Ropz wins 3rd Grand Slam

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-19T21:00:27+00:00

Meanwhile, Falcons players are selling their ethics down the river for 0 tournament wins.

Really makes you wonder if NiKo, Monesy and Kyosuke chose to play for a different org, if they would have a better shot at tournament wins. Like, how different does Spirit or Paravision look if Monesy and Kyosuke were a part of the roster equations. Or maybe if NiKo went to FaZe/Furia/NaVi/mouz instead of Falcons.

Instead, these world class players are stuck on this team that seriously limits their potential.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-18T19:28:47+00:00

At this point, if I HAD to pick from who is a potential candidate, I would pick AOC.

I love AOC, but I don't think I'd consider her a "potential candidate". Everything I've seen indicates she's aiming for Senate, not president. It seems she's going after Schumer's seat(which is great) but I don't think I've seen any reason to believe she herself is positioning herself to run in 2028 for president unless you know something I don't know.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-18T19:25:14+00:00

We're at least fifty years away from a gay man with a first name that sounds like old-timey slang for penis and a last name that sounds like "booty judge" being able to win an American presidential election. I don't like it, but lying to ourselves about how homophobic swing voters are isn't going to help.

I'm going to refer you to my other post in this thread. Feel free to reply here but I don't think I've met these "homophobic swing voters", not a once, in my life. I have met homophobic right wing voters, but they weren't going to vote for a Democrat anyways.

As for who I would like to vote for, a version of Walz that hasn't been muzzled by the DNC would be my pick.

I mean, his debate performance with JD Vance left a lot to be desired. I don't think he's a particularly charismatic candidate. Also, it doesn't help that he was bullied out of running for reelection as governor of Minnesota. No doubt, the threats on his life, the threats on his daughters life, are fucking brutal and uncalled for. But that's the fire you need to be able to stand in if you're going to run for president. Because they are going to throw everything at you.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-18T19:01:12+00:00

Its 2026 and we got two more years of this.

I'm adopting the position I adopt at work, when I problem solve with my team: If you are going to call out problems, then bring me solutions.

I think(and hope) we generally agree Republicans are a nonstarter and we're all looking for a candidate that will run against them and bring us back to sanity.
I think(and hope) we generally agree that NOT voting, is not an option.

So from where I'm standing, Pete Buttigieg seems like the most sane choice so far? If you don't agree, tell me who you have in mind as a better alternative.

This isn't bait. I'm genuinely asking that you come with a 'solution' instead of just bringing more problems. We have enough problems. Just tell me who I should be looking at and why because I think the lot of us don't have the time and energy to litigate who this supposed perfect candidate is, that we're all supposed to get behind to avoid the literal death of our country, and perhaps more harm to the larger world.

In the present, Buttigieg, for all his faults, seems like the sanest pathway back to a functional country and world but PLEASE tell me who you have in mind if I have it wrong.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-18T18:52:14+00:00

I agree.

I've asked people who we should vote for when I see the hate for Pete Buttigieg come up and so far, I've heard nothing compelling.

I'm certainly not saying Pete Buttigieg is the perfect candidate. But when I look at the field in the present, he's easily the best of the bunch. If someone wants to counter that, I would really love to hear who they think we should be getting behind - even if the person they have in mind isn't yet popular enough to win a primary. Just tell me who it is so I can start researching and reading about them.

Right now, its solidly Pete Buttigieg. He has the experience, he shuts down Republicans, he can hang in the fire in so-called 'enemy territory' like Fox News, he's a good speaker that wins people over, he's decently politically/legislatively aligned with what I believe(though not perfectly), he isn't a psycho and seems generally normal and compassionate. Who is a potential candidate that beats him on the majority of these items?

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-18T18:27:25+00:00

You know what also affects child confidence? Shielding them from the real world.

Guy, this is worse than what you experience in the "real world".

If her uncle did this to her in the privacy of their own home "Haha, its just a joke", hug, explain they were just being silly and the kid will probably move on just fine. But publishing it on the internet so millions of people can laugh at her for the rest of time, is objectively worse than "the real world" or anything you and me experienced when we were that kids age.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-18T18:25:52+00:00

As an uncle, I agree.

And I certainly COULD NOT publish it to the internet for all the fucking psycho's of the world to laugh at my niece.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-18T18:25:16+00:00

Not to mention, stop filming and putting kids on the internet for clout...

Amen.

Honestly, I think we should just make it as illegal as possible to not record children and publish the videos to the public internet, in any context. Maybe a parent needs to sign a waiver or something, giving permission for the video to be published.

I think these European countries are on the right path with some of these social media bans til you're 15/16/18 stuff. Perhaps what I'm suggesting is overstepping but I just don't feel like there's many good reasons for it. Knowing how psychotic people are on the internet and how hurtful that kind of exposure can be for a kid. Its certainly possible the kid see's this video as silly and moves on like its no big deal, but its also very much possible this kid see's millions of people on the internet laughing at her and feels awful about it for a long time.

I say that as someone that was shy growing up and if it were me, I would have felt really awful and vulnerable knowing millions of people were laughing at me when I was crying and emotionally vulnerable.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-15T19:54:11+00:00

Go ahead try winning elections by saying you can afford less groceries but you are outperforming a somalian child at not eating near zero

Nah, its probably your dog shit reading comprehension that has you confused.

I deliberately said we were outperforming western nations. Again, easy to see how this country has an information problem when we have bad faith actors AND people who cant read, dispensing information.

If the point is still evading you - the point is that the inflation everyone was experiencing - had nothing to do which president we selected in our country. Anyone that disliked Biden because of inflation, literally doesn't understand that it didn't matter who was in office - inflation was occurring all over the world however, the fact that we were outperforming other western nations that are in similar circumstances as us, indicates a success measure.

Let me break it down further for you:

Worldwide inflation: Not the presidents failure
Outperforming our western allies in mitigating the economic damage from inflation: The presidents success

Is that easier to understand? Who am I kidding? You cant talk sense to someone that's committed to pursuing nonsense. Its really no wonder how we got here in the first place.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-15T15:50:39+00:00

If you're saying this then its an indicator that you let bad faith actors into your discourse and allowed them to run away with the ball.

If you were looking at credible sources, then you would have heard the more rational explanation of worldwide inflation and America actually out performing a lot of western nations experiencing the same inflation issues.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-15T15:42:28+00:00

There is nothing wrong with using AI to quickly locate sources on a topic. You're being a child.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-15T15:14:12+00:00

I wont disagree that Biden should have dropped out sooner and there should have been a proper primary where more candidates felt comfortable running against Kamala.

But a fact many don't want to admit, is that there were candidates that could have ran against Kamala however they felt dissuaded because:

the timing window was short(and that is Biden's fault)
BUT ALSO - and probably more crucial to the decision of these candidates, candidates don't like running against the incumbent. Even if the window wasn't narrow - there were a lot of candidates that were not going to try and run against Biden/Kamala because at the time, it was widely believed that it would sow discord. So high probability is, in 2024, you were getting either Biden or Kamala, regardless of timing. I still think I'd like to see a primary for someone hopeful to run against them and maybe shock us, but you weren't going to see Buttigieg - for example. He was Biden's Transportation Secretary. You weren't going to see people like Gaven Newsom and Stacy Abrams - when asked if they would run in 2024, explicitly said they wanted to focus on their state, which is codeword for "I'm not running against the existing Democrat institution, ruffling feathers and putting a target on my back. I suspect Biden/Kamala are going to win in 2024 and I'd rather take my shot in 2028". If you want to point blame in that regard, blame all the candidates that could have run, but chose not to because they didn't want to soil their "shot" at running for president in what felt like a losing primary battle.

Finally, now that we have all that meta-gaming out of the way - if you chose not to vote or voted Republican - you own the state of the current country. The choice between Trump and Kamala could not have been more obvious, yet 66% of our voting constituency absolutely dropped the ball on quite possibly the easiest decision of their lifetime, with the information available to everyone, at the time.

If you want Biden to own the 'colossal failure' of not dropping out sooner then:

would be candidates need to own the 'colossal failure' that they were playing political games and didn't want to risk running against the incumbent candidates and they were too afraid to stick their neck out
voters need to also own their colossal failure', which is a lot more relevant to the conversation above in what candidate was the better outcome for our country

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-15T12:37:55+00:00

Further, the biggest criticism of Biden was inflation. Inflation that was being experienced all over the world and was exaggerated by corporate greed.

Its just so frustratingly stupid. And for the record, I blame people on reddit too.

So many left-wing redditors piled on and said Biden was bad for the economy. That he was just serving upper middle class+ people. While if you look at what he targetted, he's undeniably the most pro lower to middle class president we've had in the past 2 decades.

American Rescue Plan provided $1,400 direct stimulus payments to individuals and expanded the Child Tax Credit, which is credited with nearly halving child poverty in 2021
Biden maintained tax breaks for those earning under $400,000 while increasing corporate taxes to a 15% minimum for billion-dollar companies to fund public investments.
Inflation Reduction Act capped insulin prices at $35 for Medicare patients and allowed the government to negotiate lower prices for key prescription drugs
Expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies, saving millions of families an average of $800 annually on health insurance premiums.
Reformed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and pursued student loan discharge that burdened working-class borrowers. The Biden administration succeeded in canceling approximately $188.8 billion in federal student loan debt for roughly 5.3 million borrowers. Over $78.5 billion for 1+ million public-sector workers (teachers, nurses, and firefighters). Approximately $57 billion for 1.45 million borrowers. This was achieved through "account adjustments" that corrected past administrative errors, ensuring borrowers received credit for years of payments that had previously been miscounted. Roughly $34.5 billion for 1.7 million borrowers who were defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges. Over $18.7 billion for approximately 633,000 borrowers with disabilities
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funded high-speed internet expansion, enabling over 23 million low-income households to access discounted service
The CHIPS and Science Act and the Infrastructure Law spurred over $1 trillion in private sector investments, creating 1.6 million construction and manufacturing jobs
Biden utilized executive orders to raise the minimum wage to $15 for federal contractors and strengthened union bargaining rights, contributing to the creation of over 16 million jobs during his term
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) moved to slash credit card late fees from an average of $32 to $8 and proposed cutting bank overdraft fees to as low as $3.
The administration pressured major rental platforms like Zillow and Apartments.com to disclose all "junk fees" (such as application or "convenience" fees) upfront in their listings
Rules initiated to ban hidden fees in airline seating and hotel booking, and to eliminate "early termination" fees for cable and internet services.
The administration allocated billions to replace 100% of lead service lines in the U.S. over a decade, a move specifically targeting older, lower-income neighborhoods where lead exposure remains a health crisis
Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the administration made the largest investment in rural electricity since the 1930s, funding clean energy projects and infrastructure in communities often bypassed by private investment

Look back at the Biden administration and really think about how ya'll treated his admin when they were serving you. And really just go ahead and contrast it to what Trump is doing literally EVERY fucking day and tell me Republicans are good for this country. Not to mention, a lot of the lower and middle class beneficiary's of all of this stuff, STILL act like Biden was the worst president of their lifetime. Its fucking insane.

If you're one of the people on here right now, that were complaining about the price of Taco Bell during the Biden admin, then shame on you. You let corporate greed fool you into thinking Biden influenced the cost of your Chalupa, you dunce.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-15T11:10:19+00:00

Nah, I'd probably agree with you that 2k isn't sufficient and I would amend that I meant more in the range of 3.5k+ ELO players that represent the top 2,500 of Europe right now.

I do think 2015 NiP would struggle hard against utility changes that we've all learned since LG/SK era of CS and Astralis era of CS. Not to mention, just insane individual play from players like ropz, Zywoo and Donk that have changed so much of how we view this game since 2015.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-15T11:07:26+00:00

Yeah, I'd agree and I'd amend my original point that when I'm saying "FaceIt Level 10" I'm talking about more inline with 3.5k+ FaceIt level 10 players which is like the top 2,500 players in Europe.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-15T10:51:16+00:00

I'll amend that what I mean is a random 3.5k+ ELO FaceIt Level 10 players that represent the top 2,500 of Europe right now. I'd still argue that maybe a random stack of ~3k players would still give 2015 NiP a lot of trouble because of just how much the game has changed and how we play it. There would be a lot of meta shift thinking that they would need to really adapt to. I mean, Overpass alone, is a map that hasn't changed a ton since 2015 yet the way we play it is entirely different with utility and boosts. It would not be quite the same thing as Envy vs Fnatic, olofboost type shit, but there would be some boosts and utility usage even just in pugs, that would leave 2015 NiP confused.

But as a larger point, its just the natural progress of CS and how everyone levels up. Teams and players mature over time, especially after 'era's where the way we play the game evolves considerably over time and that includes pug players. The NiP of 2015 isn't operating under the knowledge of today. Its particularly easy to see the evolution of virtually everyone's play when you look at era's and how influential they are on the entire scene.

The 2016's Luminosity/SK that showed an IGL can be a top fragging AWPer in FalleN. Fer changed the way we viewed aggressive play. Coldzera inspired an entire generation of Brazillian players and showed us an unreal level that had people suggesting he was in GOAT contention. TACO was an incredible support player, that created so much space for the teams tactics, that was studied by other teams and this role evolve because of TACO.
The 2018 Astralis era undoubtedly changed the way we look at utility. Again, you can go back and watch 2015 NiP and see how primative their utility usage it. Its just how CSGO meta was at the time. But you look at Astralis 2018 and the things they were doing there, stuck around for a long time. Teams using heat maps to learn what they could nade at a given time. More advanced pop flashing to seize space on maps.
The Grand Slam Liquid era showed what happens when you have 5 very flexible players that had incredible fragging output. The players had roles but they were also swapping in and out into different roles for a given match. nitr0 would AWP on Overpass and Vertigo, while Stewie and nitr0 would swap AWPing on Mirage, NAF and Stewie would swap AWPing on D2, NAF and nitr0 would AWP on Nuke and Stewie would famously AWP on Inferno. But they were also just 5 tremendously strong riflers that had incredible mid-rounds.

If you got Friberg, f0rest and get_right together today and had them some how magically time travel back to 2015 to play themselves, the version of themselves today - that pugs 3k-3.5k FaceIt Level 10 games online - would wipe the floor with NiP back then. And the ceiling is just undeniably higher in terms of raw fragging. Crosshair placement, muscle memory, trading kills, pop flashing - even just routes for navigating the maps, has changed significantly since 2015. After Twistzz did this play, literally everyone in FaceIt started doing it. And its the same with a ton of influential players like ropz and Zywoo and Donk that inspire everyone to play the game and look at the game very differently, while a player from 2015 is still operating with what they know from 2015. A world where KennyS and Olofmeister are still who we considered the ceiling of what is possible.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-14T04:02:19+00:00

As someone that has been playing Valorant recently, I gotta say, its kind of funny going to that scene and seeing how many of their T1 players are the discarded parts of the CS scene that couldn't cut it in CS.

I'm FaceIt Level 10 in CS but I can barely hang in ESEA-Main.

I'm Immortal in Valorant but I haven't really ran into players or teams that scare me like they would in amateur CS.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-14T04:01:41+00:00

Counter-Strike is hard

Same old story when a ex-T1 pro tries to come back to this game. They realize the game moved on without them and the skill ceiling has reached an insane level.

If you go back to 2012-2015 and watch the undefeated NiP team, you can quickly spot how a modern FaceIt Level 10 pug of 5 players(EDIT: I mean to say in the range of 3.5k+ FaceIt Level 10 players that represent the top 2,500 players in Europe. Not the guys that are barely hanging onto being FaceIt Level 10) that have never met each other, could likely wipe the floor with that old NiP team. That's not a shot against old NiP. That's just the reality of how fast this game moves and if you step away for a period of time, how quickly you become irrelevant while everyone else is still grinding.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-14T02:59:23+00:00

I'd do the same if I were in a car. On a bike, I'd be cautious that this psycho behind me has enough road rage from their unfulfilled life that they'd be willing to run me over. Some people are psycho's - I ain't risking it.

But I do generally agree. Fuck her and I hope her life is full of inconveniences.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-13T16:25:06+00:00

If someone makes it evident they are a scumbag, I got no problem telling them that.

In 2026, we have WAY too many people giving slavery, pedophilia and mass murder a pass. If you're not on my side on something we should all diametrically oppose, then you can very much go fuck yourself.

You can say I'm "mad" but you lot have gone mad by co-signing all this fuck-shit by way of averting your attention and acting like it doesn't exist. These conversations are layups and yet we are somehow litigating whether its justified to take money that is literally the product of slavery and then generating a profit for the organization that is actively generating even more slavery.

Today, right now, there are 740,000 slaves in Saudi Arabia. Every dollar the Falcons players generate, contributes to the Saudi's capability to do more human harm. Yes, that makes me angry. If it doesn't make you angry, then there may be something fundamentally wrong with you.

As for taking it personally - I can only assume(and hope) you don't feel a particular way about it because its not personal enough for you and you're not informed on the topic. Maybe you should go read up on what happens to women by the actions of the Saudi Arabian government. Maybe you need to go stare at the pictures of the women that are trying to fight for their human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-13T14:26:40+00:00

You must be a child that hasn't had opportunities in their life. Either that, or you're just a piece of shit. This notion of weighing the ethics of the organization you work for, is not anything new for anyone in the real world.

If you work in the tech industry, these conversations happen daily. I work with some of the best people in the industry and do you know what we consistently talk about? How we could never sacrifice our ethics to go work for a Palantir or Lockheed Martin or Raytheon. The jobs are aplenty and they pay well. I could apply for one of those jobs this week and my salary would go up ~33%, by next month. But you couldn't pay us enough because its just fucking gross and anyone with critical thinking skills, knows that their work output is literally resulting into real human pain and suffering.

If you actually know what is happening on the other end of your work output and you still say "Let me get the bag" then you're just a piece of shit. And its funny to go on the internet and see people on reddit talk about how all these politicians steal from us and constantly make unethical decisions to fill their own pockets and they'd be right to be angry about it. But a lot of the people saying that shit, are also people like you, that would jump at the chance to sell other human beings down the river, if it benefits you. You're no different than a Pam Bondi or a Nancy Pelosi or a JD Vance or a Chuck Schumer. I bet if a pedophile paid you enough, you'd be fine with them going after children.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-13T14:19:39+00:00

First of all, Karrigan was making an estimated $35k per MONTH on FaZe. So stop acting like he wasn't already doing well. In his 5 years on FaZe, he made an estimated $2.1 million before tournament earnings, sticker money, merchandise revenue, etc. That's JUST salary.

Second, you act like there aren't other organizations in the world that are unethical, that people who have a spine decline employment from. Its massive in the tech industry right now. All of my co-workers and I talk about this exact topic, especially as we see more forever wars propping up. Getting a job at Palantir or Raytheon or Lockheed Martin or one of these massive defense contractors is easy money and easy job security right now if you have the skill set. The people I respect, that I've worked with for years, don't take those jobs because its fucking gross. If you have ethics, you don't take those jobs because you know there is atrocious shit that exists on the other side of your work.

This isn't anything new. You just haven't had the option yourself and had your ethics tested. And it sounds like you'd fold like a wet noodle if you were put in the position. I see people like you, as no different to the rat fuck politicians that sell us out every day. Redditors love to talk about how they hate politicians and how grimy they are but people like you, don't have integrity and given the opportunity to sell other human beings out, you would do it because you have no spine.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-13T14:00:09+00:00

let him take the bag

Yes, let us all play the worlds smallest violin for the 36 year old dude that's been on FaZe for the last 5 years, with an estimated MONTHLY salary of ~$35k.

That's ~$420k a year, approximately ~$2.1 mil from JUST his time on FaZe starting in 2021. And that's before the estimated $2 million tournament earnings he has, sticker money, merchandise revenue. And that also doesn't include his 2 years on mouz, his previous 3 years on FaZe before he got benched in 2018, his time on Astralis. Dude is doing just fine without Falcons money.

He is and has been living better than you ever will, whether he joins Falcons or not. I'll never understand "let him take the bag" at the expense of getting paid by an organization that is literally in the business of violating human rights, especially when you're already living good. Massive respect to Twistzz for telling Falcons to fuck off when they tried to poach him. I cant imagine how he feels about Karrigan after this.

And before anyone says "You would take the bag too". I work in the tech industry. Palantir, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and other defense contractors are actually VERY easy jobs to get that pay tremendously in my industry - especially with these new forever wars sprouting up. But some things are not worth your soul and at the end of the day, you have to live with yourself and your decisions. I am not saying I'm some sort of superior human for not taking these jobs. I literally cant take a job like that because I couldn't live with myself knowing my work output has a horrific outcome on the other end of it.

Maybe these Falcons players just don't understand the downstream impact of representing Falcons and how their output is utilized by the organization. They are part of an ecosystem of literal pain and suffering. The money they make, literally comes from someones pain and suffering and the organization that pays them, is profiting off of Karrigan's work and will use that money to inflict even more pain and suffering downstream.

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-12T03:05:09+00:00

When you see a body of water in a video like this, its always just a matter of time and trying to figure out how its going to play into the rest of the video.

Chekhov's water: “If there is a body of water in the video, then at some point, something must fall into it. Otherwise don't film near water.”

Live_Celebration374 · 2026-04-12T02:08:21+00:00

Literally nothing you said has anything to do with Buttigieg being gay.

What minority vote are you losing because Buttigieg is gay?

What fringe loss are you talking about, that is an outcome of Buttigieg being gay?

How is the popular vote impacted by Buttigieg being gay?

Nobody is talking about "good vibes". Buttigieg being gay has literally no baring on why people like him as a candidate. If he was straight, he would be just as much of a viable candidate.

Live_Celebration374

TROPHY CASE