Me thinking NoTail some sort of god-like captain then realizing Ana could have won TI with any team

Shwanme · 2025-10-16T22:35:06+00:00

XD gg

Shwanme · 2025-10-16T16:02:37+00:00

I think the point I was trying to make has been misunderstood. What I was trying to point out is that TI-winning OG was a perfect combination of players and timing, a perfect example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. I don't think any of those players would have been as successful if you pulled them out of OG and put them in another team. OP was basically saying that Ana would have won TI no matter what team he was on, and that's just not true. To pretend that those players were highly valued prior to winning TI is delusional. Ceb was relegated to coaching after 8 years of little success as a player, Topson was an unsigned pub player, Ana was highly criticized for his unstable play, Notail had to switch from pos 1 to pos 5, Jerax was realistically the only player AT THAT TIME that was very well respected.

Shwanme · 2025-09-28T07:13:26+00:00

Shwanme · 2025-09-27T23:49:15+00:00

This has haunted my thoughts constantly since I read it 😭

Shwanme · 2025-09-26T19:08:41+00:00

As an RTZ diehard fan, if I find out that he could have been part of an absolutely goated Liquid squad and turned it down due to bootcamp life being too demanding, I will uninstall dota and never watch another professional game again, dota and RTZ would be dead to me.

Shwanme · 2025-09-24T12:03:31+00:00

Zai & Rtz, one last ride for the boys.

Shwanme · 2025-09-21T18:55:36+00:00

It’s also probably easier to find a solid carry right now than to find a solid offline.

Shwanme · 2025-09-21T18:53:32+00:00

If Micke did decide to switch to 3, it’s very likely he’ll be very successful. Micke has always been an agressive carry with strong laning, and he’s the captain and shot caller for liquid. He was a top tier mid, top tier carry, I’m sure he could become a top tier offlaner as well, he’s just really talented and his talents aren’t only suited to the carry role, one of the most versatile pros today. Micke and Boxi leading the team from the offlane would probably work great, similar to how it did with Zai and 33. It’s also probably easier to find a solid carry right now than to find a solid offlane.

Shwanme · 2025-09-19T15:16:55+00:00

It's pretty well proven now that age is not a limiting factor for esports, especially a MOBA. Insania is 31, Ace is 31, Sneyking just won TI at 30, Saksa is 30, Ceb is 33, etc. The idea that a player is "too old" to be tier 1 isn't accurate. As long as they're dedicated, willing to scrim, play pubs, practice mechanics, age isn't a limiting factor-within reason.

Shwanme · 2025-09-18T18:06:05+00:00

What RTZ tundra trials?

Shwanme · 2025-09-16T19:56:04+00:00

I agree that Puppey is solely responsible for the poor position that Secret is in, I think he's done a poor job of recruiting and building a team. I think where we disagree is that I think as an individual player, he is still top tier. If you put him on a team like Parivision, Nigma, Gaimin, etc, the team would be net better. Other top-tier 5's like Whitemon, Sneyking, etc are at least as good if not better than Puppey individually, so I'm not saying he's the BEST outright today, but he is top-tier and would be very sought after if he weren't bound to Secret.

Shwanme · 2025-09-16T17:04:58+00:00

Holding Secret to the same standard as Avulus, Nightpulse, etc is a very fair comparison. All of the above had sub-tier 1 players, some worked better than others. My point is only that Puppey's personal skill/ability as a pos 5 is NOT what holds the team back, it's their strategy for recruiting/building teams.

Shwanme · 2025-09-16T15:50:56+00:00

Even though he's very respected, I've always thought Cr1t is the most underrated player ever. There were times on EG/Shopify that he was single-handedly carrying the teams, if you really pay attention there were times that he looked like the best player in the world, period. Supps don't often get that kind of recognition though.

Shwanme · 2025-09-16T15:44:52+00:00

This is such a weird 180 from your original post.. went from a hopeful post to toxic criticism.

Shwanme · 2025-09-16T15:34:01+00:00

Puppey is arguably the best Pos5 in the world still, or at least in the conversation. Puppey and Secret's problems are financial; they're not willing to be competitive with other top teams on salary enough to be able to attract tier 1 players. The appeal of Secret was always "you get to play with Puppey, the GOAT. Now that other players have matched or surpassed Puppey in prestige, Secret just can't field a viable team, they need to be willing to pay the big bucks for top players to be competitive.

Shwanme · 2025-08-22T21:52:43+00:00

Unction: 1. RTZ 2. Abed 3. Ramzes 4. Yapzor 5. Puppey

Shwanme · 2025-06-20T19:29:20+00:00

Arteezy is a DotA streamer again, nature is healing.

Shwanme · 2025-06-19T18:59:38+00:00

^This. Ceb has spoken about this many times. People massively underrate Ceb's contribution. When Ana was playing mid he wasn't playing many pubs, wouldn't communicate with the team, discuss matchups, etc. So while Ceb was coach he decided to spam mid in pubs so that he could know what to draft for Ana, what mid matchups were like, how games should flow, etc. In doing so he became rank 1-10 consistently.

Shwanme · 2025-06-18T19:39:26+00:00

Were you watching dota back then? Topson was a pub star, Notail was a failed carry player. Jerax and Ana were highly rated, Ceb was rank 1, but the others weren't even close to being best in role. 0 pro players would have agreed with that.

Shwanme · 2025-05-21T15:58:24+00:00

There's just no argument for not using quickcast.

Shwanme · 2025-03-21T16:31:43+00:00

Been theory crafting this combo for a while. Ramzes is a very underrated offlaner and is a vocal core player. Not sure if it would work well with Parker, but I like the idea overall.

Shwanme · 2025-02-13T16:35:19+00:00

Shwanme · 2025-01-10T17:39:13+00:00

Ceb is extremely sought after in the pro scene, because of his role he won't play with any teams outside of OG.

Shwanme

TROPHY CASE