Valorant: I Am Still the World's Best

In the most popular live stream room on the Valorant section of the "Rat Platform," a white man with a thinning beard is reviewing today's match for his fans.

"EDG has really given me so many surprises."

Tarik exclaimed.

"As longtime viewers know, Kang Kang's performance at the Tokyo Masters captivated me and made me a loyal fan."

Tarik, literally translated as Tarik, is therefore known as "Brother Tarik" by his fans in China.

He was once the only Major champion MVP in North American CS, and is now the most popular streamer on Valorant's international online streaming platform.

"Although the team only reached the top six, Kang Kang's individual statistics were number one in the Tokyo Masters."

With that, Brother Ta opened a dedicated online event data website.

The player ranked first in ACS data at the Tokyo Masters is none other than Zmjjkk.

With an average ACS of 273.8, a KD of 1.3, and 82 first kills, he ranks above all other players.

"Because he was eliminated in the top six, Kang Kang had relatively few matches. Comparing only this data is unfair to the other players."

Players' performance fluctuates.

Occasionally, someone might get a good run and score 300 or 400+ ACS. There are quite a few examples of this.

But with more games played, teams will inevitably lose sometimes, and there will always be times when they get crushed by a large margin, so their stats will naturally drop...

Brother Ta changed the subject:

"But viewers, do you know what an average ACS of 273.8 in the World Championship means?"

"Note that this is the World Championship! Data from local leagues and secondary tournaments are not included, as the difficulty level varies from region to region!"

Ta Zi Ge pointed to a webpage, allowing viewers to see player statistics for every World Championship to date.

In every world championship, the average ACS of the first-place player is generally between 250 and 260.

Players with an average ACS of 200 or higher can generally be ranked in the top 30 in the world championships.

Zmjjkk's average ACS of 273 is already a phenomenal performance.

I wonder how many people remembered this ID because of that World Championship.

"Now you have a general understanding of ACS, right?"

Finally, Brother Ta finished his preamble, stroking his chin and chuckling to himself, before posing a question.

"Do you know what Raven's average ACS is?"

Without keeping everyone's curiosity in suspense for too long, Brother Ta revealed the answer.

—Average ACS, 318.5.

Upon seeing this extremely outrageous data, the viewers in the live stream who had just been given a science lesson immediately erupted in uproar.

WTF?!

【3185? Is that even achievable by a human?】

[I smelled a USB drive. Check all computers!]

Some viewers who were a little more rational offered their analysis.

[EDG has only lost one game to PRX so far, which is too small a sample size. Each of their players' stats looks excellent.]

[The main reason was those two matches against GIA; the 6-26 scoreline allowed Raven to rack up impressive stats. Once he loses a few more maps, his stats will return to normal.]

Yes, EG hasn't lost yet, and Demon1's stats are abnormal; their ACS of 293 is clearly inflated.

Even so, all viewers had to admit that Raven delivered a phenomenal performance.

"Data cannot fully define a player, and ACS ratings also favor duelists."

Ta Zi Ge spoke eloquently, "With two such excellent players as Zmjjkk and Raven, even if the team's foundation is weak, no one can say for sure how far this EDG can go... Friends, maybe we can really witness the birth of the biggest dark horse."

As a top esports commentator for Wawa, Ta Zi Ge knows how to create buzz, generate traffic, and build anticipation.

His words quickly spread rapidly on the international internet in the form of "live broadcast clips".

Many content creators in China have also reposted it, sparking widespread discussion.

-----------------

The heated discussions outside did not affect the EDG team members who were in seclusion for training.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Championships are proceeding smoothly.

The following day, EG defeated FUT 2-0, maintaining their undefeated record in a single game to date.

With this, the four semifinalists in the winners' bracket have been determined.

They are EG, PRX, DRX, and EDG.

The losers' bracket matches started on the second day.

Despite some fluctuations in their performance, Fnc still demonstrated the dominance of the regional veterans against FUT, easily winning 2-0.

On the other side, Loud also swept BLG 2-0, ending the CN team's journey in the World Championship.

While CN viewers felt sorry for the tragic hero whzy, they also looked forward to tomorrow's EDG vs. DRX match.

On the night before the match, Su Ming finished a ranked game on the North American server with a mediocre score of 28/12.

...A star player in the duel position who gets less than 300 ACS in an empowered game is considered just another ordinary player.

Su Ming's ACS score of only 288 is indeed nothing special.

But this is not the point.

The key point is that after winning this Rank game, combined with the points he gained from the previous match against Loud, he finally accumulated 1000 points, enough for another Memory Draw.

After finishing his shooting practice as usual, Su Ming lay down on the bed and began this round of memory extraction.

—A professional player reminiscing while drawing a specialization for duels.

Extraction successful.

—A look back at the coordinates: VCT 2024 Madrid Masters group stage.

——EDG vs GenG.

"!!!"

Su Ming could not hide his joy.

According to the official schedule released by Riot Games, the Madrid Masters is the first international tournament of next year.

This version of the game offers a sneak peek at the next international tournament, and with EDG involved, this giveaway is at least a first-class prize, if not the grand prize.

Moreover, EDG's main duel is with Zmjjkk, and GenG's main duel is with t3xture. No matter who it is, Su Ming feels he can gain something from it.

And so, he entered into his recollections with great anticipation.

Then, Su Ming stared at his ID on the screen, completely stunned.

—GenG.Meteor.

If Su Ming remembered correctly, this guy seemed to be another senior member of GenG.

But he was on guard duty.

as predicted.

The first map in the GenG vs EDG match is Winter Harbor, and Meteor chose Qile for this map.

"Dude, I don't think I pulled from the wrong gacha pool, did I?"

Su Ming was both amused and exasperated.

But he soon found out why.

Figure 2, Neon Town, Metero plays the duelist position with Jetfuji, forming a double duelist system with t3xture's Bomber Girl.

The only difference between GenG's lineup on this map and EDG's current lineup is the smoke grenade position; they chose Phantom Dancer as their main smoke grenade player instead of Celestial.

In the 24 version, Starfire was nerfed and was no longer a top-tier (T0) item.

With little difference in lineup, Su Ming gained a lot from this map, learning a great deal about GneG's tactical understanding of Neon Town.

Figure 3, Breeze Island, Meteor is also in the duel position, and has chosen Night Dew.

GenG demonstrated a textbook example of map control tactics on Breeze Island.

Throughout the entire game, especially during the map control phase, they completely outmaneuvered the EDG team from early 24.

Unfortunately, this map is not in the current map pool and has no tactical reference value.

"This guy is really good. He's very skilled in dueling, and his aim is accurate..."

After watching this recollection from a first-person perspective, Su Ming sighed inwardly.

"But these are merely the basic requirements for a world-class duel."

What makes Meteor truly unique is that—

"That frenzied aggression, like a hyena hunting."

Meteor was originally a duelist player, but later switched to the sentry position.

Perhaps because he simultaneously plays both "sentinel" and "duel," Meteor's playstyle is different from any other player. No matter what role he plays, he always likes to engage in one-on-one combat when on the offensive side.

His single touches are often filled with a kind of crazy aggression.

Among top-tier sideline players who excel at one-on-one play, Meteor is undoubtedly the most unique.

Top-tier sidelines can do a lot.

...to cover the rear of the team and prevent the enemy from advancing.

...make feints to distract the enemy and gather information.

...infiltrated the enemy's defenses to open up new offensive directions for the team.

Regardless of whether their actions are successful or not, their solo style is rational and courageous, and every action is aimed at coordinating with their teammates on the main force.

But Meteor is different.

His playing style lacks rationality.

He only had one target when he sneaked in.

Murder, murder, and it's fucking murder!

Meteor has long avoided taking responsibility for covering the rear and preventing the team from being flanked, and he doesn't need to provide information to the team. What he does most is try to sneak in and kill people.

This means that his coordination with his teammates is likely to be disconnected.

It's hard to imagine that a player as crazy as Meteor could exist in GenG, a team known for its discipline.

Meteor's style in casual games is to completely disregard the team's survival and just enjoy playing as a solo-targeting Rena.

It's very strong, but also very invasive.

"The team gave him a very high tactical position, with unlimited freedom to fire."

Su Ming grasped the key point.

"GenG, this academically-styled team, has four players whose playstyles and strategies are too consistent. They guarantee the team's floor, but their ceiling is also locked in. That's why they need someone like Meteor to act as the 'uncertain factor,' a wild card that can push the limits."