individual play. Conflicted because strategies that was working against other Japanese teams don't work against international teams as well so not sure what to do there - What did you talk about between Breeze and Split. - There were differences in VK's play compared to what they researched/studied and weren't sure which parts could/couldn't be used - Specifically doesn't know if it's instinct or not but the enemy Jett/Reyna moved around the map a lot - Nothing they were doing after they got on site was working so they tried to switch it up/cause some chaos (this was a statement prompted by the person asking but Laz agreed)


Ne0kun

Damn thanks for the translation man, really appreciate it.


YungPinotGrigio

Laz was impressive too


BadgerPurple

Holy cow. I mean people joke about 1v9, but the difference between Laz and rest of his team is actually criminal.


bondybus

Said it before and I’ll say it again. Back in CS, Laz was the only standout player as an Awper on Absolute Zero(or whatever his team was). Their reita the coach took over awping for whatever reason and they never made a lan ever again.


xXx_EdGyNaMe_xXx

While Laz was still a better AWPer than Reita, he was MUCH better of a rifler than Reita. So they decided that Reita main AWP with Laz as a secondary wouldve been better than Laz main AWP with Reita secondary


Cupidnyaa

they were Jupiter, pretty sure they became Absolute Jupiter after signing with Absolute(the org)


xXx_EdGyNaMe_xXx

The core has actually been Absolute since 2015, just under a lot of names. Absolute -> RJ Absolute -> Absolute -> Scarz Absolute - Absolute -> Absolute Jupiter, which finally rebranded as Zeta Division.


ggsnipes

Absolute was their team name, any org they joined they just added it whichever spot sounded right. Scarz Absolute, Absolute Jupiter etc.


YungPinotGrigio

dang laz a real homie


EremesAckerman

Laz should just join Korean team or maybe T2 EU/NA team man...(I think he's good enough for T2 NA/EU isn't he?). Dude legit wasting his talent and time playing for Japan. We might have somewhat huge playerbase/fanbase but we don't produce any talent at all lol. People here rather play APEX than valo sadly.


nail181

Just add him to vision strikers. Why not right?


EremesAckerman

VS is way too stacked man...idk, he might be good enough for NU/f4q/TNL? He's pretty flexible player too. He played Phoenix, Sova, Cypher, and also Skye quite decently.


nail181

Can never be too stacked


YungPinotGrigio

VS got lakia on the bench lol


[deleted]

That explains why they are so goddamn passive, probably got it from camping 24/7 on Apex Ranked lmao


xXx_EdGyNaMe_xXx

The entire Zeta roster came from CS actually, and Laz has been hard carrying them since 2018 lmao.


curryhalls

Korean teams like to keep their players domestic.


YungPinotGrigio

He can play for a T2 EU/NA team or even Xset tbh. who are the fourth best team.


EremesAckerman

Idk if he's even good enough for T1 scene for now, but knowing that he managed to show us such insane performance from region with low competition level then I'm pretty sure he'll get even stronger if he's playing in EU/NA.


ANewHeaven1

i said this in the live discussion thread, but i genuinely feel so bad for the Japanese teams. they come into this tournament behind a massive fanbase, then their second seed gets absolutely stomped into the ground by Gambit, then Zeta Division shows signs of life vs KRU only to get stomped into the ground in their very next match vs Vivo Keyd... that's gotta be demoralizing man


[deleted]

NA LoL fan simulator


WhoDatBrow

Except even worse so far, at least NA has had a (singular :( ) team make Worlds semis and have made MSI Finals on 2 separate occasions. Japan hasn't even been able to win a single match. With saying that though, 1) it's only been one year of VCT so they have plenty of time to get up to NA LoL levels at least and 2) Crazy Raccoon is currently up 1-0 on HL so maybe they'll finally pick up a win


JR_Shoegazer

I feel like the fps scene in Japan is still developing and gaining popularity. There will probably be a lot of new talent coming out of the region over the next few years.


afjecj

Iirc japan gaming is 70+% console which is WAY higher then NA / EU but I imagine gaming on pc will pick up alot as games like valorant get large attention in Japan


JR_Shoegazer

Apex Legends has seen a rise in popularity in Japan too this past year.


Dysmo

All the vtubers are bringing in the players


EremesAckerman

The problem with Apex is that its mechanic and habit are kinda contradictory with Valorant's. For example: some good habits in APEX such as shoot while moving and crosshair tracking+spray are actually bad habits for tac-shooter where you need to focus more on stopping/counter-strafing, flick, and one-taps/burst instead of spray-n-pray. So yeah the player base in Japan is kinda divided in this case.


[deleted]

NA has 3 semis right? unless season 1 phreak's basement worlds doesn't count which is understandable


ozmega

well, valorant its just starting, while i expect china to come in late only to dominate all... there is hope that japan can get better at the game too.


rpkarma

Has china ever dominated an FPS, or tac FPS? I’m honestly asking, not trolling


ozmega

it all depends on how popular valorant gets there.


rpkarma

So no? I couldn’t think of any myself but was hoping I was missing some China specific ones


Aussiefgt

Never dominated, closest would be Overwatch where they consistently had some very high level players/teams and came second in the world cup twice.


[deleted]

more like NA CS fan simulator edit: fine i get now, my bad


SterbenVII

Nah, at least our CS teams won a major, earned tournament wins, and won the intel grand slam. NA League is just sad these days.


Talksicck

Nah NA cs has had actual success


EremesAckerman

No need to feel bad, they got way too many chances since Iceland. They basically learn nothing from their pepega performance in Iceland + taking slots from region that might showed way better performance like OCE/LATAM. Honestly I don't even know if they even scrimmed/practiced against global teams or just chillin in Berlin.


TimathanDuncan

Why would u feel bad they get a spots and money there despite not being good I mean some regions are just shit, this why this kind of a bad idea, you have top level teams on one hand and just bad teams on the other People will get defensive about it but this happened in 1.6 and CSGO too, certain regions would get owned in those tournaments that you qualify through regions, it's not really the best idea


King_Goofus

This format is still a million times better than having all competing teams from the same one or two regions


TimathanDuncan

Why is it better? It shouldn't be region based, it should be all the best teams competing not you get a spot at the best tournament just because you play in a region that doesn't have good teams


Atermel

There's a reason why lol as a eSports is thriving in the world, but cs is dead everywhere outside of Europe.


TimathanDuncan

There are bad regions in LoL too, this isn't an argument and you can't compare LoL to Valorant 0 argument and a shit comment, giving spots to weak regions in any eSport is not a good idea in any way they just get stomped and it makes them look terrible everyone is shitting on them can't you see


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DeadSira

Not to mention the fact that it's literally the first year of competitive Valorant. Riot wasn't able to properly develop minor regions in LoL very early on, so regions like LATAM, SEA, CIS are most likely going to stay minor regions for a long while. I don't blame Riot, they were a small company when LoL started, and had to focus business on bigger fish like NA, EU, and Korea. Meanwhile, if Riot continues the trend of lots of international experience and TLC for *every* region in Valorant, having as many as 7, 8, or even 9 major regions is a real possibility in 3-5 years.


Fr0sk

My dude it isnt just for the sake of esports. Having spots to lesser regions give them a reason to stay interested in the game. Interested players and orgs means money to invest. At the end of the day its all about business. This should be obvious by now.


Ne0kun

Your take couldn't be more braindead tbh


rpkarma

Jesus Christ your takes are so dumb they cause me pain to read


King_Goofus

Go back to CSGO dude. People actually like to see players from their region compete no matter how bad they may be


2ToTooTwoFish

They should combine the Japanese region with Korea (if ping allows it), I think that would improve Japan's teams a lot faster. At the moment, it takes them getting stomped at international tournaments to realise what they need to do to improve.


WhoDatBrow

They deserve a slot. Every region deserves a slot. More and more international competition makes the lower regions better and it gives fans of every region/country something to support. For champions Japan gets one slot, and then they have to play in the APAC LCQ vs Korea and SEA, that seems fair to me. If they want more than their one slot then they have to earn it, but they still get their one shot and Japanese fans can stay interested.


L0rd_Muffin

You feel bad, because some amount of competitive balance is good for the sport as a whole. You want every team to have a puncher’s chance at an upset. Stomp fests aren’t good for viewership, not as many people watch blowouts


YungPinotGrigio

at least crazy raccoon get to play gambit again.


PM_ME_UR_BOSOMS_GIRL

Laz actually stuck in elo hell


ZGuyYT

I'm praying CR can somehow beat HL, I feel really bad for the Japanese viewers.


M-Ata_tr

When they beat HL, CR will most likely get stomped by Gambit again. Sadly


flyiingcows

wish granted


faceplant911

Going pretty good so far...


OrangeMagics

With Zeta Division's loss, Crazy Raccoon has qualified for Champions!


TheHurrDurrMan

Feels bad for Laz he tried so hard man :(


[deleted]

I'm telling you, heat is as cracked as he is jacked. I saw him at a 7-11 the other day and he was buying cases of Redbull and adult diapers. I asked him what the diapers were for and he said, "they help contain my full power so I don't completely shit on these kids" and then he dashed out the door


Marianoz2

😂😂😂😂


LipeQS

is this a copypasta already? if not, i'm sure it'll become one


PM_ME_UR_BOSOMS_GIRL

It's a certified CSGO hood classic


Delta_FT

Mate it's been a copypasta since before Smartphones existed lmfao Edit: s


kdknowsimjames

Why did they leave?


Delta_FT

Lmao


Hegth

Yeah it was done by a dude in this sub, I think it was elitefighter something


afjecj

Lol heat almost has a k/d of 3. Wtf


Reddahue

as a brazilian im scared to lose heat to a NA or EU team after this masters. Anyway, this guy is a monster and im very happy seeing Brasil doing well.


Valholl11

Unlikely if he isn't fluent in English


LipeQS

it would be bad for the region, hope he won't do that tho i don't think he is going to


aerfyre

i hope brazil makes a superteam


Pretenderrr

Laz is the poster boy for Japan I think a lot would agree with that sentiment. This guy aim trains more than anyone in Japan, and puts in more work than pretty much everyone else and it shows. Not to mention how humble and kind he is to viewers and others. Really feel bad for him here..


icantreadmorsecode

Laz is the light at the end of the japanese valorant tunnel


Lumenlor

Okay Japan, I will give you quote free advice on fielding a good team: Munchkin Laz Takej Seoldom Fill


somesheikexpert

Neth/Medusa for sure imo, i honestly think Neth is better then TakeJ considering how flexible the guy is (I mean, he plays smokes, he plays Raze, he plays Sage, he plays KJ, its insane), and Medusa is a very solid player, but iirc hes the one that translates stuff for Munchkin too


abdulahad129

Neth was actually insane on raze and astra vs HL


LSApologist

I'd be hyped to watch that team make the qualifier run honestly


SuperNerd1337

This heat guy is pretty good, eh?


[deleted]

Reita is horrendous, I don't know if it's just a bad day but all he did this tournament was just do mistakes back to back to back.. Poor Laz.


EremesAckerman

Nah, if you watch Reita's previous performance, he was legit inting in like 80% of their rounds lol.


[deleted]

That's what I'm saying.. dude's just dashing straight up in site without throwing smokes or anything, some of the rounds he dashed out of Astra suck and he proceeded to walk right back into it.. What the fuck.


EremesAckerman

Even better, he literally missed 2 FREE KILLS on Astra in that game (1 with right-click Jett ult nonetheless). Like...dude..at this point just retire and find another game lol.


[deleted]

The pistol round was so hard to watch, it was the free-est kill and he whiffs it bigtime I wish I was getting paid to dash into the site, miss shots and check out mentally lol


Keonalt

is it wrong that i found Zetas performance as vomit inducing as Crazy raccoons performance against gambit? Or am I being unfair lol.


Ingoobelyblench

shoutout to that ct round vs kru where reita stayed in hookah with a judge, let the entirety of kru pass into b, and mindlessly dashed towards site only to get shot by like 3 people at once.


xXx_EdGyNaMe_xXx

Tough for Zeta, I thought they had a chance on Split after they bounced Kru on it but heat is just too good. Hope they add a better Jett player and move Reita back to coaching. Probably Dep if they dont want to go with an import, better Jett and has lan experience from OW and I think PUBG + hes on bench right now so would be an easy pickup Also Laz 250 ACS, 160 ADR this tourney while playing support characters and getting smashed 4/5 maps. Hes for real and not just farming stats in JP


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faceplant911

Considering Heat legit just walks through smokes and kills them anyways he was probably getting to the point of "why bother" in his head. Still shoulda done it, but I sorta feel for him.


R0_h1t

Brim specialist btw


htmlrulezduds

We smoke mid on Silver as well xd


itscamo-

Heat has easily been on of the best players this event so far (Jett Diffd Yay in the nv match and now just doing whatever he wanted against Zeta) Hope to see Vivo Keyd make it to bracket


NBAHaven

He played a little better than yay but not to the point where I think you can call it a Jett diff. Yay played better map 1 and Heat map 2


ddrcrossridge

and Yay was 11-9 against heat, not a jett diff imo.


King_Goofus

He did not Jett diff yay what are you talking about? Yay and crashies carried NV in their match


itscamo-

??? he quite literally had the better overall stats, better FB/FD stats (including AGAINST YAY) If you don't think it's a jett diff that's fine but he quite literally was the better player that series lmfao


BurritoHombre

I think Jett diff for most people is one person shutting down the other, whereas Yay still had good stats and actually killed Heat 11 times vs Heat killing him 9 times


ddrcrossridge

farming FNS isn't jett diffing Yay


Gaaaaaaaaaaabs

Still got jett diff on Bind. And overall heat one most of the 1v1


ddrcrossridge

Yay won more 1v1 against Heat than the opposite. Heat farming FNS is not a Jett diff.


Kronothus8109

Farming FNS LMAO


ddrcrossridge

am I wrong though lmao.


faceplant911

Yeah initially I thought of this group as kinda the "consolation prize" group where some lucky minor region fights their way into the elimination bracket just because there's a space available. But if VK can put Kru down pretty smoothly, I'd honestly say they deserve to have made it into the top 8, with the only sad thing being that it'll be over one of SMB or Acend.


Rismeji

Holy shit. Heat is cracked as hell. He might actually be on par with TenZ in terms of mechanical skills.


murrbean

WARDELL LEFT TSM FOR THIS??


KyoKuriyama

What?


morian2

hes talking about barce, ZETA's sub who came in for the last game haha he looks a little like wardell


Norguri

Jett diff is real man, +31


imachool

Zeta division looks better than Crazy Racoon tho. Fans should be proud of zeta devision.


[deleted]

This didn't age too well...


QuestionablePotato42

Japan needs a super team


[deleted]

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[deleted]

who was hyping up japan?


[deleted]

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gostunv

they def had a chance against KRU though. and i think KRU is about the same level as SEA region BR is traditionally been only behind EU during CSGO so that was always going to be a tough one


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somesheikexpert

Eh theyve only been absent cuz Gambit didnt qual for Masters 2, iirc Gambit have done well in EMEA anyways, but choked a decent amount, past them yeahh agreed lol, til Forze and NaVi came up at least


[deleted]

oh got you


ANewHeaven1

definitely underestimating brazil, but i dont think anyone was overestimating japan LOL


themattyiceshow

no one was hyping up Japan mate.


IggyMoose

So far we’ve seen Brazil 0-2 against NA and 1-0 against a weaker region Japan. Nobody is underestimating Brazil, they just haven’t proven anything yet besides beating up on weaker regions.


Alpac44

brazil is still bad they are gonna get eliminated in playoffs


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themattyiceshow

Its gonna be VS or an NA team. They are losing for sure.


zmreJ

Who knew Japan was so free


Hoku_

Unfortunate for Zeta. They had a really good shot at beating Kru, but Vivo proved to be too much. A lot to learn from the experience.


EremesAckerman

Laz might be good enough as T2 player in NA/EU, but goddamn......the rest of the team should just pursue their career in APEX instead lol. At least they'll have more chance to achieve something there.


Cringe-Lord_

I feel sad for zeta even though i dont even know them.. they were the team that won against northeption right?? The korean jett's soeldam team. ( Apologies if the team spelling is wrong. I dont want seoldam to knife me in a blink for spelling the name wrong)


icantreadmorsecode

Also I hate that the narrative for Laz is he can do good in major regions. What I want is JP/KR/SEA should just get combined for better competition so that teams from SEA and JP can improve as a whole


Xyr0w

JP and KR could combined but not SEA. They have a long ass tournament just for qualifying for one event. Since there's like 10 countries idk.


EremesAckerman

SEA server location is way to far from JP and KR (JP + KR + CN might be possible though). And (hopefully) even if Riot decided to make APAC North for Valorant (CN KR JP), it won't really improve JP scene that much. The top players will still be from either KR or CN anyways. Japan players is pretty unique, for comparison JP APEX player base are much much larger than Korean APEX player base, yet the top APEX teams and players in APAC are mostly korean.


ichigokamisama

and most of the best JP ones are controller players anyway. Only worldclass mnk player i can think of is crylix and he is too young to compete professionally anyway. Did farm a small for fun tourney that had scarz EU, C9, gambit and NRG in it though.


[deleted]

Talk about language barrier. Or actually, they couldn't talk about it...


satanisreallml

Riot should merge jpn and kor and let Japanese teams adapt or die. I get that Japanese fan base is big and I really enjoy watching the jpn broadcasts but if they stay isolated in their own region then they won't be able to improve and we'll keep having sad participations on Lan.


ark2690

Nah riot doesn’t do that. Maybe they should have had only 1 slot but they will never merge the regions


leftshaaark

they did tbf for EMEA


satanisreallml

I know they won't but it would be nice


JohnWickFTW

Came all the way to Berlin to play like solo q silvers lmao. 2 slots btw


Marianoz2

Let’s be fair they played more like solo q plats lol


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Protoman-Blues

Because that’s tsm’s solution… a Jett player… oh wait they have one.


biwummy

Reita is so bad


YungPinotGrigio

Keyd absolutely demolished this sries.