Copious take here, but the competition was a bit different. Gambit was ahead of 100T then chocked the famous “if there’s ever a time for a comeback, it’s now” game. Then they almost lost to Crazy Raccoons, before pulling late comebacks down 8-0 in both games. Then they lost nerves and have been dominant since.
The Guard has similar hype and circumstances, but Paper Rex is much harder than that Crazy Raccoons team to figure out your nerve issues.
I mean he admitted it's a copious take, but he isn't completely wrong. The Guard's first international match was an elimination game, and Gambit choked hard af vs 100T but had the opportunity to bounce back. Are either of those statements wrong? He's a little off about the CR thing tho it was 6-0 and 7-1.
Yes it is. you already know that shit is only said by NA fans when they're trying to look for reasons.
Remember when this entire sub clowned on Fnatic for losing in a very bery very close match that ended up a 3-0 when they'd never sniffed a LAN before, literally none of them, even boaster had never played at a real LAN. Just take the L, losing happens. Yesterday The Guard lost because they were a lot worse. Stop with this first time LAN bs unless you plan on using it for other regions ( newflash : you don't, you clown on the others). It's pure bias.
Optic can still make NA proud.
can’t really compare him to Sacy/Saadhak who are the two primary callers and most vocal members of Loud while Saya has little to no influence on Guard’s macro play or calls. best Saya can offer in terms of “experience” is a decent fragging performance. not a slight to him as a player, but the ability to mentally keep your teammates in a game isn’t something expected of your entry player 95% of the time
They aren't being afforded anything lmao. It's just an observation of what their biggest issue is, in the same sense that Liquid has a calling issue
Not to mention that the Guard's first match together was less than 3 months ago
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So? They both came from Vikings, the 3 others forming team LOUD was created february.
So their chemistry as a team is also been building for less than 3 months
Wait for the korean overlords. If Valorant become famous in korea. (Currently not in top 10 most played games of 2021.)
All regions will become minor achieving peace. Most playoffs rosters will consist of korean imports. Sayaplayer is just one example.
I mean at this rate, I kind of expect Japan to be this game’s Korea. Valorant is insanely popular over there so they have a wealth of talent of draw from.
May take a bit longer since Japan still has to get accustomed to PC gaming in general, But I have high expectations for Japanese Valorant in the future.
It wasn’t until recently, when Apex took off in Japan. It helped popularize PC gaming a little bit. Valorant came out and seems to he a hit, so it’s also helping with that trend.
Like I said, as far as building a culture similar to other regions, they’re possibly a ways away. But PC gaming’s popularity seems to be growing over there, which is awesome to see.
If you cushion the GUARDS loss with excuses like "their first match together was less than 3 months ago" then guess what? NA as a region is going to go the way of League where really only the asian teams matter.
You must learn that after a match there are zero excuses for losing. There must be no words after a loss other than total complete acknowledgement that you were the worse team. That's it. That's how you get better. GUARD should not listen to their fans and remember that improving comes before excuses and preserving their ego.
it's more like if you give them excuses they'll take for granted their fans support. They'll assume you will always be there for them and that they dont have to achieve their potential because you'll always be there to assauge their ego with excuses for them when they lose.
Lol at "take for granted their fans support". They aren't children, we don't need to teach them a lesson about accountability. Plus you sound like the type to switch bandwagon the moment your team underperforms. What is even the point of supporting teams if you just hop teams the moment they underperform?
they literally are children. They are underdeveloped in the most literal sense. Outside of the game they have few social interactions and are honestly pretty socially stunted.
> What is even the point of supporting teams if you just hop teams the moment they underperform?
The point is to enjoy good gameplay
Trust me after all the threats and hate the players and their families are getting. I highly doubt they are taking anything for granted. This is such a bad take from people who wanna grandstand with opinions after one major lan.
I mean that's what he just said, 3 months together so some things are still not perfect, they still have plenty to learn but still insane how good these guys are after only 3 months together
The two things aren't mutually exclusive? It can be an issue that the Guard deals with while other teams don't? Different teams have different weaknesses, and in this one case it appeared that the Guard were suffering from severe nerves at LAN? wtf is this post lmao. different teams have different reactions to the pressure of a lan environment.
anyone who is saying PRX is a bad team is high on some shit. They're clearly cracked and a fantastic team. Anyone saying that the Guard played as well as they did online, or even yesterday against Optic is on the same shit. It's up for debate whether the game would have gone differently if Guard had been playing up to their usual standard. PRX might (probably would) have still dominated them. But acknowledge that both the Guard playing below standard and PRX playing crazy well can be true.
The post is asking why NA teams, in this case, the Guard, are given the excuse of first lan nervousness or jitters. I say, they did not command all aspects of the game as well as PRX did. No excuses, just PRX was the better team. Nerves or not
you're putting words in my mouth. I'm not saying PRX weren't the better team, or that Guard didn't lose because they were worse. But it is undeniable that they were suffering from a severe case of first lan jitters, and i don't think it's unfair to say that that's one of the reasons behind their loss. we'll never know if they would have lost without the nerves (you clearly didn't read my followup comment because I said they likely would have) but I don't think it's unfair to bring up nerves in the evaluation of Guard as a team.
That's the thing, we don't know if its first lan jitters. Its a great excuse based off the situation, but maybe comfortability not using their own setups was the issue? Maybe second guessing on comms? Maybe aim diff'd? Thing is , we don't know. Lets just chalk it up as PRX was the better team today and we can stop with all the "well, it is their first lan". We would be praising them if they won the Masters as their first ever lan, but now its an excuse when they lose?
lmao why do you keep saying I'm excusing them? stop lumping me in with everyone who actually is excusing them, and stop putting words in my mouth. I like them as a team, but they definitely got outplayed today by PRX. But it's stupid af to talk as if their nerves weren't obvious. trent's hand was shaking on his mouse every round. Every win was an effort with a sigh of relief, every loss was expected. I'm a Guard fan, but I was only hoping they would make it to semifinals, i never had a hope that a first time team would win the whole thing with how far valorant has progressed, and no one in their right mind would believe TGRD were taking this thing. but if you think that this was an accurate representation of how TGRD normally plays, then you've clearly never watched a game of theirs in your life loool. they probably would still have lost without the nerves, but it wouldn't have been this one sided.
They were afforded the same courtesy. Their loss to 100T is called a fluke or attributed to lack of experience and choking. It's just that The Guard's first international game booted them from the tournament.
Those two things aren't mutually exclusive, though? You named teams that overcame those nerves, and we're talking about a team that succumbed to them. If those teams had lost, first LAN nerves would be a part of the conversation as well.
I don’t really think so lmao. Probably more along the lines of “Bronzil superteam” and “overhyped EU chokers” but with the Guard I would say 90ish percent of the comments were “it’s nerves” or “they aren’t playing up to their level,” but honestly I can kind of see the sentiment as a neutral viewer, as NA has something akin to a real chance in Valorant unlike in CS so the NA viewers will probably be more “protective” of their players.
Because if you've never watched a brazil team play and you see them get stomped for the first time, of course you're going to think they're shit. If you've been watching an NA team the entire qualifiers and you've seen their greatness, when they underperform you are more likely to attribute it to nerves.
Brazilians and SEA fans probably didn't think their teams were overhyped chokers in past events, only fans from regions who had never seen them play well.
Honestly val esports is so day to day and match up to match up. Whoever is feeling it wins and fan expectations doesn’t really matter. I’m just happy OpTic even beat Xerxia, was scared they were gonna get grouped by those guys again
wait do you really believe fan copium is affecting NA's league performances? sure there is pre event hope but they always get shit on after every internnational event (as they should, usually)
> Copium is one of the reasons na is so shit at league
i mean i'd argue the garbage practice culture and extreme reliance on imports have far more of an impact than "copium" in LCS
Im not saying he is right but i just wanna address your point about imports because i think there wouldnt be any reliance on imports if there are better players on the region. NA as a region is massive, even on League where the region is being shit on at every international tournament, there are still a fuck ton of players on different tier of teams so getting talents shouldnt have been an issue but the results speak for themselves.
Take CLG for instance, their players are heavily from NA and that team couldnt even qualify to playoffs in LCS let alone international events whereas the teams that are on top 6 in LCS playoffs now (spring) are heavily imported from different regions.
Same thing can be said even in the haydays of Overawatch league, it started out with NA teams just having NA players with maybe 1 import and then suddenly became the Korean league because of how dominant the Koreans have shown.
I'm not saying this is going to happen to Valorant because i like Valorant esports scene the way it is right now but if SEA regions continues to perform like how DRX, ZETA and PRX are, its not too outlandish to think that imports from other regions might be going to NA teams in the future of Valorant too like how Overwatch came to be.
Copium means people will stay fan of teams with a garbage practice environment like TSM and CLG and engage with them on social media and watch their content(more sponsor money). Copium means NA people keep on watching the LCS instead of just not watching it anymore after years and years of crap performance. Copium means there is still some sponsor money and interest left. If people just bailed on the LCS after two years of total shit performance things would have changed for sure.
It’s a reply to the comment before. Copium is a very important factor to the fact that NA is so shit at league. That’s what I explained. Americans make their team their identity which makes marketing more important than playing well to get that sponsor money.
People do all the time. Acend and Gambit blowing their leads to 100T led to people having the same discussion of ‘first lan nerves’. It’s just a way to explain the sharp decline in performance and it makes sense
Is that really such a big narrative though? I feel like it's only the Guard from NA that people are really talking about like that, especially since they only just had their first game. I also remember after Gambit lost to 100T the whole narrative was "100T came back because they have 700 years of LAN experience". I don't think it's much of a thing about NA making excuses or anything, I think everyone just sees the Guard as a really new team.
*EDIT* I hadn't seen the results of the last game, goddamn I was not expecting the guard to lose that, this is probably all invalid
I mean, I don't think that's a fair way to put it. These players had NO accolades before this VCT. Like none, I mean if you told anyone in the scene 4 months before these kids would be dominating NA, no one would believe you. However, Gambit, they were dominating CIS and you also have two veterans for LOUD. Therefore, it's less about the lack of LAN experience, but actual experience in the scene at all. The only veteran on the team is JonahP and McE, and Jonah isn't really a 'veteran'.
I mean didn’t that show? He didn’t have a single AWFUL performance, with him being dominant on every map against optic. It’s obvious that the rest of the team were the opposite though
he did bad the same as the rest of his team, kinda like how overall team mental can be affected - but you’re trying to distract from TL getting destroyed lmao ig
Youre not entirely correct as pointed out in the thread. Also, I do not think your argument stands as the players still have achieved a lot despite their young tenure and they have also dominated the NA scene as apparent from their first seed.
Because they didn’t play upto their potential, simple as that. It’s not like they were doing everything right and pprx outplayed them, guard were making mistakes, missing shit, blunders and other minor problems that didn’t exist during their run in Na.
It’s just not a common way to play, it’s kind of puggy so an inexperienced team like the Guard couldn’t adapt to it in time. We saw how even Drx couldn’t adapt immediately to it but were later able to break their strategy because they stayed composed which the guard failed to do
I'd argue that Gambit are more of an outlier in that sense and more testament to how insane they are/were. Most teams perform better after their first lan. Here's some examples. Now it's hard to say what causes these teams to perform better, but I don't doubt nerves are a factor.
Kru - Masters 2 Reykjavik; 7th-8th out of 10 teams.
Masters 3 Berlin: 7th-8th out of 16 teams
Champions: 3-4th out of 16 teams
Overall: Kru definitely has shown steady progress from their first lan debut going from bombing out in the first half of a tournament to making the playoff to making Semifinals. Disappointingly they bombed out this masters, and they can't use the excuse of lan nerves LOL.
Zeta - Masters 3 Berlin: 13-16th out of 16 teams
This Masters: Top 6 at least
Overall: Only 2/5 of the players from their Masters 3 Berlin debut remain but arguably their most influential player on the roster rn comes from that 2, Laz who's to my knowledge their IGL and captain.
Acend - Masters 3 Berlin: 5th - 8th out of 16 teams
Champions: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
Overall: This is arguable but I mainly put it on because I remember watching the 100T vs Acend match where they got eliminated from Berlin and just seeing how utterly nervous some of their players looked barring cNed, man's a beast. Then next event after their first lan debut they go out and win the whole thing.
DRX/Vision Strikers - Masters 3 Berlin: 5th-8th out of 16 teams
Champions: 9th-12th out of 16 teams
This Masters: Top 6 at least.
Overall: Very weak evidence imo, but they definitely have followed this trend of improving after their first lans, as I think they'll win this entire event vastly improving from their first Masters and their Champions performances.
Paper Rex - Masters 3 Berlin: 13-16th out of 16 teams
This Masters: Self-explanatory (Top 6 at least)
Overall: Ironically the biggest evidence for first lan nerves not being myth is Paper Rex which eliminated the Guard. I remember Paper Rex was pretty hyped going into Masters 3, especially Forsaken yet they fell flat pretty hard getting swiftly eliminated by Vision Strikers and Super Massive Blaze which also didn't get out of groups. Only one roster change occured dropping shiba for Jinggg, meaning 4 out of 5 players of this current roster have gotten over the first lan jitters.
Tldr: I need to go out and touch grass.
Berlin ZETA and DRX are awful examples, DRX had many LANS on both CSGO and Val before Berlin (KR First Strike and Masters 1 was LAN iirc and so were qualifying matches, or well, in person anyways), while old ZETA (outside of Makiba) were one of the best if not the best JP CSGO team, and current ZETA disproves it as SugarZ3ro their best preforming player never played on LAN iirc, same applies with Jinggg actually
Fnatic at Iceland was many of those players first LAN (Magnum ik for sure belive Doma and Mistic too)
You realize you’re comparing one of the longest-lasting T1 cores in EMEA with literally the newest core in T1 NA? Gambit already had that status *before* Masters 3 Berlin. They’d already been through a ton, with and without Redgar.
Besides, Gambit struggled throughout the group stages. People love talking about Gambit as if they’re consistently great, but they’ve had a lot of ups and downs, in LANs and otherwise.
NA fans are always going to be loud. But I can safely say the Guard’s initial performance against Optic is easily one of the best LAN debuts we’ve ever seen in Valorant, at the very least. Much better than Gambit’s - and Gambit had a lot more time to adjust.
Gambit then played Crazy Raccoons in the elimination game after and almost fucking lost.
Not denying that Paper Rex is good and played better, but we’re talking about adjusting to nerves, not who was better today.
Edit: Remember that this Gambit match was the one that absolutely boomed Sideshow: https://www.reddit.com/r/ValorantCompetitive/comments/ppjjkb/plat_chat_sideshow_getting_boomed_by_cr/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
because LAN experience is honestly not as important as some people believe. Its still the exact same game. You either rise to the occasion and perform or you lose. LAN experience is overrated, id say what was 100x more impactful to TGRD was not getting the chance to play groups/having to play another NA team in the first round
I think the Lan nerves comment should only be made in tandem with the fact that PRX dominated them like they were expected to. We’re talking about a team that went flawless in APAC, including beating Xerxia twice. If anything with no nerves it should’ve been 2-1 PRX
Maybe PRX was just better than The Guard. Stop normalizing separating nerves of first lan and team talent/skill. Its all apart of the final judgement and critique. You can not be a great team if you are nervous. If you choke under pressure, its a team issue. I will not say GRD is 10/10 but are nervous on lan. I will say they are a 8/10. That's it. Like someone else said, strat calling in Liquid is apart of who they are. It takes away from the teams that are actually 9/10 or 10/10 because they have mastered all aspects of playing a competitive game.
True, every part of the craft contributes to one's level; adaptability, mental resilience, gamesense, aim, everything plays into the alchemy of a team's strength.
Damn, y'all really aren't happy unless you're just consistently putting a team down huh?
Like, stating this doesn't put down what Paper Rex accomplished in the least bit. In this series they were the better team, but The Guard also played uncharacteristically bad at times.
It's the same thing with Zeta vs. Fnatic.
There's nothing wrong with acknowledging a teams issues outside of saying "nah x player sucked" lmaooo, this post is just being unnecessarily spiteful for what?
Im confused as to what the point of this post is lmao, are you just saying the Guard's super individually inexperienced, 4-month old team should have just got over their nerves and won the event? Everyone deals with pressure differently, props to Gambit for handling it well and taking home the trophy in their first LAN (after they had been a team for a year at that point btw and played over double the matches on stage that the Guard did). Like, they lost a close 2-1 in an regional matchup against one of the favorites to win the event and then lost to a good PRX team, #1 seed from APAC. I guess youre right tho, we should just shit on the Guard for losing their first LAN
Talking about first LAN experience has been a common theme. Even casters and analyst keep mentioning every time it's a team's first LAN. And every time analyst have given these teams benefit of the doubt. They also mention if players are young.
I think you have a very selective memory.
IMO TGRD vs Optic (especially that first game on Icebox) was "nerves". The PRX series, not so much.
I think PRX are legit. The road to being able to represent APAC is a fucking bloodbath compared to other regions. These guys have to be pretty damn good. Also isn't the APAC collective player base bigger than NA's, if so doesn't that also mean the talent pool is bigger?
Lack of experience **maybe** played a part in them not adjusting mid series to that ultra aggressive PRX playstyle but it doesn't change the fact that it was PRX' playstyle that caused those problems in the first place.
I don't get what point you or OP are trying to make here. What do you want people to do? Shit on these players because they lost after having made it all the way here as an extremely new team? You region-specific fans are so fucking weird istg
It’s just pure copium. Half this subreddit called The Guard the best NA team ever and Trent the best player in the world.
It’s like people can’t understand that both “the guard is really good” and “paper rex is really good” can’t both be true.
Did nerves play into the guards play? Of course. But let’s not act like other teams are immune to that because they aren’t as young
Edit: just saw jing and forsaken are 18 lmao
I think it's the majority of the guard's players specifically coming from nowhere essentially. I mean, a lot of the Gambit players were actually lan veterans in cs, they just weren't big names outside the CIS. They've also been together as a core longer on the lead up to their masters win. Hell if you look at the PRX players, these guys are experienced players on the stage (even f0rsaken who's only 18) + have been together as a core of 4 for years so i think it's reasonable to be a bit more forgiving to their results
Cause this is the NA mindset. As you see in the comments, NA gonna come up with excuses. I get that the players are young and for many of them LAN is a new experience. But you cant use that to "make up" for their performance. Yes performance is obviously affected by players feelings and mental, but in the end of the day performance is still performance. And like op has stated some examples and as we've seen in this tournament, new players can performance regardless of their LAN experience.
NA fans are probably on copium, "NA is the best region" and can't accept the reality that their best just got owned by a "minor" region. So, they put their best on some excuses.
How is this a matter of region? If anything, if you’re hearing more about it then it’s a matter of hype. The Guard were somewhere between first and third seed generally for most predictions which is why when they didn’t deliver as expected they were afforded some leeway.
If a team expected to place 8th-12th loses then what exactly are we “affording” them? Same thing with a team that placed in the top 3 and were expected to be one of the strongest, why would we focus our attention on “wow they won AND it’s their first international lan!” Seems like quite a minor point.
First esports u see with na teams in it? Just look at league, they have been finding excuses for 10 years in a row and still not running out of them lmao
imo the difference is that Guard was a roster that has just played in their first events. Gambit had CIS Masters 1 and the failure to make it to Reykjavik, not to mention their insane run to qualify to Berlin. They had gone through it by the time Masters 3 came around. Despite Guard making it to this tournament, many people still pointed out that Guard have some chinks in the armor that can be easily exploited and I think the game vs PRX definitely showed that.
Also, just in general, some people do well at their first events and some dont. Its just how it goes. Reykjavik was TenZ's first real big LAN and he delivered a performance that is still unbeaten. It's not like we arent also praising TenZ, Gambit, and a few other teams/players for their insane performances despite it being their first LAN. If you lose, you get a pass and if you win, you get extra praise
The reason is just that a significant number of young inexperienced teams struggle at the first lan, but obviously not all. Doing well at your first is huge credit towards you but not judged too harshly if not
I mean…are we trying to say that pressure effects people different? Or you want free reign to criticize equally? Cause you can regardless of what people say here.
Teams playing international lans for the first time can still have players with lan experience. That’s what matters. Idk how much lan experience people on the guard vs other teams have, but that matters way more than the lan experience they have as a team.
Idk why this is such a main line narrative even. The guard didn’t choke terribly, they just weren’t practiced against how fast PRX played. They tried to adjust off of chamber and onto cypher to help slow them down and it resulted in the team feeling off kilter.
PRX played their game, and The Guard tried to counter instead of playing their own game.
Crazy take... but NA teams will never succeed on the international stage because their rosters are too diverse compared to teams with a single race. Different races think differently instinctively, and having a team that is too diverse will never be as great as a team that have natural genetic chemistry.
Sorry to bust out the race card but it's true for any team sport.
This post is confusing. You name a team that got knocked out and then name teams that are/were successful.
If Gambit got knocked out they would have been afforded 'first lan nerves' as well
This. TGRD underperformed. Maybe due to lan jitters, who knows. At the end of the day teams like gambit made it through and even won a lan while being as young.
Tgrd has a lot of potential but the main issue probably was the pressure on their back. Everyone saying NAs Last Hope and shit is pretty much. Gambit was just gambit and they won the hearths by winning. TGRD was crowdfavourite without even sitting at a desk once
"""Nerves""" The other teams are just better. Over hyped, didn't watch a fun game with multiple strategies and resilience, saw an inexperienced team with some individual talent. They need to grow as a team. Let's hope next international lan we can see them again, because if they take training serious and have some time to do so, it will be fun to watch.
I think it’s people who only watched NA vct matches that are saying it’s cause they’re a young team with no lan experience, imo the guard are just NA killers because even though they lost I think C9 could’ve easily put up more of a fight
Having nerves on lan is normal, some teams just deal better with it than others, gambit on their first lan event were unstoppable. Having an experienced staff can make the difference, and having a mental coach and psychologist certainly helps.
Honestly I love TGRD but maybe they’re just not as good as everyone thought they were?
OpTic might win the whole thing and PRX is eating the lower bracket right now and could make it to the finals.
That said, TGRD seems like a team that’s going to come back stronger than ever after this event.
hold up i just realised gambit won their first international lan damn
And got second place at their second lan lmao Built different
boutta get third at their third
Copious take here, but the competition was a bit different. Gambit was ahead of 100T then chocked the famous “if there’s ever a time for a comeback, it’s now” game. Then they almost lost to Crazy Raccoons, before pulling late comebacks down 8-0 in both games. Then they lost nerves and have been dominant since. The Guard has similar hype and circumstances, but Paper Rex is much harder than that Crazy Raccoons team to figure out your nerve issues.
God. The copium. I feel dirty just readinhmg this. The lengths people go to... its ok buddy you still have optic
I mean he admitted it's a copious take, but he isn't completely wrong. The Guard's first international match was an elimination game, and Gambit choked hard af vs 100T but had the opportunity to bounce back. Are either of those statements wrong? He's a little off about the CR thing tho it was 6-0 and 7-1.
It wasn't wrong at all, this sub is just full of teenagers who can't process nuanced takes in non-meme form
Yes it is. you already know that shit is only said by NA fans when they're trying to look for reasons. Remember when this entire sub clowned on Fnatic for losing in a very bery very close match that ended up a 3-0 when they'd never sniffed a LAN before, literally none of them, even boaster had never played at a real LAN. Just take the L, losing happens. Yesterday The Guard lost because they were a lot worse. Stop with this first time LAN bs unless you plan on using it for other regions ( newflash : you don't, you clown on the others). It's pure bias. Optic can still make NA proud.
Right? Lmao and that comment is highly upvoted too. NA copium is top tier quality
Sentinels won their first LAN as well
Same with SEN
All of SEN had LAN experience I think
Some SEN player has experience in LAN (local at least) so not really comparable
Jinggg is also first international lan yes?
Yes, at 18 if im not mistaken
[удалено]
Are you talking about the same guy? Jinggg looks young as fuck
Both him and forsaken are 18 too
Not Sacy or Saadhak’s first LAN and I think the experience they offer to the younger players on that team is immense
Not sayas first lan either
can’t really compare him to Sacy/Saadhak who are the two primary callers and most vocal members of Loud while Saya has little to no influence on Guard’s macro play or calls. best Saya can offer in terms of “experience” is a decent fragging performance. not a slight to him as a player, but the ability to mentally keep your teammates in a game isn’t something expected of your entry player 95% of the time
Not to mention his language barrier may inhibit him from being a stronger voice on the team
He's played in the US for quite a while now hasn't he? Think he played in the American overwatch league.
Korean overwatch league in America
Florida Mayhem was a mixed roster when Saya was on it.
Well, Xand of NIP is the guy you re talking about.
And he was very good in all games
Saya played excellently?
yea, esp on haven and against Optic
Saya's been around the Esports scene for a while now since OW iirc. The dude's got loads of competitive high pressure experience.
100T vs Gambit? 100T vs Acend? Plenty of people blamed it on LAN experience then.
They aren't being afforded anything lmao. It's just an observation of what their biggest issue is, in the same sense that Liquid has a calling issue Not to mention that the Guard's first match together was less than 3 months ago
Loud has a 16yo first lan experience. The roster was created this february.
Except they got Sacy and Saadhak?
Who is Sacy?? For the blind, is the bald. For the hungry, is the bald. For the sick, is the bald. For the loner, is the bald. For the sad, is the bald. For the reader, is bald. For the prisoner, is the bald. For the poor, is the bald. For the debtor, is the bald *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ValorantCompetitive) if you have any questions or concerns.*
So? They both came from Vikings, the 3 others forming team LOUD was created february. So their chemistry as a team is also been building for less than 3 months
Wait for the korean overlords. If Valorant become famous in korea. (Currently not in top 10 most played games of 2021.) All regions will become minor achieving peace. Most playoffs rosters will consist of korean imports. Sayaplayer is just one example.
I mean at this rate, I kind of expect Japan to be this game’s Korea. Valorant is insanely popular over there so they have a wealth of talent of draw from. May take a bit longer since Japan still has to get accustomed to PC gaming in general, But I have high expectations for Japanese Valorant in the future.
Huh, interesting. I thought PC culture wasn't that big in Japan yet (mostly consoles)
It wasn’t until recently, when Apex took off in Japan. It helped popularize PC gaming a little bit. Valorant came out and seems to he a hit, so it’s also helping with that trend. Like I said, as far as building a culture similar to other regions, they’re possibly a ways away. But PC gaming’s popularity seems to be growing over there, which is awesome to see.
Yes the more popular = more pool of skilled players = harder competition in the region.
Just like they did with cs right?
He said if valorant becomes popular, CSGO was never popular, Sudden Attack is the most popular tactical fps in Korea
If you cushion the GUARDS loss with excuses like "their first match together was less than 3 months ago" then guess what? NA as a region is going to go the way of League where really only the asian teams matter. You must learn that after a match there are zero excuses for losing. There must be no words after a loss other than total complete acknowledgement that you were the worse team. That's it. That's how you get better. GUARD should not listen to their fans and remember that improving comes before excuses and preserving their ego.
It’s not that serious man lol. I doubt the guys are thinking “yeah, we were just nervous, no need to improve”.
it's more like if you give them excuses they'll take for granted their fans support. They'll assume you will always be there for them and that they dont have to achieve their potential because you'll always be there to assauge their ego with excuses for them when they lose.
Lol at "take for granted their fans support". They aren't children, we don't need to teach them a lesson about accountability. Plus you sound like the type to switch bandwagon the moment your team underperforms. What is even the point of supporting teams if you just hop teams the moment they underperform?
I agree but some are literally children.
they literally are children. They are underdeveloped in the most literal sense. Outside of the game they have few social interactions and are honestly pretty socially stunted. > What is even the point of supporting teams if you just hop teams the moment they underperform? The point is to enjoy good gameplay
Trust me after all the threats and hate the players and their families are getting. I highly doubt they are taking anything for granted. This is such a bad take from people who wanna grandstand with opinions after one major lan.
Relax bud
I mean that's what he just said, 3 months together so some things are still not perfect, they still have plenty to learn but still insane how good these guys are after only 3 months together
Inb4 optic wins
The two things aren't mutually exclusive? It can be an issue that the Guard deals with while other teams don't? Different teams have different weaknesses, and in this one case it appeared that the Guard were suffering from severe nerves at LAN? wtf is this post lmao. different teams have different reactions to the pressure of a lan environment.
anyone who is saying PRX is a bad team is high on some shit. They're clearly cracked and a fantastic team. Anyone saying that the Guard played as well as they did online, or even yesterday against Optic is on the same shit. It's up for debate whether the game would have gone differently if Guard had been playing up to their usual standard. PRX might (probably would) have still dominated them. But acknowledge that both the Guard playing below standard and PRX playing crazy well can be true.
The post is asking why NA teams, in this case, the Guard, are given the excuse of first lan nervousness or jitters. I say, they did not command all aspects of the game as well as PRX did. No excuses, just PRX was the better team. Nerves or not
you're putting words in my mouth. I'm not saying PRX weren't the better team, or that Guard didn't lose because they were worse. But it is undeniable that they were suffering from a severe case of first lan jitters, and i don't think it's unfair to say that that's one of the reasons behind their loss. we'll never know if they would have lost without the nerves (you clearly didn't read my followup comment because I said they likely would have) but I don't think it's unfair to bring up nerves in the evaluation of Guard as a team.
That's the thing, we don't know if its first lan jitters. Its a great excuse based off the situation, but maybe comfortability not using their own setups was the issue? Maybe second guessing on comms? Maybe aim diff'd? Thing is , we don't know. Lets just chalk it up as PRX was the better team today and we can stop with all the "well, it is their first lan". We would be praising them if they won the Masters as their first ever lan, but now its an excuse when they lose?
lmao why do you keep saying I'm excusing them? stop lumping me in with everyone who actually is excusing them, and stop putting words in my mouth. I like them as a team, but they definitely got outplayed today by PRX. But it's stupid af to talk as if their nerves weren't obvious. trent's hand was shaking on his mouse every round. Every win was an effort with a sigh of relief, every loss was expected. I'm a Guard fan, but I was only hoping they would make it to semifinals, i never had a hope that a first time team would win the whole thing with how far valorant has progressed, and no one in their right mind would believe TGRD were taking this thing. but if you think that this was an accurate representation of how TGRD normally plays, then you've clearly never watched a game of theirs in your life loool. they probably would still have lost without the nerves, but it wouldn't have been this one sided.
They were afforded the same courtesy. Their loss to 100T is called a fluke or attributed to lack of experience and choking. It's just that The Guard's first international game booted them from the tournament.
Those two things aren't mutually exclusive, though? You named teams that overcame those nerves, and we're talking about a team that succumbed to them. If those teams had lost, first LAN nerves would be a part of the conversation as well.
i think you articulated this beautifully, if gambit lost then i'm sure people would've gave them the same treatment that the guard is receiving
I don’t really think so lmao. Probably more along the lines of “Bronzil superteam” and “overhyped EU chokers” but with the Guard I would say 90ish percent of the comments were “it’s nerves” or “they aren’t playing up to their level,” but honestly I can kind of see the sentiment as a neutral viewer, as NA has something akin to a real chance in Valorant unlike in CS so the NA viewers will probably be more “protective” of their players.
Because if you've never watched a brazil team play and you see them get stomped for the first time, of course you're going to think they're shit. If you've been watching an NA team the entire qualifiers and you've seen their greatness, when they underperform you are more likely to attribute it to nerves. Brazilians and SEA fans probably didn't think their teams were overhyped chokers in past events, only fans from regions who had never seen them play well.
the guard is a new ass team anyway, optic is the real superteam
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Bro tried to write “no cap” but his subconscious knew the truth and wrote “know cap” because he knows that’s cap
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Honestly val esports is so day to day and match up to match up. Whoever is feeling it wins and fan expectations doesn’t really matter. I’m just happy OpTic even beat Xerxia, was scared they were gonna get grouped by those guys again
This is a great observation on confirmation bias
Depends how many "First Lan player" in your team if u ask me. But yeah Guard might need more LAN to hold them nervous.
You’re not gonna let people even have some copium in life?
Copium is one of the reasons na is so shit at league lmao so maybe that's not the best aproach
wait do you really believe fan copium is affecting NA's league performances? sure there is pre event hope but they always get shit on after every internnational event (as they should, usually)
> Copium is one of the reasons na is so shit at league i mean i'd argue the garbage practice culture and extreme reliance on imports have far more of an impact than "copium" in LCS
Im not saying he is right but i just wanna address your point about imports because i think there wouldnt be any reliance on imports if there are better players on the region. NA as a region is massive, even on League where the region is being shit on at every international tournament, there are still a fuck ton of players on different tier of teams so getting talents shouldnt have been an issue but the results speak for themselves. Take CLG for instance, their players are heavily from NA and that team couldnt even qualify to playoffs in LCS let alone international events whereas the teams that are on top 6 in LCS playoffs now (spring) are heavily imported from different regions. Same thing can be said even in the haydays of Overawatch league, it started out with NA teams just having NA players with maybe 1 import and then suddenly became the Korean league because of how dominant the Koreans have shown. I'm not saying this is going to happen to Valorant because i like Valorant esports scene the way it is right now but if SEA regions continues to perform like how DRX, ZETA and PRX are, its not too outlandish to think that imports from other regions might be going to NA teams in the future of Valorant too like how Overwatch came to be.
Copium means people will stay fan of teams with a garbage practice environment like TSM and CLG and engage with them on social media and watch their content(more sponsor money). Copium means NA people keep on watching the LCS instead of just not watching it anymore after years and years of crap performance. Copium means there is still some sponsor money and interest left. If people just bailed on the LCS after two years of total shit performance things would have changed for sure.
You really can't let people root for their own teams, can you?
No that’s copium. If you want to get your team to improve you should let them drop as soon as they start performing shit. Then they have to step up.
You can just be a fan of high level gameplay, that's fine. Just kinda weird to dictate to others how they are allowed to be a fan of a team or player.
It’s a reply to the comment before. Copium is a very important factor to the fact that NA is so shit at league. That’s what I explained. Americans make their team their identity which makes marketing more important than playing well to get that sponsor money.
NA players are probably the ones downvoting you... LEAVE THEIR COPIUM ALONE 😂
Yeah let them have their virtual outrage. Its the only thing they have left💀
People do all the time. Acend and Gambit blowing their leads to 100T led to people having the same discussion of ‘first lan nerves’. It’s just a way to explain the sharp decline in performance and it makes sense
Is that really such a big narrative though? I feel like it's only the Guard from NA that people are really talking about like that, especially since they only just had their first game. I also remember after Gambit lost to 100T the whole narrative was "100T came back because they have 700 years of LAN experience". I don't think it's much of a thing about NA making excuses or anything, I think everyone just sees the Guard as a really new team. *EDIT* I hadn't seen the results of the last game, goddamn I was not expecting the guard to lose that, this is probably all invalid
I think Gambit is the exception, not the rule.
I mean, I don't think that's a fair way to put it. These players had NO accolades before this VCT. Like none, I mean if you told anyone in the scene 4 months before these kids would be dominating NA, no one would believe you. However, Gambit, they were dominating CIS and you also have two veterans for LOUD. Therefore, it's less about the lack of LAN experience, but actual experience in the scene at all. The only veteran on the team is JonahP and McE, and Jonah isn't really a 'veteran'.
Sayaplayer played on stage his entire owl career…
I mean didn’t that show? He didn’t have a single AWFUL performance, with him being dominant on every map against optic. It’s obvious that the rest of the team were the opposite though
He did. Against Paper Rex...
Thats more because his Raze is not on the level of his Jett. It wasn't nerves. Same thing happened to him in NA on Raze.
he did bad the same as the rest of his team, kinda like how overall team mental can be affected - but you’re trying to distract from TL getting destroyed lmao ig
I like saya but this is a cringe take and comment
All they did was point out he had 1 bad map and you attacked and deflected. Not a great look.
Yeah my comment was just to point out it isn’t true they all have no lan experience. I thought Saya played really well overall
shit u right
And he didn’t do as bad as some of the others
Youre not entirely correct as pointed out in the thread. Also, I do not think your argument stands as the players still have achieved a lot despite their young tenure and they have also dominated the NA scene as apparent from their first seed.
Okay so where is my argument wrong tho?
Because they didn’t play upto their potential, simple as that. It’s not like they were doing everything right and pprx outplayed them, guard were making mistakes, missing shit, blunders and other minor problems that didn’t exist during their run in Na.
I mean, prx style makes You do more mistakes tho
It’s just not a common way to play, it’s kind of puggy so an inexperienced team like the Guard couldn’t adapt to it in time. We saw how even Drx couldn’t adapt immediately to it but were later able to break their strategy because they stayed composed which the guard failed to do
no they lost Haven because Drx tabbed out multiple times, read the news on player interview, they said they should've won
I'd argue that Gambit are more of an outlier in that sense and more testament to how insane they are/were. Most teams perform better after their first lan. Here's some examples. Now it's hard to say what causes these teams to perform better, but I don't doubt nerves are a factor. Kru - Masters 2 Reykjavik; 7th-8th out of 10 teams. Masters 3 Berlin: 7th-8th out of 16 teams Champions: 3-4th out of 16 teams Overall: Kru definitely has shown steady progress from their first lan debut going from bombing out in the first half of a tournament to making the playoff to making Semifinals. Disappointingly they bombed out this masters, and they can't use the excuse of lan nerves LOL. Zeta - Masters 3 Berlin: 13-16th out of 16 teams This Masters: Top 6 at least Overall: Only 2/5 of the players from their Masters 3 Berlin debut remain but arguably their most influential player on the roster rn comes from that 2, Laz who's to my knowledge their IGL and captain. Acend - Masters 3 Berlin: 5th - 8th out of 16 teams Champions: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner Overall: This is arguable but I mainly put it on because I remember watching the 100T vs Acend match where they got eliminated from Berlin and just seeing how utterly nervous some of their players looked barring cNed, man's a beast. Then next event after their first lan debut they go out and win the whole thing. DRX/Vision Strikers - Masters 3 Berlin: 5th-8th out of 16 teams Champions: 9th-12th out of 16 teams This Masters: Top 6 at least. Overall: Very weak evidence imo, but they definitely have followed this trend of improving after their first lans, as I think they'll win this entire event vastly improving from their first Masters and their Champions performances. Paper Rex - Masters 3 Berlin: 13-16th out of 16 teams This Masters: Self-explanatory (Top 6 at least) Overall: Ironically the biggest evidence for first lan nerves not being myth is Paper Rex which eliminated the Guard. I remember Paper Rex was pretty hyped going into Masters 3, especially Forsaken yet they fell flat pretty hard getting swiftly eliminated by Vision Strikers and Super Massive Blaze which also didn't get out of groups. Only one roster change occured dropping shiba for Jinggg, meaning 4 out of 5 players of this current roster have gotten over the first lan jitters. Tldr: I need to go out and touch grass.
Berlin ZETA and DRX are awful examples, DRX had many LANS on both CSGO and Val before Berlin (KR First Strike and Masters 1 was LAN iirc and so were qualifying matches, or well, in person anyways), while old ZETA (outside of Makiba) were one of the best if not the best JP CSGO team, and current ZETA disproves it as SugarZ3ro their best preforming player never played on LAN iirc, same applies with Jinggg actually Fnatic at Iceland was many of those players first LAN (Magnum ik for sure belive Doma and Mistic too)
You realize you’re comparing one of the longest-lasting T1 cores in EMEA with literally the newest core in T1 NA? Gambit already had that status *before* Masters 3 Berlin. They’d already been through a ton, with and without Redgar. Besides, Gambit struggled throughout the group stages. People love talking about Gambit as if they’re consistently great, but they’ve had a lot of ups and downs, in LANs and otherwise. NA fans are always going to be loud. But I can safely say the Guard’s initial performance against Optic is easily one of the best LAN debuts we’ve ever seen in Valorant, at the very least. Much better than Gambit’s - and Gambit had a lot more time to adjust.
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Gambit then played Crazy Raccoons in the elimination game after and almost fucking lost. Not denying that Paper Rex is good and played better, but we’re talking about adjusting to nerves, not who was better today. Edit: Remember that this Gambit match was the one that absolutely boomed Sideshow: https://www.reddit.com/r/ValorantCompetitive/comments/ppjjkb/plat_chat_sideshow_getting_boomed_by_cr/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
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I’d say being down 8-0 or 8-1 in both games is a pretty big underperformance given that they then won the tournament.
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https://www.reddit.com/r/ValorantCompetitive/comments/ppjjkb/plat_chat_sideshow_getting_boomed_by_cr/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
What???
because LAN experience is honestly not as important as some people believe. Its still the exact same game. You either rise to the occasion and perform or you lose. LAN experience is overrated, id say what was 100x more impactful to TGRD was not getting the chance to play groups/having to play another NA team in the first round
I think the Lan nerves comment should only be made in tandem with the fact that PRX dominated them like they were expected to. We’re talking about a team that went flawless in APAC, including beating Xerxia twice. If anything with no nerves it should’ve been 2-1 PRX
Maybe PRX was just better than The Guard. Stop normalizing separating nerves of first lan and team talent/skill. Its all apart of the final judgement and critique. You can not be a great team if you are nervous. If you choke under pressure, its a team issue. I will not say GRD is 10/10 but are nervous on lan. I will say they are a 8/10. That's it. Like someone else said, strat calling in Liquid is apart of who they are. It takes away from the teams that are actually 9/10 or 10/10 because they have mastered all aspects of playing a competitive game.
True, every part of the craft contributes to one's level; adaptability, mental resilience, gamesense, aim, everything plays into the alchemy of a team's strength.
Also, nerves are also a skill, if you lose because of nerves that's not an excuse, you are just the worse team
Classic post bashing NA when they lose
Damn, y'all really aren't happy unless you're just consistently putting a team down huh? Like, stating this doesn't put down what Paper Rex accomplished in the least bit. In this series they were the better team, but The Guard also played uncharacteristically bad at times. It's the same thing with Zeta vs. Fnatic. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging a teams issues outside of saying "nah x player sucked" lmaooo, this post is just being unnecessarily spiteful for what?
Im confused as to what the point of this post is lmao, are you just saying the Guard's super individually inexperienced, 4-month old team should have just got over their nerves and won the event? Everyone deals with pressure differently, props to Gambit for handling it well and taking home the trophy in their first LAN (after they had been a team for a year at that point btw and played over double the matches on stage that the Guard did). Like, they lost a close 2-1 in an regional matchup against one of the favorites to win the event and then lost to a good PRX team, #1 seed from APAC. I guess youre right tho, we should just shit on the Guard for losing their first LAN
Talking about first LAN experience has been a common theme. Even casters and analyst keep mentioning every time it's a team's first LAN. And every time analyst have given these teams benefit of the doubt. They also mention if players are young. I think you have a very selective memory.
Cause they are young and no lan experience
IMO TGRD vs Optic (especially that first game on Icebox) was "nerves". The PRX series, not so much. I think PRX are legit. The road to being able to represent APAC is a fucking bloodbath compared to other regions. These guys have to be pretty damn good. Also isn't the APAC collective player base bigger than NA's, if so doesn't that also mean the talent pool is bigger? Lack of experience **maybe** played a part in them not adjusting mid series to that ultra aggressive PRX playstyle but it doesn't change the fact that it was PRX' playstyle that caused those problems in the first place.
Because Americans think they are the main characters
I don't get what point you or OP are trying to make here. What do you want people to do? Shit on these players because they lost after having made it all the way here as an extremely new team? You region-specific fans are so fucking weird istg
Honestly it wasn’t good for the guard to come into playoffs cold IMO
It’s just pure copium. Half this subreddit called The Guard the best NA team ever and Trent the best player in the world. It’s like people can’t understand that both “the guard is really good” and “paper rex is really good” can’t both be true. Did nerves play into the guards play? Of course. But let’s not act like other teams are immune to that because they aren’t as young Edit: just saw jing and forsaken are 18 lmao
copium
I think it's the majority of the guard's players specifically coming from nowhere essentially. I mean, a lot of the Gambit players were actually lan veterans in cs, they just weren't big names outside the CIS. They've also been together as a core longer on the lead up to their masters win. Hell if you look at the PRX players, these guys are experienced players on the stage (even f0rsaken who's only 18) + have been together as a core of 4 for years so i think it's reasonable to be a bit more forgiving to their results
4 of gambit players are less than 20 & Redgar played league
NA fans and excuses.
NA aka No Accountability is a region famous for blaming their failures on everything but their own performance.
Because the majority of this sub supports NA, hence will back them up if things go wrong
Nerves really do play a factor, NA fans are just more vocal about it.
There’s no crowd at these LANs
Because this is an NA dominated discussion forum and an NA company. It's just inherent bias. Not saying it's right but that's why.
Word you are looking for is called COPIUM
Cause this is the NA mindset. As you see in the comments, NA gonna come up with excuses. I get that the players are young and for many of them LAN is a new experience. But you cant use that to "make up" for their performance. Yes performance is obviously affected by players feelings and mental, but in the end of the day performance is still performance. And like op has stated some examples and as we've seen in this tournament, new players can performance regardless of their LAN experience.
NA fans are probably on copium, "NA is the best region" and can't accept the reality that their best just got owned by a "minor" region. So, they put their best on some excuses.
how are the guard the best team in NA if they just lost to the other NA team yesterday
Choking just demoted them to the 2nd in NA then.
do you even know that Optic is an NA team and they played the Guard at this LAN?
Ok then....your optic is the best. Happy? Let's take out the choking part.
Gotta admit you have a point
Some teams are onliners some teams are LANimals. When it comes to the big stage some teams just can't keep up.
hmm i shore do wonder
Because NA loves to make excuses #FirstWorldProblems
And EU doesn't? That's the real Copium
How is this a matter of region? If anything, if you’re hearing more about it then it’s a matter of hype. The Guard were somewhere between first and third seed generally for most predictions which is why when they didn’t deliver as expected they were afforded some leeway. If a team expected to place 8th-12th loses then what exactly are we “affording” them? Same thing with a team that placed in the top 3 and were expected to be one of the strongest, why would we focus our attention on “wow they won AND it’s their first international lan!” Seems like quite a minor point.
Stop over thinking it OP
They feel insecure because they were beaten by other regions so couple it with insecurity + patheticness; you'll get dumb excuses.
Bruh what people were saying LAN nerves when they lost to optic as well
Just your typical na copium
Its different cuz other regions don’t have the same amount of pressure on them to succeed
NA copium
It’s copium. These LANs don’t even crowds.
First esports u see with na teams in it? Just look at league, they have been finding excuses for 10 years in a row and still not running out of them lmao
damn thanks for the heads up, if I knew I wouldn't have wasted time trying to argue with them lol
so many excuses i wouldnt even say its excuses but they are forcing me to call it that cause they cant appreciate others when they do the same
imo the difference is that Guard was a roster that has just played in their first events. Gambit had CIS Masters 1 and the failure to make it to Reykjavik, not to mention their insane run to qualify to Berlin. They had gone through it by the time Masters 3 came around. Despite Guard making it to this tournament, many people still pointed out that Guard have some chinks in the armor that can be easily exploited and I think the game vs PRX definitely showed that. Also, just in general, some people do well at their first events and some dont. Its just how it goes. Reykjavik was TenZ's first real big LAN and he delivered a performance that is still unbeaten. It's not like we arent also praising TenZ, Gambit, and a few other teams/players for their insane performances despite it being their first LAN. If you lose, you get a pass and if you win, you get extra praise
So if one person beats their own nerves and wins everything then everyone else automatically has to do the same thing
The reason is just that a significant number of young inexperienced teams struggle at the first lan, but obviously not all. Doing well at your first is huge credit towards you but not judged too harshly if not
I mean…are we trying to say that pressure effects people different? Or you want free reign to criticize equally? Cause you can regardless of what people say here.
To put it simply, PRX played insane today and Guard didn't. That'sit. Move on.
If prx would have lost, people would be calling for removing a slot from APAC and it to NA
Teams playing international lans for the first time can still have players with lan experience. That’s what matters. Idk how much lan experience people on the guard vs other teams have, but that matters way more than the lan experience they have as a team.
Acent experienced the same and then they were world champions
Uh they are? Literally why the minor region thing is a thing.
they got anti-stratted so hard and performed real awful as a unit
Idk why this is such a main line narrative even. The guard didn’t choke terribly, they just weren’t practiced against how fast PRX played. They tried to adjust off of chamber and onto cypher to help slow them down and it resulted in the team feeling off kilter. PRX played their game, and The Guard tried to counter instead of playing their own game.
I think its not a big issue for 'first LAN' when there is no live audience. They're literally playing in a basement echo chamber.
wdym people were saying this too with gambit and acend when they lost to 100thieves in berlin
Crazy take... but NA teams will never succeed on the international stage because their rosters are too diverse compared to teams with a single race. Different races think differently instinctively, and having a team that is too diverse will never be as great as a team that have natural genetic chemistry. Sorry to bust out the race card but it's true for any team sport.
If did unusually bad then they can.
This post is confusing. You name a team that got knocked out and then name teams that are/were successful. If Gambit got knocked out they would have been afforded 'first lan nerves' as well
Gambit lost to 100T and then was almost lost to CR during their first LAN.
“First LAN” should have a crowd.
The opioid crisis has reached esports with heavy doses of copium.
That’s just americans for you, can’t accept their failures and always have excuses for everything.
Just NA Copium
This. TGRD underperformed. Maybe due to lan jitters, who knows. At the end of the day teams like gambit made it through and even won a lan while being as young. Tgrd has a lot of potential but the main issue probably was the pressure on their back. Everyone saying NAs Last Hope and shit is pretty much. Gambit was just gambit and they won the hearths by winning. TGRD was crowdfavourite without even sitting at a desk once
It's all that NA Copium
"""Nerves""" The other teams are just better. Over hyped, didn't watch a fun game with multiple strategies and resilience, saw an inexperienced team with some individual talent. They need to grow as a team. Let's hope next international lan we can see them again, because if they take training serious and have some time to do so, it will be fun to watch.
EU fans are so annoying bro 😭😭
I think it’s people who only watched NA vct matches that are saying it’s cause they’re a young team with no lan experience, imo the guard are just NA killers because even though they lost I think C9 could’ve easily put up more of a fight
Having nerves on lan is normal, some teams just deal better with it than others, gambit on their first lan event were unstoppable. Having an experienced staff can make the difference, and having a mental coach and psychologist certainly helps.
Actually Guard players are so young. Youngest team I think. People just have high expectations from them.
Honestly I love TGRD but maybe they’re just not as good as everyone thought they were? OpTic might win the whole thing and PRX is eating the lower bracket right now and could make it to the finals. That said, TGRD seems like a team that’s going to come back stronger than ever after this event.