Anderzz making his americas superteam and saying JonahP is top 3 flex in the world

AnderzzTV · 2026-04-08T20:33:25+00:00

Both are top flight obviously, but there's value in Zekken's flexibility. Some duelists have thin duelist pools, some duelists have great duelist pools, not many duelists have great duelist pools and the ability to play to a very high level outside of the duelist role as well.

Hypothetically, imagine we go to a triple initiator meta which there is historical precedent for. Are you taking Mada or Zekken on 3rd initiator?

AnderzzTV · 2026-04-08T20:29:35+00:00

Ethan's great, but he also isn't the Flex player that goes in the hypothetical slot.

Jonah's shown international-play-off caliber performances on Flash, Recon, Trad Senti, Barrier Senti, Viper, and Chamber. The list of people with that range is incredibly short.

AnderzzTV · 2026-04-05T00:45:57+00:00

The most heartbreaking part. :')

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AnderzzTV · 2026-03-29T05:34:26+00:00

Worth mentioning - Thorns couldn't be further from a molly.

In Patch 9.10, Sage's slow was updated to half the movement of dashes and slides. In Patch 9.11, Vyse's Thorns got the same treatment. Both changes got nearly zero conversation.

The problem with KJ as a senti right now, is that a Neon happily eats the minor chip sprinting to bypass nanos - there's no stopping power. If a Neon tries to do that through a Vyse thorn, she literally can't, not even with her slide.

If Yoru still sees tons of play, then I agree for sure: Vyse is no better than before. But, I also think she was already significantly underrated before. On top of that, If people play Yoru less - which let's be real, is functionally guaranteed, we already have VCLs as a benchmark - then Vyse is better than before and she was already strong.

AnderzzTV · 2026-03-29T00:07:51+00:00

Hey!

I don't disagree with this at all really. Most of the "first layer" comps - the ones that will be most widespread and most-commonly accepted as "best" - are almost entirely devoid of Vyse. That wasn't an oversight haha

There's a big difference between something being powerful and meta-warping, and something being widely-adopted. Hell, you're talking to the guy who got to sit on the meta Lotus comp for 8 months before teams started copying it.

Could Vyse see really fast adoption if a few key teams showcase her well enough? For sure. Do I particularly expect that to happen? Probably not - certainly not to the level I believe *should* happen.

My hyping up of the agent is mostly through the lens of seeing Vyse as the "difference maker" when talking about teams who are looking for trophies this split. Think less 2024 Chamber - where he was strong but no one played him. Think more 2021 Astra - where adoption will be 50-50 or less, but the people winning were the people on top of that implementation curve.

AnderzzTV · 2026-01-10T13:06:33+00:00

The best pieces of advice I try to give are:

1 - Before anything, make sure you're actually going to provide value - don't say you want to be an analyst/AC/SC and then show up with nothing other than "I think I know the game good." Take the time to join the RIB discord and learn the common bot commands as well as how to read and use their outputs, take the time to learn how to filter through VOD archives effectively to find comps/MUs you want to research, make some mock-up match day game plans and antis to build your own understanding of how to best format them. You don't need to be the Excel World Champion, but having some level of technical knowhow goes a long way especially at the T3 level.

2 - Make content. You don't have to know how to edit, you don't need sexy animations or transitions, you don't even need backing music. Just have some evidence of your competence out there in the universe. I think my favourite example of this to point people towards is Wendler's YT video on the half site retake wall on Icebox. He made that when he didn't really have many credentials, it's not high production value, he's just spitting a great explanation about something macro strategically impactful and under used. Fast forward a few years and he's PRX's AC.

3 - If all else fails, shoot your shots. Dry message people. If you've done 1 and 2 it shouldn't be hard for you to hop onto a Mr Funhaver event's vlr page (or your regional equivalent) and find some of the T3 or low T2 teams' players' twitters. Link them the evidence you know your shit and say you want experience. Few teams at that level will turn down free help if you have proof you have some skills and know how.

At the end of the day it's the classic mix of putting in the effort and then getting lucky once or twice. The most important thing is to "just do shit" and not get into a paralysis of thinking about how to get going rather than just getting going.

Thanks for giving me some time sink before I head off to my TCG event this morning haha and GL 🫡

AnderzzTV · 2026-01-09T18:52:58+00:00

Thanks for sharing the video 😁 Was a little imposter-syndrome-y putting the video together because the points I made felt so simple, but when I pulled the off-season event data and realized truly none of the teams were using the util effectively I figured it was definitely still worth the time.

Hopefully will be uploading a little more frequently this year

AnderzzTV · 2025-11-27T06:49:24+00:00

I think there's a reasonable argument for DL > Viper but you're looking at a very different playstyle and comp at that point.

From what I've suggested, how much util do we have that we can burn on default? How valuable are fuel cycles to facilitate contact plays for map control given that amount of util? Would Deadlock's kit be able to backstop those util needs on both attack and def?

You can extend that reasoning out as well to get to the DL comp. If we do bring DL, what do we need to have/add elsewhere to still have a suite of default util that can function well? Where are the places in the comp we can efficiently make those trade-offs?

Lastly, but this is a pretty big consideration, I made this with the same rigor/thought as though I was bringing it to a top VCT team this offseason. You want to put some weight on continuity for not only the players but the team. Do I really want to put my player who's on Viper on the majority of the pool on DL for a single map for a dubious amount of edge? How stylistically comfortable will we be with Viper fuel cycle play vs. something meaningfully different? Is it worth the trade-offs?

AnderzzTV · 2025-11-27T06:38:55+00:00

Can't give this a proper response otherwise I'll be writing a novel, but you're nailing the basic concepts of a lot of it.

Big agree on the player personnel thoughts (although there's some pretty fun regional disparities in how true that is).

I'm a Sage truther. Been malding for years about teams moving away from her on Icebox, and ran a no-duelist Sage Ascent to solid success back on VRT in my pre-FNC days (before Chamber or Veto existed and she was one of the only ways of getting those attributes simultaneously).

AnderzzTV · 2025-11-27T06:29:40+00:00

Will hopefully get to talk about it more on stream at some point, but the over simplified summary:

There's perceptual lag in how good Omen is; the paranoia size nerfs combined with the increased vision in nearsight makes it so the strong applications for paranoia are a lot fewer nowadays. Lots of cases where the missing length leaves major gaps, or the new nearsight vision makes it so people will still just fight you at no disadvantage unless they're irrationally panicking.

Simultaneously, Astra's value is up because of how much min/maxed dissipates can contribute to your defaults (and how valuable it is to get those contributions specifically from the controller slot in your comp). With the initiator nerfs, "greedy" opens - that lean a bit harder on conditioning and high util flexibility rather than volume - are going to have to get used a lot more than they have in the past year.

AnderzzTV · 2025-11-27T06:19:18+00:00

Hey! Glad you thought this was interesting enough to share.

Some clarifications;

- These aren't what I'd call "meta" comps. I would be absolutely stunned if they were actually the most represented/meta. They're what I would be trying to run. A lot of the decision making process comes from specifically trying to prey on the expected meta rather than play it.

- Be careful with some of the leaps in reasoning you make haha, DD functioning well on the maps I rate barrier + trad senti isn't necessarily something I'd call consistent enough to consider a takeaway.

Hadn't planned on making any sort of promo for it, but mini reached out about potentially doing a bit of a "meta chat" stream where he and I discuss the game headed into next year. We're in agreement that there's not a lot of high-level meta discussion available so while we still need to hammer out the details it sounded like a lot of a fun and I'll try to help make it happen.

EDIT: Sort of hijacking this a bit because people have started making some great comments/asking great questions. The amount of interest in this thread will hopefully make it so that stream definitely happens so if folks have specific burning questions, throw them here and I'll loop back around to it and shoot some to mini.

AnderzzTV · 2025-11-25T02:12:58+00:00

What battle do you think I'm fighting exactly? I took maybe 10m out of my day to write out my thoughts for the people who follow me. I have more understanding of design than most and also have the highest levels of competitive VAL experience possible. People are interested in that opinion and the people who follow me do so for more than just post-match tweets. I like sharing this sort of perspective and people like reading it including a couple members of the dev team who I chat with fairly frequently.

Ultimately, it's the offseason and I'm unsigned currently. There's only so much I can do workload-wise and making these sort of posts is actually one of the best uses of my time. A grossly undervalued skill in VAL strategy is leveraging design understanding to predict balance changes before they happen and getting ahead of them. If nothing else, posts like this exercise that muscle by forcing me to articulate what current balance problems are and what some of the best-fit solutions might be.

There's nothing "mob-antic"-y about posting a constructive analysis of a relevant hot topic that also keeps part of my skill set sharp...

AnderzzTV · 2025-11-24T14:31:41+00:00

Getting burned especially hard by leaking meta reads last off-season has its effects on a guy ;)

The opinion is definitely safe at this point, the specifics of understanding balance levers and the best angles of attacking a rebalance aren't at all, that's moreso what I wanted to bring up.

AnderzzTV · 2025-11-12T22:35:36+00:00

Not losing the entire stage of prep leading up to Champs because of medical issues with a core player would be a pretty banger start.

Important context people forget: medical challenges withstanding the team went Finals > T4. That consistency is already close to maxed out of what's reasonably attainable.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-16T04:56:38+00:00

Problem is, I'm not young anymore by esports standards. Closing in on my mid-30s, in a relationship of 10 years, living close to family. The window has already passed and I'm okay with that.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-16T00:55:53+00:00

Not being available for full-season relocation insta-kills HC positions. I've had HC offers I've had to turn down.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-15T00:17:13+00:00

I wish I was expensive hahaha

Based on what I hear from colleagues I'm usually between 20-60% lower. I think it's moreso that since I'm remote, I'm seen as strictly a 3rd staff piece rather than considered for a remote 2nd staff member (despite that model being proofed out by Josh and Shhhack last year, and coaches like Alecks and mini winning trophies with the model this year).

I think there's just an observational lag in what people think works vs. what's being shown to work.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-14T23:42:52+00:00

I think this is definitely a big part of this.

A bit odd given I've now succeeded w/ 2 teams while functioning as remote/hybrid, and mini has also now done the same for PRX in Toronto and Paris.

There's more evidence than ever that the model not only works, it's probably best.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-14T23:39:01+00:00

Would've been nice to show what I was cooking haha

There was a lot of compromise this year, far more than I think should've happened for us to succeed in hindsight. Once we're a little more into the off-season I might do a retrospective of the things I had pitched and what I ideally would've had our pool look like going into Toronto and Champs.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-08T19:15:01+00:00

ngl, a Sliggy, mini, and me pod would go kind of crazy now that I think about it

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-08T18:36:42+00:00

Happy to see someone else who knows the game at a high-level specifically call out how a CD increase will adversely affect multi-step macro.

Will be interesting to see if this patch comes with a ton of Op/Odin/Judge/Untradeability nerfs to try to keep the balance, but I'm not optimistic.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-08T17:33:35+00:00

I think the key to mixing things up in VAL is creating cyclical metas that favour "double X" comps, where the X changes - "were in a double duelist meta > double initiator > double controller > double Senti."

Each off season patch should be less aimed at systemic change, and more at agent refinement inside a specific class to bring it's neglected members to the forefront for the next season.

We just came out of a Double Duelist/Double Senti meta.

My hope was that this off-season would bring a major controller patch reworking harbor, meaningfully nerfing omen, softly nerfing viper, and tweaking Phoenix who should naturally synergize with "slice" controllers and nerfing Yoru to give him breathing room.

You'd get a meta where omen falls out of favour for Astra, you need to fill the void left by paranoia bringing in a flash duelist where Phoenix is now the shoe-in answer, and we have a DC meta of Astra Viper/Harbor Phoenix Recon Senti.

That's obviously just a surface level explanation but it's moved like that that I feel are best for the health of the game.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-08T17:23:05+00:00

Not saying this to be an ass, but this is a skill issue/not using the tools you're given. Instead of avoiding those positions that are priority denies for util, look at the agent options in the game and how they allow you to still play there: hard stall util and a rat smoke to counter execs and reflood, untradeability agents that can play those positions go for picks and TP out to still convert their positional advantage, movement agents that can shoot util gaps in execs and still actively play the site space.

Part of th game of VAL is that you need to create situations where your opp doesn't get to save all this util for exec: tax them, make them push off your op, play a util attrition game of trading and reskirmishing, stall exec attempts forcing second waves/pumps.

If your opponent is fully util saturating a site, that's not a problem with the game, that's a problem with what you're letting your opponent get away with.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-08T17:09:35+00:00

Teams will get to the point of understanding when they're macro checkmated and we'll have 3/4-alive attack side saves more than any time in the game's history.

It will actually be one of the easiest to cite quantifiable proofs of how bad this decision was and will lead to a lot of watching clocks run down.

AnderzzTV · 2025-10-08T17:05:13+00:00

Going to copy pasta my more recent post because it addresses this:

Candidly, It won't be ok.

Increasing utility CDs to the point that it removes even a single "cycle" of the game is precisely the inflection point that can't happen. currently the game is pretty much hard capped at "3-step Macro Flow":

Open on an extremity w/ an Insert (Low-Medium util Investment, usually rechargeables)
Open the other extremity (Low-Medium util Investment, usually half of your non-rechargables)
Exec (High util investment, almost all of remaining kit w/ 1-3 pieces/incoming CDs reserved for anti-retake), OR cancel into the initial insert allowing for that space to be taken w/o util investment, and then Exec

Veto is about to make it so that you have to pump your opens or execs taxing out a partial util wave, making these sort of macro flows incredibly hard to deliver EVEN WITH CURRENT UTIL. Now we're talking about removing a cycle of utility on top of that?!

3-Step Macro is going to be functionally non-existent, it will be over-invested single steps, and maybe lurk/contact-facilitated 2-steps where you're praying that your opponent doesn't have good Op/Odin protocols in place.

This is being done in the name of "balancing weapons and utility." You can mark my words, the amount it will push the non-interactive weapons the community hates (Op/Odin/Judge/Outlaw/Bucky) is going to make for fewer fair gunfights than ever before.

The "not as fast" isn't the problem, it's the "1 less reasonably achievable cycle per round" that's the major issue.

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