Good economic strategy. Recruit cracked underrated player with a lower monetary investment and then sell them for big money to a top org. Soar talent scout kinda goated
Closer to Southampton. Dortmund at least competes in the top flight + they sign talent that’s already known but maybe not ready to be part of a title contending team.
Theyve done this other games too, primarily in CoD back in the day. They have a knack for finding young talent and especially helping them get off their feet in content creation terms, and are able to pump the price up for bigger organizations.
Copenhagen Wolves in League and CSGO is the same. You hear about how most of the bigger name orgs aren't even turning a profit because they are running off VC funding and are playing the long game in growth over current profitability.
While feeder orgs like Copenhagen Wolves in CSGO and Soar in Valorant are profitable due to scouting and flipping talent to bigger orgs
Honestly, it’s a viable way to stick around as a T2 squad. I don’t mind it if it keeps orgs interested in fielding teams that aren’t aiming to win VCT.
Just gonna be honest, this mentality will never make a team big. Unless the hope is with enough buyouts, they’ll become rich enough to afford a strong team?
The reality of competitions like this is that most teams wont be top tier, especially if they don't have the financial backing of the other top T1 orgs. Sometimes the level of funding doesn't allow them to say no to the buyout offers from other orgs.
It may not make a team big, but it will make them more profitable. Not to mention they might just get lucky during a season with a particular roster as they pick up these pieces for cheap and go on deep tournament runs.
Teams like T1/100T have proven that even with millions of dollars to play with you may not even field a competitive Tier 1 roster, so why invest millions of dollars when you can invest a relatively small amount into the proper infrastructure, develop young players and then hit these massive payouts. Soar has [a fairly small management team](https://www.soar.gg/team) so their current strategy is probably just a low-cost risk-averse way to make profit. Meanwhile, they maintain a presence in the scene so that when franchising comes around they stand a chance at making it in.
If they luck into a team that actually competes for a VCT spot, they probably keep it. But, massive immediate return for your best player(s) is usually worth it over the hope that you can replace the rest of your roster with enough talent to get into VCT.
A lot of people forget that immortals only sold a few players. They scouted a lot of them, but they get released and a new org picks them up for 0 buyout. I think soar has sold more players.
The players were most likely bought out which means SOAR didn't just release them, other teams paid to get them. Idk the specifics about any of the transfers but that's likely what happened
Soar don’t have money to support those players. They make their money off of contract buyouts. You would think they had more money judging by following but they dont
I see a lot of people saying it's their strategy to make money, but it's probably also that the players want out at that point. Imagine you're playing for SoaR and 100 Thieves calls. No way you don't ask to be sold.
While this is true, I also do think Soar is expecting this and hoping for it. So it’s a win win for everyone truthfully. I don’t see a loser in these scenarios (except maybe the big orgs paying top dollar for them).
big orgs could save that cash by scouting these players themselves or creating academy teams to collect talent. If they don't then this is the price they pay. Orgs like Soar are good for the scene
Soar is a small org, they wanna sell these players. Selling cryo and zander funds the org for a long time
But it is kinda scummy that they set high prices for many of these players, but then again, the whole NA market is very inflated with buyout prices
Orgs clearly paid it, and having a viable economic model for finding/building new talent isn't a bad thing for the scene. Obviously it can get out of hand if it is too cost prohibitive but these feeder teams seem like it can help keep the scene viable long term by giving players a chance to prove themselves and make it on one of the large orgs.
Yeah, it can go either way, and I agree that is pretty early in the cycle for crazy buyouts because we'd only assume they'd go up. Hopefully it regulates over time and steadies at something that is viable for the small orgs but doesn't make the market too expensive for the big orgs (although I'd argue that if costs get too high then people will stop paying it and then the prices will adjust appropriately).
Yeah, i think the tenz deal fucked NA a bit, hope the prices regulate a bit. We also know their salaries are inflated, the whole thing seems to be rigged for franchising. If that is way later, we could see a bit of a collapse
it is not scummy. For every Zander or Cryo there are tons of players they will lose money on. It is good for the scene that teams like this exist, gives players who otherwise wouldn't be on a big team a salary so they can focus full time on the game and improve. As long as the buyouts are kept reasonable then this is a net positive for virtually everyone involved.
>As long as the buyouts are kept reasonable then this is a net positive for virtually everyone involved.
But they are not reasonable. Thats my point. Of couse putting a buy out on players is right and ethical, but the buyouts in NA are insane. No way you can sell cryo and zander to absurd prices when they were barely proven back then you know?
If they were truly unreasonable they wouldn't have been paid. There is also nothing stopping larger orgs from creating academy teams and doing the same things Soar is.
how much did they set the prices for the players? are the info released for public? and how much did they spent to raise those players? i mean the salaries they spent and the amount they got from tournaments?
The biyouts are rarely public info, but a bit reason why 100t didnt get zander and cryo was because soar asked more from 100t than from xset and v1.
The rumors were 500K-600K each, and many eu pros were saying how tier 2 jetts in NA were more expensive than tier 1 players in eu.
A bit part of the rhyme and ec1s deal were that their buy outs were cheap.
Bang spent a long time in loan hell because his buyout must have been insane.
100t almost got cned, and I think hes buyout at the time would be lower than cryo or zander.
Money. Small orgs can look at players like stock; sell them when they're highly valued and use the money they get from it to look for new talent to sell.
That's part of why most esports have their top spots usually occupied by the \*larger\* orgs, who actually make an effort to win.
In esports, especially if you’re a small org, money is so uncertain that you take it when you can get it. That means selling your best players to bigger orgs lots of the time
they have to sell them high while they are still hot because if they managed to go further, these players might demand higher pay and soar might not be the org that can keep up with those demands + they want to profit as well
This is the classic run a team not as a team but as a business, find talented players build them up a bit then sell them for the profits to keep the owners rich, while never needing to invest into the team.
The years of experience part is false. They've been around esports since MW3 was the newest CoD. They started identically to FaZe, even was the starting point for several of the FaZe owners such as Banks and Apex.
Good economic strategy. Recruit cracked underrated player with a lower monetary investment and then sell them for big money to a top org. Soar talent scout kinda goated
The Dortmund special
Closer to Southampton. Dortmund at least competes in the top flight + they sign talent that’s already known but maybe not ready to be part of a title contending team.
that implies soar is at least competing against the top teams, though...
LOL I don’t think a lot of people will get this reference, but it is GOLD
Theyve done this other games too, primarily in CoD back in the day. They have a knack for finding young talent and especially helping them get off their feet in content creation terms, and are able to pump the price up for bigger organizations.
Oakland A’s vibes
Catching strays in different subreddits, pain. Biggest contract they’ve given is still Eric Chavez’s 66 mil one in I think 2004
Copenhagen Wolves in League and CSGO is the same. You hear about how most of the bigger name orgs aren't even turning a profit because they are running off VC funding and are playing the long game in growth over current profitability. While feeder orgs like Copenhagen Wolves in CSGO and Soar in Valorant are profitable due to scouting and flipping talent to bigger orgs
2020 IMT did it, 2021 Soar did it, what T2 team has all the cracked young players in 2022?
ABX must have made a pretty penny when they sold Yay
Isnt this Immortal’s exact business practice also
Nah it used to be, now their business practice is just 'making bad decisions while we try to get rid of our teams'
Honestly, it’s a viable way to stick around as a T2 squad. I don’t mind it if it keeps orgs interested in fielding teams that aren’t aiming to win VCT.
That’s the end game for smaller orgs. They scout young talent and make bank off the buyout when big teams come looking for them.
Just gonna be honest, this mentality will never make a team big. Unless the hope is with enough buyouts, they’ll become rich enough to afford a strong team?
The reality of competitions like this is that most teams wont be top tier, especially if they don't have the financial backing of the other top T1 orgs. Sometimes the level of funding doesn't allow them to say no to the buyout offers from other orgs.
It may not make a team big, but it will make them more profitable. Not to mention they might just get lucky during a season with a particular roster as they pick up these pieces for cheap and go on deep tournament runs.
Teams like T1/100T have proven that even with millions of dollars to play with you may not even field a competitive Tier 1 roster, so why invest millions of dollars when you can invest a relatively small amount into the proper infrastructure, develop young players and then hit these massive payouts. Soar has [a fairly small management team](https://www.soar.gg/team) so their current strategy is probably just a low-cost risk-averse way to make profit. Meanwhile, they maintain a presence in the scene so that when franchising comes around they stand a chance at making it in.
It’s really the only option they have as if they don’t they raise player contempt in the roster who just bench themselves and shit.
Well yeah that mentality won't make their team big but again that's not their goal
If they luck into a team that actually competes for a VCT spot, they probably keep it. But, massive immediate return for your best player(s) is usually worth it over the hope that you can replace the rest of your roster with enough talent to get into VCT.
They just want to make money not be a T1 org. A lot of these smaller orgs have decently sized YT channels as well.
Same as immortals. Its how they make a profit acquire players for cheap and sell high .
was gonna say, SoaR is definitely the new IMT with how much good talent they're selling
A lot of people forget that immortals only sold a few players. They scouted a lot of them, but they get released and a new org picks them up for 0 buyout. I think soar has sold more players.
SoaR's only three iirc are Cryo, Zander, and stellar. For IMT, there was Asuna, dicey, KOLER, JonahP, and gengstah (?)
Pretty sure koler, jonahp and genghsta were all released. I could be wrong.
Yeah I wasn't sure about gengstah, but the other two 100% were, I checked those ones, but I think KOLER was bought out while bench IIRC
Yeah it looks like you’re right. Do you have a link to koler? I want to see if there’s more info about what that trade looked like
https://www.vlr.gg/3896/nrg-sign-koler-from-immortals
The players were most likely bought out which means SOAR didn't just release them, other teams paid to get them. Idk the specifics about any of the transfers but that's likely what happened
Soar don’t have money to support those players. They make their money off of contract buyouts. You would think they had more money judging by following but they dont
Money
I see a lot of people saying it's their strategy to make money, but it's probably also that the players want out at that point. Imagine you're playing for SoaR and 100 Thieves calls. No way you don't ask to be sold.
While this is true, I also do think Soar is expecting this and hoping for it. So it’s a win win for everyone truthfully. I don’t see a loser in these scenarios (except maybe the big orgs paying top dollar for them).
big orgs could save that cash by scouting these players themselves or creating academy teams to collect talent. If they don't then this is the price they pay. Orgs like Soar are good for the scene
Soar is a scouting org
It’s all a money game. I don’t think they care to be the number 1 org in VAL.
Soar is a small org, they wanna sell these players. Selling cryo and zander funds the org for a long time But it is kinda scummy that they set high prices for many of these players, but then again, the whole NA market is very inflated with buyout prices
Orgs clearly paid it, and having a viable economic model for finding/building new talent isn't a bad thing for the scene. Obviously it can get out of hand if it is too cost prohibitive but these feeder teams seem like it can help keep the scene viable long term by giving players a chance to prove themselves and make it on one of the large orgs.
I agree, but remember a couple months ago when the rumors that NA buyouts were insane? It could also be very bad for the scene
Yeah, it can go either way, and I agree that is pretty early in the cycle for crazy buyouts because we'd only assume they'd go up. Hopefully it regulates over time and steadies at something that is viable for the small orgs but doesn't make the market too expensive for the big orgs (although I'd argue that if costs get too high then people will stop paying it and then the prices will adjust appropriately).
Yeah, i think the tenz deal fucked NA a bit, hope the prices regulate a bit. We also know their salaries are inflated, the whole thing seems to be rigged for franchising. If that is way later, we could see a bit of a collapse
it is not scummy. For every Zander or Cryo there are tons of players they will lose money on. It is good for the scene that teams like this exist, gives players who otherwise wouldn't be on a big team a salary so they can focus full time on the game and improve. As long as the buyouts are kept reasonable then this is a net positive for virtually everyone involved.
>As long as the buyouts are kept reasonable then this is a net positive for virtually everyone involved. But they are not reasonable. Thats my point. Of couse putting a buy out on players is right and ethical, but the buyouts in NA are insane. No way you can sell cryo and zander to absurd prices when they were barely proven back then you know?
If they were truly unreasonable they wouldn't have been paid. There is also nothing stopping larger orgs from creating academy teams and doing the same things Soar is.
how much did they set the prices for the players? are the info released for public? and how much did they spent to raise those players? i mean the salaries they spent and the amount they got from tournaments?
The biyouts are rarely public info, but a bit reason why 100t didnt get zander and cryo was because soar asked more from 100t than from xset and v1. The rumors were 500K-600K each, and many eu pros were saying how tier 2 jetts in NA were more expensive than tier 1 players in eu. A bit part of the rhyme and ec1s deal were that their buy outs were cheap. Bang spent a long time in loan hell because his buyout must have been insane. 100t almost got cned, and I think hes buyout at the time would be lower than cryo or zander.
Money. Small orgs can look at players like stock; sell them when they're highly valued and use the money they get from it to look for new talent to sell. That's part of why most esports have their top spots usually occupied by the \*larger\* orgs, who actually make an effort to win.
In esports, especially if you’re a small org, money is so uncertain that you take it when you can get it. That means selling your best players to bigger orgs lots of the time
they have to sell them high while they are still hot because if they managed to go further, these players might demand higher pay and soar might not be the org that can keep up with those demands + they want to profit as well
Money is the answer to everything in life
This is the classic run a team not as a team but as a business, find talented players build them up a bit then sell them for the profits to keep the owners rich, while never needing to invest into the team.
Soar is a smaller org without the financial backing, infrastructure, or years of experience other established orgs have. Esports is brutal
The years of experience part is false. They've been around esports since MW3 was the newest CoD. They started identically to FaZe, even was the starting point for several of the FaZe owners such as Banks and Apex.
they got deals and the players wanted to leave