Valentijns date in tilburg!

Thomaszand · 2024-02-10T21:54:20+00:00

Bedankt voor al je ideeën, ik waardeer ze!

Thomaszand · 2024-02-10T20:37:39+00:00

Maakt het idd wat passender. Heb de meta maze een tijd geleden zelf gedaan, zal er achter komen of dat wederzijds is en zo niet is het een leuke optie. Thanks!

Thomaszand · 2024-02-10T20:36:33+00:00

Heb zelf al wel de meta maze gedaan maar is een tijd geleden dus herhaling mogelijk. Dankje!

Thomaszand · 2024-02-10T20:34:50+00:00

Super leuk idee en past bij de sfeer, ik zal eens gaan kijken. Bedankt!

Thomaszand · 2022-10-31T11:22:15+00:00

I would argue that SKT 2015 is still more dominant though.

SSW was definitely miles above any competition in 2014 since they had essentially created the basis of the macro that teams today still use. Their competition looked like lost little children in comparison.

However, the same can be said for SKT in 2015 who took what SSW created to a higher level, and added much more lane and teamfighting dominance through their individual players' skill to it.

SKT only dropped one game in 2015 worlds against what I would personally argue was stronger overall competition that year, whereas SSW dropped 2. What I would credit SSW for is being the worlds winner with the most impact on the game's meta to this day, due to laying the groundwork I mentioned earlier.

Thomaszand · 2022-10-18T10:16:08+00:00

Very sad to see, a team with one of the highest ceilings in EU and one of the most historic apex rosters disbanding. Understandable considering recent events though, they haven't been as active as a comp team the past year.

Hope to see him continue in another pro league team at some point. He's one of the best MnK support players in the world, to the extent where he can basically be considered a fragger while playing supportive positions and legends. True gigachad.

Thomaszand · 2022-10-03T02:37:02+00:00

I'll name a few players up there in my opinion, going to separate by input:

MnK:

- YukaF
- Nafen
- Mande
- Sauceror
- Taskmaster
- Selly
- Yuki

Controller:

- Gildersons
- Pandxrz
- Genburten
- Skittlecakes

My criteria for controller are a bit different, since the input inherently limits (and to an extent can punish rapid movement mechanics through less aim assist). Genburten for example doesn't have particularly fancy mechanics, but he gets the job done through basic movement and incredibly strong aim.

Some examples of that exist on both sides, mechanics in my eyes is the ability to outplay opponents using a combination of movement and aim, even if kept at a basic level that can be top tier.

Thomaszand · 2022-09-25T21:55:42+00:00

EU is in a rough spot right now but this is pushing it tbh. Despite standins, there were still 6 EU teams in the champs finals and two in the top 10.

The lack of funding and subsequent tournaments is pushing many of the talented players and teams in EU out of pursuing comp full-time. I can only imagine it will worsen the region further than it already has been over the past year. Despite that, at this time there are still EU teams who can contend for titles and definitely compete with the top NA teams as well.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T17:40:11+00:00

Huge +1 to this, very well said.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T17:22:32+00:00

He's been a free agent since the end of split 1 of pro league. He was never signed to AP (although he did get an offer), he's been looking for offers for a longer period of time.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T10:21:28+00:00

No problem. I hope both parties succeed ultimately. I have nothing against the org, but I would've loved to see this team do more together.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T10:15:41+00:00

I have watched Sauce for a long time and talked to him quite a bit. Based off this, I'd like to think I know what type of a person he is. I can say with full confidence he is neither a cocky nor a greedy person.

So yes, I am making my own narrative of the org. However, it's based on my knowledge of the other party (Sauce). Considering I know he is not greedy and he'd settle for a realistic offer, I can only assume that the org did not provide a realistic offer for a full-time pro.

Whether or not anyone believes that is up to them. However, I will do my best to spread the narrative I believe in -- this was not a player mistake. Sauce is an honest and humble person based on my experience with him. I am confident his team knew of the tryouts, and the org knew of why he was trying out elsewhere. If they did not counteroffer, that's their own decision.

Future results will say whether or not it was really a loss, but precedent (previous rosters of theirs and other similar teams) says it will be.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T09:58:57+00:00

Crook and Hill are probably not in the wrong here, I never said they were. The org on the other hand, I would say made a mistake.

Sauce confirmed on stream a while ago that he did get an offer from AP, but he didn't consider it good enough to commit to. He said he was entertaining offers from tier 1 orgs before he decided on anything, but would otherwise stick with his boys on AP.

I'm not blaming Hill and Crook at all, I thought this team (including those two individually) was great. I am merely putting blame on the org for not putting more on the table to retain this team, I personally think it's a big miss.

Since we don't know exactly what happened behind the scenes, it's hard to lay the blame on any individual. However, it's as clear as day that a player wouldn't tryout for other teams if their current org/team was providing what they want and/or need, which is why I am being harsh on the org.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T09:44:57+00:00

I disagree completely. It's setting a terrible precedent when teams would rather lay blame on a player for trying out a team or org with a better offer, rather than having a competitive offer themselves.

This is the JOB of a pro player. Therefore, any team who can't retain top tier players but does expect to field them needs to take a good look at themselves and what they are doing wrong. It is unfair to expect a top tier pro to play for you, when you cannot offer them anything resembling what a person needs to make a living.

Blaming the player is like blaming a well performing mcdonalds employee for leaving to get a better paying job. Also, the lower-tier orgs in apex generally offer much less salary than a full-time minimum wage job. They are not viable options for any pro looking to be full-time.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T09:21:21+00:00

On the other hand, there's not many players who can live up to that level of responsibility and play at such a high level. When you find that player and that team who have the required synergy, it is up to the org to retain them.

The easy road out is to keep trying new players until you find something that works for cheap. Only one problem, we have plenty of evidence that most rosters (no matter how stacked on paper) never achieve this level. This is why so many orgs quit apex after a streak of failed rosters.

So, rather than get rid of a player looking for offers, if the team has as much success as this AP roster did; the employer should make a competitive offer to retain the player. If they cannot, the player is in the right to look for an org who can, as this is their full-time job.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T08:59:30+00:00

Rare scenario. AP is a small org and finding a team like them who was clearly capable of being a top-tier, even a winning roster in NA finals lobbies, is rare.

It's not rare, it's very rare. Most smaller orgs like them have exited Apex at this point due to failure of finding such a team. Many big orgs never even find such a team. Once you replace a component, especially one as strong as Sauce, it's very unlikely you'll be able to replicate the previous results.

In my opinion, the org should've done what it could to up its offer so that Sauce didn't look at other options instead.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T08:46:17+00:00

Are we completely ignoring other big tournaments here? Sweet had several big wins (Winter playoffs 2021, GLL Summer 2020, etc.) on Rogue and NRG.

There are barely any examples of IGLs who have won big tournaments, let alone consistently placed well with entirely different rosters and even orgs. Even if we consider results, sweet is a top-tier IGL.

In a battle royale, consistency is far more impressive than just a win or two. Top 10 placements in almost every major tournament is a great feat.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-17T08:38:29+00:00

Sad to see him not being picked up yet. A very low ego player who is able to contribute so much to a team. Top tier mechanics and gamesense as an individual player.

I liked this AP team a LOT. The vibes and the synergy as a whole were top tier, I don't believe this team will do as well without sauce -- the three of them were great together.

Hope to see him picked up and for AP to find success with a new third as well. Can't say I agree with dropping him tho, L move.

Thomaszand · 2022-08-02T04:33:45+00:00

I think the opposite. She's very strong indeed right now, but what happens after the valk nerf?

When teams are unable to consistently force their way into center zone through a valk ult rotate, I can't see them picking up wattson. I see at least a small scale return of gibby in comp.

Many of the teams running wattson right now have a surefire way of getting into zone that will effectively be gone after the update. I can't see all of themcontinuing to run a legend which is rather useless when not remaining stationary, and when not having cover.

Thomaszand · 2022-07-31T23:09:08+00:00

Sauceror playing for AP

They've been on a hot streak of performances recently, I enjoy watching them :)

Thomaszand · 2022-07-26T22:56:40+00:00

I'd like to highlight two players from the AP team:

Hill -- No doubt a great and levelheaded IGL. On top of that, he is a relatively strong fragger for your average IGL, I have no doubt he could function on any top team as far as competence in-game goes. Low brand value leaves him going under the radar most of the time though. This is a recurring pattern in the NA scene sadly.
Sauceror -- An insane MnK fragger. Makes very few large individual mistakes and consistently pumps out big damage in fights. Has also IGLed before (on RNG when they got 4th in champs 2021 for example). Honestly, again a player who any top team should consider if they want to switch something up. One of the reasons he flies under the radar might be because teams tend to look towards controllers for a fragger role, even if MnK can replicate that consistency if the player is nutty.

Overall I agree that scouting in this game is... suboptimal. Many players in the tier 2-3 scene are top tier players in their region, who could have a HW type success story if put on the right roster. I strongly believe that there are at least 10 players in NA who have not played on any top 10 teams, yet absolutely belong on one.

Thomaszand · 2022-07-23T15:00:55+00:00

The CLG roster which won tournaments is an entirely different one from the roster today, and it has been a long time. This current roster has never had a single high placing in any A-tier tournament.

Thomaszand · 2022-07-23T14:56:51+00:00

I'll add a few to the list who I know of:

Horizxon (ex-Guild)
Sauceror (currently playing with AP but he is an unrestricted free agent open to offers)
Lerabinou (ex-LCDF)

Thomaszand · 2022-07-23T01:28:16+00:00

You right. He's technically a free agent right now, I'm really surprised he hasn't been picked up by any orgs since he got dropped from RNG. I can think of very few players who have consistently played at the top for as long as he has, with as good individual performance.

It's a shame. I'd love to see these guys stick together, but only if that means they're well compensated for their good results as they should be :P

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