I've seen the post from an NA fan about the MSI meta and I would like to add more reflexion about the tournament.
I think this MSI is super interesting in terms of what it's reavealing about storylines, expectations and argumentations between redditors.
I'm a big EU fan since season 1. And obviously, super happy with the result of G2, a team I supported even in dark times. I've seen countless competitive games, read this sub without participating for years and decide to create an account to express, like many others, my opinion; because I'm always surprised how "debates" between fans are still lacking in season 9.
Prior to the tournament, the "new way" of "analysis" between fans of each region was going for each position and saying X player is better than Y, without putting any context to the statement, and ignoring of the team was of playing. I'm not asking for fans to do challenjour analysis, but at least, try to explain on what you're basing your reasoning. Is it historical datas? Macro? Even feelings (but you have to admit it)? But please, stop going X better than Y without logic. I've read that Wunder would get clapped by Khan by many SKT1 fans, that Perkz and Mikyx would be torn apart by Teddy and DL, that Impact would auto lose lane, that FW is a shit team when nobody saw their games, etc.
And it's not about being not biaised. We're all biaised. And it's fun. But for thoses who are not bantering, and trying to sell valid points, please be more precise and stop parroting old narratives.
As for narratives that changed (or already changed) that I would like to disappear in future debates/messages for the upcoming tournaments (for instance, the true World Championship a.k.a EU / NA Rift Rivals).
Bad/False narratives that need to die:
For G2:
- Jankos is a choker. Hope I never see that again, with his stellar perfomance during many tournaments now (even 2018, yeah yeah).
- Perkz isn't a good ADC. He's already a world-class ADC in 5 month, and 3 without his paired support (but thank you PromisQ). He's changing the way P/B can be done, similar to Viper. And it's only the beginning. I hope the guy can catch a break (because if he had DL performance in finals, he would have been torn apart for years), he's revolutionnazing in a way botlane.
- G2 is IG-lite. No, IG is IG and G2 is G2 (very deep sentence). They have their proper playstyle, with similarity of course (agressivity). Their P/B are different, the way they play around Jungle is different, how they play with a lead or from behind is different, etc.
- EU is the best region in the world right now due to MSI results. No, it doesn't work like that. G2 might the best team in the world (paired with IG I think), but it doesn't change the fact they are head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. LPL is still the best competition wise, with EU and Korea tight for 2nd. At least, we can have a debate on this.
For NA and TL:
- NA is no more the 4fun region. NA is still the 4fun region and will always be (for the meme). But now, they can be really competitive internationally (not only C9) and be feared. That's really nice for the West in general.
- TL doesn't deserve their finals because IG had a bad day. Did IG didn't play perfectly to their strenghts? For sure. But did Tl played well towards their weakenesses? Hell yeah, it's actually one of the biggest reasons they won. I don't remember people discrediting the winning team when Korea or China win :^).
- TL can't adapt. I'm not gonna lie, I thought they will get obliterated by IG, and I was super impressed by their performance in semis. They adapted during the tournament which is huge for an NA teas (poor adaptiblity is one of the biggest historical NA problem) and the fact they pulled out the wins they needed by themselves (and not by some "waiting for others teams to lose" shenanigans) in the end of groupstages is a really good sign for NA as a whole.
- DL and CoreJJ are the best duo in the West. Sorry to my fellow NA brothers, but stop parroting this narrative. I'm not saying they can't be (and personnaly think they aren't), but at least, try to explain why.
- Impact is only a tank player. Not gonna lie, I thought that was the case with his performance in laning phase against BB. But the guy played super well compared to expectations. Really impressed.
For Korea and SKT1:
- SKT1 isn't really good. I've seen this comments by some people trying to say that due to their baron throw. SKT1 is an incredible team, and it's not even its final form (same for all the top 4). They lost in a very close serie, and could also have been the MSI winner.
- Korea is a mess of a region right now. They are restructurating, they are changing the way they play. It takes time. But it doesn't change the fact that their talent pool is immense. Do not sleep on them. They didn't dominate for 5 straight years the world championship with no reason.
- KT and Jin Air would have not won MSI. Come on, they would have go 10-0 in groupstages and 6-0 in playoffs. Don't disregard them, they have the best macro in Korea.
For China and IG:
- IG did not underperform. Go rewatch the games and tell me Ning and Boalan are not inting. Really similar to the last day of groupstage against Fnatic at worlds. But hey, they disrespected TL who had a really good plan against them, and they got destroyed in a way. In a mix of underperformance, overconfidence, and TL playing very well around their weakenesses. Still, IG is a monster of a team.
- China is no more the best competitive region because IG lost in semi-finals. Same as before, no. They still have a lot of very good teams.
For LMS AND VN:
- FW are terribad. I think they are way better than people think. There are still a weakeaned version of the old FW, but they are still good.
- PVB is all about Zeros. I agree that Zeros can be very good, but I was pleasantly surprised by Palette. I think the guy is super good. The rest of the team is also very proficient mechanically.
In general:
- Add context and reasoning to your argumentation please. When I read Wunder would get destroyed by Khan because he's a Korean Toplaner, I can't help but laught and being a little sad to see my boi being disregarded that much. The "reasoning" was: he lost to Cuvee and got "destroyed" by TheShy at Worlds. Forgetting he did well against Kiin, that TheShy was the best toplaner, and he was in his Rookie year agasint Cuvee. I'm happy he will now get recognition by some korean bangwagonners.
- B01 are not science. It's not that X player lose lane one time that Y player is automatically better. Use B01 with a grain of salt.
- Underline the matchup of teams: some teams are better against others due to stylistic matchups. There's a reason PVB can win against G2.
Thank you for reading, and can't wait for Worlds!
Edit: I've modified/add some words that are misleading and correct some mistakes.
