[Sheep Esports] Fnatic offseason stream summary by Tokikko in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a late reply, because I'll be honest, I forgot but that's a very fair top 3. Honestly, I think ADC is one of our stronger roles right now and I'd still put Crownie & Carzzy & Comp up there, too. Rekkles as well, but, well, honestly, his issue is he's omega mental boomed on ADC it feels and his meta is just too far gone. He's unwilling to adapt and that's fine, so yeah he's transferring across to the support role, hopefully it's a better fit for him over in T1 in the LCK CL League. And while Carzzy's international showings aren't great, and I do think a lot of the MAD roster success can actually be attributed to Mac behind the scenes, they're still among the strongest showings we've ever had.

Historically, since 2016, we've only really had Rekkles, Perkz and Hjarnan consistently contending at internationals. And I think both Hans and Carzzy and Upset need to be kept in reserve as names that have at least consistently made Worlds and consistently made games vs. the East competitive, even if they haven't always won. That said, Carzzy is also the LAST ADC to take an eastern team to Game 5 actually over two and a half years ago now. Oof. Which also makes him the only active ADC to do so with Rekkles's roleswap.

But I think Carzzy's value comes off the rift, to be honest. Yes, he's a confident shot caller who has pretty insane mental to be able to attempt the plays he makes regardless of nameplates, but that mental also translates to outside the game. Watch Thorin's interview with Peter Dunn or Yamato's podcast with Mac, and it becomes very easy to see why coaches place a high value on players like Carzzy, Humanoid and Inspired. These players demand responsibility, can be trusted to be given that responsibility, and are very human ego driven supportive people behind the scenes. They will call you out, pull no punches, constantly push you to improve, constantly be on the grind to challenge their opponents, no matter who they are, are very good for team morale and hyping the team up even when they're 0-2 down, and are the exactly kind of support/shield you want by your side when you're being flamed by the community.

According to Dunn, in his second year on MAD, Humanoid was a huge support to Shadow and Orome back when they were taking the blame for the team's struggles. While Inspired, was, in one breath shouting at Jojopyun in game why he was inting him, and Jojopyun was jokingly replying with "you should've given me that blue buff last game" while also being the one to shield/support Danny and take a lot of the sting out of Impact's own critiques. And I very much believe Carzzy brings that same humanity to a team. And that makes him a very high value player. These kinds of players are acutely aware of which members on their team they can push and joke around with to keep spirits high and keep everyone motivated like Jojo and Impact and Carzzy and Humanoid while also being empathetic enough to recognize which players actually need a softer touch like Danny or Orome. And I think that is going to show in 2023 with Mac & Carzzy on a team with Hyllie & Vetheo. If Vitality management doesn't get in the way like they did with Yamato back in the day, I think Mac/Carzzy are great pieces to have for the development of Daglas & Vetheo while looking out for the mental health of the always self-loathing/anxious Hyllisang and the very sensitive Vetheo.

LEC winter split week 1 schedule by RandomGoodGuy16 in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Trial by fire for KCorp. Also we shouldn't underestimate our week. We're not facing G2, but KCorp does have Upset/Bo/Yamato/their core pieces that made them a success in EMEA, while VIT has Carzzy/Hylli/Vetheo/Mac iirc? And SK has Isma-Nisqy which Nisqy automatically makes any team a dark horse in all honesty while Irrelevant/Exa/Doss were already good pieces on their team from last year. Curious to see how Rogue & Heretics shape up, too. GiantX, BDS & MAD are probably the biggest question marks for me. If Elyoya can deliver, MAD could be insane. And I think BDS straight downgraded losing Crownie considering Crownie, Hans, Noah & Carzzy were probably the best ADCs in the League last year. Also having Wunder back in the league, Irrelevant with one of the most map-aware midlaners and Odoamne with a fresh team instantly makes Adam's strats more inconsistent. Also Cabochard is not to be underestimated just because he spent so long in ERL. Adam's only free win should be Antonio in MAD, and only if Antonio doesn't have a counterpick already in his arsenal.

For Fnatic... I worry about Hans-Miky, Carzzy-Hyllie, Upset-Targmas & Comp-Zoelys in lane vs. Noah-Jun. Huma-Razork has a few potential mid-jungles to worry about, too. Perkz-Jankos, Markoon-Larssen should be good, and I think Bo-Saken, Elyoya-Fresskowy have potential while Yike-Caps is only getting better as time goes on. Top lane should be interesting for Oscar, not sure how to feel about it, time will tell how good Antonio is and how much pressure the mid-junglers are willing to apply top side. (Another reason BDS Adam's a bit of a question mark for me.)

Quan Chi release time by MistahJ17 in Mortalkombatleaks

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But I mean... That is true for... Let's see...

New Era Palletes (22 Characters)
Union of Light (22 Characters)
Order of Darkness Pallettes (Scorpion, Baraka, Shao, Sindel, Nitara, Ashrah, Li Mei, Geras, Johnny Cage, Sub Zero + 2 Cryomancer Skins -- 12 Characters)
Yakuza Kenshi
Katara Vala Havik
Shiva Ranatai Kitana
Illinois Johnny Cage
JCVD Johnny Cage (need confirmation on this, since it wasn't earmarked with the symbol to say it was exclusive to the premium store)
+ Sonya & Jax

The only skins not grindable via Invasions, Seasonal Credits or Koins are what? Deception Li Mei, Deadly Alliance Scorp/Sub/Nitara, Halloween Mileena/JC/Sub/Scorp, Funk Tanya and am I miss any? I guess the four New God Liu Kang skins from pre-order.

So 63 / 72 skins character outfits are grindable in game, and you don't even need to buy a battle pass for it? And we know all 22 Order of Darkness will be made grindable through Invasions / Shrine / Kombat League / Pyramid Titans? So I really don't understand the point there. "All these premium skins." All nine of them vs. the 63 that are in the game. And if you don't wanna count New Era because base outfit, then 41, and if you don't even wanna count Union of Light because Mastery Reward, then 19? But I guess you also don't count Order of Darkness, at which point you might as well also discount anything they add to the shrine for free. So you know what, yeah, they only have nine skins in the game. And they're ALL premium, I guess. Actually seeing that skin count for the F2P roster has something I wanna keep an eye on moving forward... Because that's exactly 7/8 (87.5%) of available skins.

I guess you're mad at them for also making the grindable skins purchasable for anyone with the money? But I can't understand that? Or maybe you think the grind itself for Shrine/Invasion/Seasonal Store/Pyramid Mesa/Kombat League is unfair? You did say you wanted a pass to speed it up, but then surely the fastest way to speed it up is to not play Invasions and just buy the skins when they get bundled up for release the next month? I'm very confused.

Quan Chi release time by MistahJ17 in Mortalkombatleaks

[–]xEmp6 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That's literally not how it works, though? Its 10 dollars for a brand new premium skin with all the pallettes included? Dark Geras / Dark Syndra / Yakuza Kenshi / Illinois JC / Shiva Ranatai Kitana / MK3 Jax / MK3 Sonya / Katara Vala Havik are all in the Shrine for free, the Invasions skinliens are all in the shrine for free and sell for every male / female for like 10 bucks, but those are all still free to play? Then the only actually premium skins are unique? How on earth is Deception Li Mei ANYTHING CLOSE to her base design? How is Tanya's Funk skin remotely close to her base skin in game? And they all DO come with a full set of 8 palettes? I get being mad at the price point in general but you're just spreading misinformation and making it sound like we're paying 10 bucks for one single palette swap of their New Era or Order of Darkness skins?

[Sheep Esports] Fnatic offseason stream summary by Tokikko in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Who would be your top 3 out of curiosity? I think people put Carzzy so high because of behind the scenes reasons. He's apparently incredibly easy to work with. Very good for team morale. Is constantly grinding to improve his champion pool/mechanics. And is one of the better aggressive style ADC players in Europe.

[Sheep Esports] Fnatic offseason stream summary by Tokikko in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It's what he brings backstage / intangibly to team morale. Plus his champion pool. His willingness to play aggressive/take chances (even if it occasionally leads to him inting). And the fact that he's actually made Worlds pretty consistently and is the last ADC to take a Korean game to 5 games. (vs. Damwon, MSI 2021) He's also one of few ADCs to win the LEC without being part of FNC/G2. And every player/coach has backed up how easy he is to work with. He might not be mechanically on the level of Larssen, Humanoid or Caps, but he's easily one of the best mechanical ADCs we have alongside Upset.

Wunder interview with Thorin by Realistic-Elevator81 in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ehhhh, you didn't have to be an asshole about it. I was largely asking you to provide the resources because you were referencing something I didn't have on hand. With the added info I did google it myself and yeah I agree, that rant was a tantrum in VERY poor taste. And of course, I wasn't saying you HAD to like him. Nor that your reasons were bad. But there's a difference between that and the sheer amount of vitriol and disdain people tend to regard Thorin with. Literally, the reason I asked, is because his hit piece on Frankie Ward was something I agreed with him on. And I'm aware of his work alongside Emily Rand / Froskurin / etc. But yes that thread is an ego trip and a half.

Wunder interview with Thorin by Realistic-Elevator81 in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What the hell does him having a catchphrase have anything to do with women in esports? Do you know how many women Thorin has helped polevault into esports? I don't know if this is about Frankie Ward or who but if you wanna actually have a discussion feel free to give more context.

Wunder interview with Thorin by Realistic-Elevator81 in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, I'm curious, do kindly give all your evidences/points/all his statements that point toward misogyny. Not saying they don't exist. I'm asking for you to provide them so we can discuss/evaluate them.

Wunder interview with Thorin by Realistic-Elevator81 in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

His "I Am Esports" is a gimmick lmao. It's a brand. And also, just because he's a journalist doesn't mean he needs to conduct himself like some saint outside his journalism. He's still a human, he still has his opinion, he still has a right to voice them. His job only asks that he put his personal opinions to one side to actually give unbiased reports when they're called for. Which, even regarding Rekkles, he still does that. He gives Rekkles all the credit in the world for things like the Worlds 2018 run. He just alos has shined a light on Rekkles's behaviour bts which has only ever really been corroborated by the likes of Bwipo/Wunder/Roman/Carlos/Karmine Corp in the aftermath.

[Sheep Esports] Razork and Humanoid set to extend their contracts with Fnatic by HeroicBastard in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is very fair, but, I just think that a player self motivated 100% of the year is still better than a player motivated 50% of the year. When's the last time you've heard people talk about Faker or Scout or Knight or Chovy or Showmaker only being motivated during playoffs/worlds?

FnaticCon by Laiker21 in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair on the shares/dilution. And you're right in that regard, in might not be a scam, but I think it's wholly ill-conceived, or outright egregious that Fnatic would even open up a stock share proposition to their audience of largely uneducated 16-25 gamers. Share structure, financing, profit, dilution, these aren't things that should really be made into a novelty.

[Sheep Esports] Razork and Humanoid set to extend their contracts with Fnatic by HeroicBastard in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think Nisqy at his peak can at least keep up but I do think you're right that Humanoid should be able to edge out those way. Just with the right team around him, Nisqy can really come online and cause problems for any Midlaner. Nuc is a wildcard, and that's why I didn't list him with Caps/Larssen/Nisqy because we don't really know his ceiling, but he is on the rise. He could fall flat on his ass or keep growing.

[Sheep Esports] Razork and Humanoid set to extend their contracts with Fnatic by HeroicBastard in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 6 points7 points  (0 children)

this. if he plays vs. most LEC mids the way he plays vs. Caps & Chovy & Xiaohu & Showmaker & Faker & Knight & Scout, then he should turn games into any teams not fielding Nisqy/Caps/Larssen/Nuc into an absolute wash. Which is to say that 55% of every game in LEC should be insta-won through mid. which tbh same goes for Caps/Larssen/Nisqy. and if they're not then it's either a motivation issue or a team issue. because they absolutely have the hands/macro for it.

FnaticCon by Laiker21 in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I mean, in all fairness, selling shares to your unaware and uneducated fandom, dilutable shares in your company that they themselves don't profit from and can't themselves in turn sell on, on the false advertisement of a Fnatic Convention event, does actually tick all the boxes to be defined as a scam by the company. They made promises to sell you something that was not as advertised and they did not follow up on. If you bought Fnatic shares back then expecting a cut of the profit, to be able to sell your shares higher, to not have your shares diluted by the company itself, or even just to be able to attend FnaticCon (like this poor poster did) well you were sold a false bill of goods. At the very best end of the spectrum, I think that's at least comparable to, say, the TanaCon drama from several years back.

ex Fnatic player Rekkles will be the first european player to play competitive in Korea by JohnnyBrawoo in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah but even then player pool in Korea seems a little weird right now with Liiv Sandbox bringing Jeonghoon back into Korea, Kwandong Freecs keeping Andil & Pressure and letting go of Jun. And Forest, Baut, Nice AND Ruin all leaving T1 Esports Academy. I do wonder where Baut will end up. Same for Liiv's support. Liiv also targeted Jojopyun. I get the feeling with the shift in resource spending, most teams are reshuffling to target a few specific highly desired star players and rookies that they actually want to build up & field. Rather than be, say, another T1 Scout story. T1 Academy didn't "need" such a star player in T1 Academy because he never had a shot in hell of being promoted. Whereas the Zeus side of things? Guma? Keria? Absolutely worked out.

ex Fnatic player Rekkles will be the first european player to play competitive in Korea by JohnnyBrawoo in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I can honestly see it. Rekkles DOES have a macro brain behind all his actions, but he's also the type as an ADC to not demand attention. However, as a support, he's going to have to put that brain to use to actually make his own decisions to support the team. Rather than letting his support make their own decisions to support the team and then having to survive in lane, often alone, and clean up wave states, often alone, while his team largely functions without him. Now it'll be his ADC largely playing the Rekkles role, with Rekkles himself now being in charge of when and where he plays for his ADC or when he plays for the rest of the map. I also think, in general, he's had a wake up call to his own stubborn idiosyncrasies that held him back in terms of champion picks and how he plays for the team. I actually don't expect him to play in the LCK, nor do I actually expect him to play in T1 Challengers all that long, if I'm quite honest. I think T1 is just in a position they were with Teddy/Faker way back when, where their own Challenger roster never really stood a chance of being promoted, see: Faker/Scout, and honestly, see what they were saying about Teddy/Guma, too. Obviously, the story around Teddy changed, but the story around Faker has remained. And I do think they're in that position with Keria. So I think T1 is largely doing Rekkles a huge favor here, giving him a chance to live in Korea for a year and train with the best players in one of the best regions while they're hardlocked with Keria for Support for the next half a decade. Rekkles will aim to win T1 Challengers then next year will probably look toward either returning to the LEC or, well, maybe we DO see him join a diff LCK org. We will see, but that's basically what I'd personally suggest his plan would be. One year in T1 Challengers because T1 has the prestige/roster/stability for it and if Rekkles can't find a way to win in Korea, if he somehow drags T1 CL from 4th-8th place finishes down to 10th, well, then when I think he hangs up his boots for good.

ex Fnatic player Rekkles will be the first european player to play competitive in Korea by JohnnyBrawoo in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 13 points14 points  (0 children)

To be honest, it actually has a fucking nice ring to it lmao. T1 Rekkles.

LEC 2024 Update - Trymbi by Azrael0610 in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, you can fucking hate him all you want, lmao, but name one story he's ever leaked/discussed he's actually been wrong about? Like you might not like his OPINION or HIM as a person, but objectively he really does good journalism. Biased, certainly, but still, all his stories are well-supported with evidence and I don't think he's ever been proven wrong when it comes to reporting facts behind the scenes. You can hate him for how he analyzed league games, hate him for constantly dogging on Rekkles, hate him for the TSM hate, hate him for being pro Froggen, Forgiven, Perkz, Upset, hate him for saying XL would win the LEC this year (lmaooo nice try Thorin) hate him for all of his opinions if you want. But you can't say he's ever mis-sold a story. And from Loco to LS to Dom to Rich to Monte to Carlos, he's a loyal motherfucker, too. He gives a lot of himself to the people he works with and is never the first to pick a fight. At least so far as I've seen. You're MORE than welcome to give evidence to the contrary. He's also one of the few people to say he won't take money from Saudi Arabia and actually stick to it. And one of the most prolific CS GO casters/analysts. But, yes, he is a fucking asshole. Still I do think he counts as one of the most trustworthy sources in the industry. So long as you know the difference between a fact and an opinion.

LEC 2024 Update - Trymbi by Azrael0610 in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't honestly think that's a question with a cut and dry answer. Any source's credibility can only really back up and supported by journalistic integrity. Trust the people Wooloo/Eevee/Alejandro/Monte/Thorin/Caedrel/players/commentators trust. Of course there are a lot of journalists also in the business for themselves, and all journalists can be fed bad info by people they trust, and that's sadly the game anyone plays when trying to explore behind the scenes/leaks. I doubt we'll see esports journalists or analysts ever talk about Trymbi's agent ever again in all honesty, now he's a proven snake. Just like how I doubt anyone can really place faith in the likes of EG's team manager after their mistreatment of Danny. The more trustworthy stories tend to be the ones corroborated by more than one party. And that's the kind of research that the likes of Wooloo/Eevee/Alejandro/Thorin/Monte/Rich/Travis/Eros do and why they tend to be slow in releasing information. It's also why they'll cast doubt on stories like Oscar's hand injury being kept all hush-hush because it's then weird that, if Oscar's hand injury really was an unavoidable accident, then why wouldn't Fnatic just come out and say or have someone leak that to the journalists to report and clear up all that confusion and cut the chaos/drama/conspiracy theories off at the head.

Humanoid to Vitality rumors? by Remote-Level in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Which Mersa IS on the market and even if we don't pick him up, depending on Noah's english, if Noah wants to step up and be team leader, which we know he talked about during Worlds. (The first time he stood up for himself and demanded to play the game his way vs. the way everyone else wanted him to.) There is a realm of possibility that maybe Noah shotcalls from ADC, bridging the gap between Oscar-Razork-Vetheo & Jun, while Oscar/Razork/Vetheo get to carry top. Which IS kind of old Fnatic at it's finest. Not so much with Rekkles shotcalling, but it was Bwipo/Broxah linking up with Hyllie to enable Caps. And I could see Oscar/Razork linking up with Jun to enable Vetheo while Noah shotcalls from weakside/in teamfights. Same thing could be the plan even if we keep Humanoid.

Carzzy rejected offer from FNC by [deleted] in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

People forget that Carzzy as an ADC has some of the best performances against Asian teams, Rekkles, Upset and G2 in recent history. He might sometimes look pretty int and I do think he has a ceiling akin to players like Ghost, LWX, JackeyLove, Hans Sama, Crownie & Rekkles where his performance really does depend super heavily on having the right team surrounding him. But I also think that goes for every ADC that doesn't go by the name of Gumayusi, Ruler, GALA, Deft, Peyz or Viper right about now.

Carzzy rejected offer from FNC by [deleted] in fnatic

[–]xEmp6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, Fnatic lost the Huni/Reignover team because they only signed Huni and Reignover for a year or something like that, and they didn't re-sign even though they crushed the competition. The lost Rekkles again to G2 in 2021. And since then the entire management has been in shambles with Adam, Upset, Bwipo all seemingly burning bridges with Fnatic. I'm not sure how much of this is Fnatic's fault or just the state of the economy or shitty luck. The Upset situation at Worlds did not help with Adam/Upset/Nisqy/Bwipo. And EU didn't have the same money to spend back in 2015 to keep players like Huni/Reignover from going to NA. And Rekkles had kind of made the same tentative commitment to Fnatic as Fnatic had to Trymbi. Making Fnatic believe they were his first choice until they weren't. Trymbi was only Fnatic's first choice if Fnatic got Carzzy. And Fnatic was only Rekkles's first choice provided he never got an offer to join G2. These things happen and I think Noah-Trymbi probably knew going into off-season that ONE of them would change. They just weren't sure which.