I Wasted the Last Year of my Life

[@yellowbed]

another thing to note that Lud didn’t mention in the video is that the Guard boys chose to stay together… before ascension, Trent, who is arguably their star player, got offers from T1 teams to play for them. He denied all the offers despite the money he could have made because he believed in his team so much and cared for them so much. they then proceeded to win it all and win ascension…. just for all this to happen. so unfortunate

[@mrweed6932]

i feel like the players themselves kind of screwed themselves by stiking with the org itself

[@handle7454]

and those players deserve to be able to shop offers from other organizations, but Leo Faria says this would be setting a precedent for selling VCT slots when he fully well knows this is beyond a unique situation

[@DeathClawz]

​@@mrweed6932it's not like they knew this would happen, why would you blame them

[@angelodelacruz1007]

@@mrweed6932 the guard's money and management problems only became public knowledge relatively recently; not long enough for it to be a factor for player decisions in sticking with the org or not.

[@ameykasar]

@@mrweed6932 The players were under contract. You cant just up and leave an org

[@thatwerido7902]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate that Mogul Mail regrew his hair just for the ad segment. The dedication is incredible!

[@aircatcher6891]

Like a playdoh press

[@evano7]

don’t click the link

[@freddiedisapproves]

@@aircatcher6891LMFAOO I USED TO HAVE THAT HAIRCUT THING

[@m3talh3ad18]

Instead of taking the bait on thinking of a comeback, please report the links posted by the bots everyone

[@mthwntr]

Naah that was Ludwig in the ad

[@luvdie]

Im really glad you made a video on this because the whole situation is absolutely heartbreaking for the guard players and coach. Like you said they grinded their asses off to win ascension and then literally find out about the news that they wont "ascend" on twitter. I cant believe that this is the way riot structured the ascension format. The fact that they are fully prepared to not let a team ascend if they dont have enough money, or dont even have an org is ridiculous. Like did they not think of the possibility of a team like turtle troop winning? Its crazy to me that they were so quick to say, yeah we just aren't going to add another team to VCT americas without considering any other option to let this guard team find a new org, or like you said let the runner ups M80 get the slot. So now, americas has 10 teams, while EMEA and APAC (the two other VCT regions with ascension tournaments) will have 11 teams. It genuinely blows my mind how heartless riot is in this regard, and I just feel so bad for the guard players, they really dont deserve this and I hope all of the attention this is getting from the community will spark a change. But knowing greedy, money-hungry riot, they probably dont give a single fuck and will keep VCT americas with 10 teams.

[@becauseofcourseitis]

Feel bad for the players and coaching staff, but not the org. Get mad at the org, not Riot. The org had months to meet the prerequisites on the deadline set by Riot. Like you said, how come every other region's ascension teams met these requirements but not The Guard? Riot has every right to make strict guidelines on what kind of qualifications teams have to have to be in tier 1. It's their most watched sector, sponsors' logos will be seen alongside these teams, the exposure is massive, and as a corporate entity, Riot should be stringent about what teams have to have to either go to or remain in tier 1. Heck, they're paying tier 1 teams to be in tier 1. They're essentially employing them. It's only right that they be strict on the teams they "hire". The Guard is owned by a 12.9 billionaire who owns multiple teams across multiple sports. Money is not a problem for the org. And money isn't even the main thing Riot is looking for from the teams, it's the long-term commitment to the sport (which having money is admittedly a big part of)-commitment that is needed for this phase of Valorant as an esport needs to succeed long-term. We can't have broke, non-committed teams (presumably like Optic, Acend, M3C) go into Tier 1 only to dissolve a couple of years later, regardless of how good their players are. That's bad for the sport. This was The Guard's way of minimizing investment in esports while trying to get max profit, but, in my opinion, Riot didn't let them have their way and correctly dealt with the situation. But what Riot could have done to further improve their optics would be to have allowed an existing org that does meet their guidelines and requirements to pick up the full roster and coaching staff of The Guard and ascend that org into tier 1. That should be priority over ascending M80 to tier 1 for the specific reason that M80 did not earn that opportunity because they finished second. Ascending M80 into tier 1 would make this situation feel even more unfair for The Guard players and staff. Fault the org, not Riot (though there are things Riot could improve, but make no mistake blood is all on the hands The Guard-the org, not the players and staff).

[@luvdie]

@@becauseofcourseitis oh you are 100% right to fault the guard org, I'm not disagreeing with you there. My point is that it's absurd that riot immediately said there will be no new team for the ascension slot under any circumstance. Like how did they not think this through to put idk a SINGLE counter-measure if something like this happened? or like ludwig said hypothetically if a team like turtle troop won, they just wouldn't get in. It's pretty brain dead of riot if you ask me, and I don't know why you dickriding riot so hard. You say that riot is "employing" these orgs as they are paying them, but the money riot sends does not cover the cost of paying the players, yet alone running the entire org. In a business like esports where it seems like every org is losing money, or taking some losses, why in the world would riot not consider something like this happening? also, you say that they can't have orgs that will surely dissolve soon, but literally open your eyes and look at some of the orgs in VCT rn. Sentinels is running out of money fast, and they are arguably the most clouted and popular org in all of valorant. Does Sentinels look like a stable org that won't dissolve in the near future to you? In a business as uncertain as esports, you can't seriously expect every org to be stable for the coming years with 100% certainty, which brings me back to my point that it is so stupid that riot didn't have any counter-measures in place for if an org couldn't afford, or didn't want to take the losses of ascending to VCT.

[@grichl88]

I feel like this really highlights how wack esports are. It makes sense that people need representation from an organization to handle a lot of the hassle that goes into competition, but it also sorta feels like larger organizations just don't belong in esports because it seems like greed and the desire to recoup losses always wins out over the health, wellness, and efforts of the players.

[@luvdie]

Agreed, and this issue is way worse with riot's esports. I mean just look at what happened with the Americas scene for league of legends. Riot doesn't give a single fuck about the players that create these awesome esports scenes and it's so sad.

[@grichl88]

@@luvdie it's wild to think a lot of these game dev studios who develop games they know will be highly competitive just don't actually care about the players.

[@MaliohammadDesigns]

well riot is owned by tencent so not much to be expected morals wise. @@grichl88

[@impulsikk3815]

Esports should have just stayed as LAN tournaments where you show up to a shitty small TV in the middle of a hotel's rented out space with everyone is in folding chairs.

[@AzureTHC]

how wack franchising is*

[@monicag_00]

I can't imagine how the players must feel right now, they did everything right and now it's been pulled from under their feet without warning :(

[@hydoken123]

Qq

[@sideslash]

Watching the Moist Moguls play was some of the most fun I had watching VCT this year. This is upsetting, but hopefully we get to watch more gameplay from the boys in 2024.

[@anthonyjoy9719]

Didn't he say in the vod that riot isn't letting any American team advance next year too?

[@Cruhzyy]

my content better

[@Duvli]

@@Cruhzyy lies

[@SioGG]

@@anthonyjoy9719 He misspoke saying VCT, he meant VCL

[@ValenciaCyn]

KEY PIECE OF INFO: One of the ascension players from Bonkers, the team Lud mentioned. Also stated that they were explicitly told that if their team won in Pacific, Riot would give the team 2 MONTHS to find an org to ascend with. Why all of a sudden now The Guard players aren't given this option.

[@WARnTEA]

Its because The Guard players are contracted to the org. Valorant can’t just break another company’s contracts. The Guard owners deserve some compensation for the money they burned on this team over the last year, trying to sell the team obviously failed as the economy is too bad for investors to waste money on esports. So its within their right for The Guard to sell the players to other league teams individually.

[@itsjackson]

@@WARnTEA all their contracts are about to end so that changes things

[@project5877]

@@itsjackson Yeah the contracts are ending AFTER the period that the people from Bonkers would have had. That's the whole point. Riot is denying The Guard players entry because they have reached the end of those months and the deadline is through. People are blaming Riot a lot for this, but The Guard is the one who should take most of the brunt. Riot said they don't want to set the precedent of teams forming rosters and winning Americas just to essentially sell off the team and poach the spot which is fair. The Guard should have released their contracts WAYYYYY sooner since they know they were pulling out of esports but instead they just let it sit and now these players are fucked.

[@kdoom3801]

Well it's been 2 months since ascension, so time expired

[@RealTaIk]

@@WARnTEA I'm pretty sure the guard not providing the necessity for them to ascend to the league is a breach of contract, so it literally doesn't matter that they have a contract with the guard.

[@KillerTacos54]

Man that is such a shame... The important thing is that you guys are building something, and this is just one (of many..) setbacks. I'm sure it will be worth it guys! Hang on :)

[@DannyC2002]

Did you know George plays pro val now?

[@davidsantiago7808]

Funny comment

[@Lavassin]

eSports orgs are never worth it. That's why even the most successful teams fail when they inevitably lose all their money

[@veravye]

@@Lavassin not worth it for profit maybe, but charlie (and lud) burn money because they enjoy it and the content creates. ex: seeing Moist win the RLCS spring major last season was def worth it for charlie. he was super hyped about it, especially with such an iconic and beloved roster. even if they cant fund it one day in the future, i dont think it'll be a disaster lool

[@alimyusmanto6677]

@@Lavassin yes. esport scene doesn't have stable income without fans .. and fans come when they win big tournament mostly .. it was overblown

[@callmeshelton4544]

I was on the production team for the challengers season and it just feels like a slap in the face. So many people put in so many hours to show off tier 2 Valorant and show off the next tier 1 team. It’s such a shitty situation.

[@H3O.]

As a canadian, i can honestly aay that is one of the best maps of canada ever drawn. Captured like 99% of the pop with one slice.

[@ibrahim5463]

I feel like esports is not allowed to grow naturally and when people like charlie and ludwig tryies to improve it they cant because the system is against them

[@BoredMarcus]

Because I think it's not done enough I really want to point out: 'the system' is Riot. Nobody else. it's their game, they created everything around it, it's 100% Riot's fault.

[@arguementenderz8738]

I read it wrong and thought it was your last year alive! Stay healthy!

[@madcodereom]

LMAO

[@khaelkugler]

Nooo Ludwig I can't believe he caught tippidis

[@shaggygaming34]

Me too

[@noThankyou-g5c]

😃

[@rebound1340]

​@@khaelkuglerwho the fuck is ludwig?

[@KVenturi]

The Guard: Smoked everyone, wasted Mogul Mail's time, Leaves *Refuse to Elaborate*

[@HeisenbergFam]

Always a vibe when Mogul spreads the word of unknown KZbinrs like Cr1tikal

[@Eurobeat_fan]

Bot

[@EwokCrotchVomit]

13.6 million subs doesn't seem like unknown

[@FootballShortsCo]

r/woooooooooooooooooooooooooosh@@EwokCrotchVomit

[@squeejey_247]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHi4nWCpd9OlppYsi=5K1E3BW-B02Nv-GL

[@Goku17yen]

- 🤖

[@dsouthmonster]

I really appreciate Lud's ability to grow and absorb his hair at will like a *fucking Chia-Pet*

[@simplepolite]

Its actually such a punch in the gut for the previous Guard roster hearing that both the org they were a part of, and Riot themselves reached a decision to essentially nullify their past year of competing without their input. It sucks for the 6 members of the team, it sucks for Tier 2 Valo, and it sucks for VCT Americas because they don’t have an extra slot for next year.

[@handle7454]

Nothing has made me more upset than how Riot (Leo Faria) has chose to handle this situation. Absolutely despicable.

[@teeess1909]

They’re only putting money into further development of Valorant aka the Slimewire Loser’s Queue

[@jackg6887]

Riot fucking over an NA league? Who's surprised not league fans that's for sure

[@Googlrr]

This is why the FGC will always be king of esports IMO. The most prestigious tournaments are massive open brackets, and truly the best player wins. You don't need any corporate backing or org assistance, just a plane ticket to EVO and a controller

[@Amaling]

This also means it’s less reliable for someone to be a full time pro in fighting games As a casual competitor/spectator, I’m definitely a fan. And while our peak cannot match the size of a corporately backed moba or fps worlds finals tourney, the sustainability is always on our side. But everything has its give and take

[@ooczzy]

I seriously hope you look into going into CSGO. Valve basically said TOs are forced to do open qualifiers and none of the franchising nonsense. If your team is good enough then you have just as much a shot as anyone. If you make it to a major, then your team gets support via major sticker capsules where contenders, legends, challenger teams get revenue from capsule sales. Yes talent wise top teams are heavily favored, but Valve made it so even tier 2 teams have an option to survive even if they cant compete vs tier 1s

[@aiaoi5048]

they already did this with Dota 2 the International, but this is also a nice change for CSGO unknown underdog teams mopping established teams will always be much more entertaining

[@Legitti]

Never got into Valorant, kinda never felt permanent anyway

[@ImTheMadman]

Lud acting like Canada isn't part of NA was my favorite part of the video.

[@makeeveryonehappy5446]

His hair is a good indicator for when to stop skipping the sponsor.

[@NerfedMightyy]

Unrelated to the video but his hairline is actually insanely good for a mid 20s male

[@Psycho_Bruh]

Late now

[@aurelien5747]

Isn’t he 29?

[@nopenonope]

​@@aurelien574728

[@phelan8385]

Look at Ethan Kleins, he's pushing 40 and it's pristine

[@gergogaal568]

so its not really bad genetics, just bad luck@@Derpng

[@judechauhan6715]

It's funny you mentioned Stan Kroenke who owns the LA Rams and a very successful European team. He and his family own Arsenal, a very popular English team playing in the Premier league. They had similar 'spending' issues until very recently and for many years the fans of the team hated the owners for refusing to spend money and further the team/put up a real fight in the competition. It seems perhaps a similar situation is happening here but on a smaller scale, perhaps with similar instructions given to whoever is overseeing the team. They also didn't seem to want to sell so that may be a similar problem for The Guard. I think the sale is a really good idea but if not then giving the 2nd team their place feels like the default response. That feels like what you would be petitioning to allow a sale instead, not that you would have to also ask that the 2nd place team might play instead. It's the normal way to deal with a DQ, I don't know why they felt the need to change now, probably as a warning for their monopoly over the other teams.

[@tastyflamingo5402]

Mr. Mogul opened this one like his shorts. Just waiting for the punchline now

[@isaactown2677]

I love how the camera is framed specifically for lud and his hair but because he's bald now it just makes him look really short

[@autumngender]

I enjoyed it when Mogul Mail brought up Microsoft Paint. He should pursue a Graphic Design career!

[@benelson12]

I'm pretty sure that's a Phd at ASU.

[@Svowo]

Thats what is the best about Counter Strike, everything is organized by ESL/FACEIT/Blast and so on, multiple Tournament organizer. This way its a lot of competition and everyone can achive to rise up. Or the Majors that are sponsored by Valve, were literally everbody can compete in and we were able to see teams no one has heard from before with new talents

[@BlueRey2]

The American obsession with franchising is baffling to see, they just don't want to see consequences to bad businesses

[@Dschonathan]

The people making the decisions for esports at Riot (and at Blizzard before they shut everything down I guess) want to make them the next American favorite's pastime by emulating American sports as much as possible instead of letting esports be it's own thing. They actively alienate all of Europe and I guess the rest of the world because they want to capture the American sports dad demographic. They want to break into sports and get a piece of the NFL, NBA, MLB etc. pie instead of making use of the fact that their esport is internationally and globally appealing.

[@Adam-fq5lu]

? Tons of franchised leagues in Europe.

[@OctavioFCB]

Mogul mail keeps bringing back his hair for sponsors #Grind #Motivated

[@obviouslyanonymous]

Being a Guard fan really fucking hurts. They've done so well for so long and just keep getting shafted nonstop. Was so looking forward to finally seeing them on the big stage they've proven themselves worthy of all along.

[@SimpleFlips]

not to undermine the subject, but the kissing booth in 2020 joke is god tier

[@jacks2573]

Damn no personal ludwig stare anymore.

[@UtubeEnjoir]

This title sums up my introduction to valorant in 2022

[@Ayythan]

It just makes coming third sting so much more

[@wasd3108]

charlie in that picture looks like as if an elven outcast knocked up a goblin, and he grew up next to a stadium

[@otoshithekid2957]

This is rough. And it's a fundamental question for e-sports. Since there is one company who holds ownership (and therefore monopoly) of the game. The power dynamic is basically, whatever they say goes. You barely have space to create your own competitive scene, and even if you do. If it gets big enough, the execs will come around for the their piece of the pie, shitting rules left and right. Your 5 friends, playing from your bedroom can't make it together into the big leagues, even if they're good enough.

[@pocketsora2210]

I feel deeply for the teams who work their ass’s off to be where they are now and the ppl like you Lud who pour their money into something they believe in; to be handled so poorly in the end, it’s a fkn shame man

[@OfficialLucianoTV]

Pretty sure there was a dota team that qualified for the international but was dropped by their org. The 5 man stack got to keep their points and were picked up by another org on a special contract (Think it was for 1 month or something). The 5 man stack got to keep their invitation under the new org. It was a few years ago so it might be different now.

[@frizzlup5072]

Dota pro circuit is not a franchised league, it's different

[@OfficialLucianoTV]

@@frizzlup5072 Ascension is also not franchised

[@Air_OK]

With constant headlines like this coming out of franchised leagues, I always count my blessings that valve is committed to stopping franchising in CS

[@Watburnt]

riot just said that the guard can find a new team as you commented that lol

[@KogaTM87]

This news is some major BS, but also kinda huge for CS since not only is CS2 about to release, but also Valve issued a statement that is forcing franchised teams from being able to guarantee their participation in major tournaments starting in 2025. Thats a year and a half for all the major TOs to get their shit together, and is going to enable CS to be much more competitive going forward. I'm wondering if any Valorant teams/players will swap over to CS2 due to those two events

[@Ciiphernought]

The fact that teams only spend 2 years at the top flight is insane. They need someone who understands sports to revamp the system.

[@jPup_]

"Like I opened a kissing booth in 2020" 💀

[@bananalord2862]

pyro's barber is expanding to other creators! it's good to see a small business reach out to large creators!

[@ColeRodgersX]

we need classic mogul mail with dating advice and story telling to come back

[@notnothaze]

its very difficult to be worse than CS when it comes to having an t2 scene that can actually make it to t1 (especially in NA) but riot seems to be taking that as a challenge to do everything wrong

[@sereeenity4725]

My favorite part of the video is when he grew his hair back for an #ad then shaved it again to stay in character for the video!

[@ImNotOnFeNtanyl]

I love how mogul mail ludwig has way more respect from his fans than normal gamer ludwig

[@Calamitri]

I truly can’t comprehend Riot’s handling of this situation. I really hope as many pro-Valorant players and orgs as possible go on strike for the off-season, and, if necessary, into 2024. If they’re able to economically hurt Riot, Riot might just be forced to change their minds.

[@WARnTEA]

This isn’t Riot’s call. The Guard players have signed a contract to play for The Guard. I really doubt that all of their contracts are running out before the next season. The Guard is likely going to sell their players individually because they couldn’t find an org to buy the whole team. Getting into esports isn’t popular among investors anymore. The only person I think that would have bought The Guard is DisguisedToast but because he already burned so much on Yay, I’m not sure that he would be willing to spend a couple million dollars for the team because lets not forget. The salaries of these players on The Guard are only going to go up because they are valuable players. That is such a risky proposition just for 2 years in the league. There is no guarantee that the team can stay in the league past those 2 years.

[@Deymetrey]

here we are with the braindead takes again. strike? stfu.

[@ImTheMadman]

Love how luds hair suddenly reappeared momentarily

[@sarahthebogomol9683]

Thank you Mr Mogul for covering latest news! I hope one day you can Collab with Ludwig ❤😊

[@DaneHagestad]

Bro, I rushed to Mogul Mail at the first sign of VCT drama. I love your take. Riot needs to fix this.

[@looserdood]

He Wasted the Last Year of his Life.

[@kylecocktails]

mann ! im sorry to hear that i hope something better comes around

[@haklor5102]

They just announced that premiere will feed into T2. How would a team hope to have a chance to get from premiere to T2 to T1? This flies directly in the face of the promises they literally just made a few days ago.

[@luvdie]

Wait you are so right I didn't event think about this. Because most, if not all premiere teams will probably not have an org. The way riot has treated valorant esports angers me, it seems like the players are always of least importance, very sad.

[@project5877]

@@luvdie A team with no org is given a period (it seems to be 2 months) to find an org if they win ascension. The problem is that The Guard players are signed to an org and that contract is ending/being released after the period that teams would be provided to find an org.

[@Hugh.G.Rectionx]

he doesn't own a super good football team in europe, he own arsenal fc instead.

[@DigitaIJustice]

How did so many of you misread the title to think the man is dying??

[@anthonyjoy9719]

It doesn't specify, and people are pessimistic

[@DigitaIJustice]

@@anthonyjoy9719 how does “wasted a year of my life” mean dying? How would wasting a year correlate at all?

[@anthonyjoy9719]

@DigitaIJustice "wasted the last year of my life" to some people could be taken litteraly. The way the sentence is worded gives a sense of finality because of the word "last" and it not specifying anything beyond "my life". It's not so much misreading as it is click bait and people running with it, jumping to a pessimistic conclusion that he meant his litteral last year of life due to some reason. If it was "previous", instead of "last", it wouldn't convey the same sense of finality or the end of something as it does now. People probably wouldn't jump to that conclusion then. It's just a good click bait title for gossip and drama hungry people, that's all.

[@DigitaIJustice]

@@anthonyjoy9719 ahhh, as in the final year of his life. That just didn’t even occur

[@Archetapp]

That ad transition took me SO off guard lol

[@corium8546]

I was so scared moist disbanded after seeing the title. Tbh as I long as I can watch moist dominate I’m happy. And why don’t they just go down the list and say ok 3rd here u go go have fun?

[@jackg6887]

Cos riot don't care about na

[@expiredyams]

It was about the journey not the destination ❤ I loved watching the team grow and definitely don't think it was a waste of a year!

[@shmillsyshmillsy6624]

For anyone that didn’t see the recent news, riot reversed there decision on this and is letting the players ascend and find another org to do it with

[@KauffmanJohn]

there is something streamers could do, which is to boycott watch partying the event. so much of T2 viewership is based on those watch parties that it would have a real impact if people refused to watch or support the league. it could at least get riot to consider changes, i don’t think angry reddit posts are going to do anything.

[@staticshockk]

3:53 The way he just said "they own good team in europe" made me think its just known team but not as big as Arsenal

[@luckypicklex]

ludwig you didnt waste your time! just think about all the branches and interest you accumulated from making these videos. I for one am now aware of the esports scene not something I had thought about before

[@DanJanucik]

Your comment is being picked up by s ex bots lmfao

[@luckypicklex]

@@DanJanucik what are you yapping about?

[@Krackatau]

We happen to have stumbled across a topic I have a bit of extra background context on. The owner of The Guard is Stan Kroenke, the same man that owns the Rams and Arsenal (as well as several other things that I can't think of at the moment). He is probably the most hated person in the city of St. Louis. In the last few years of having the Rams in St. Louis, he intentionally made loads of decisions to completely tank the quality of the team so that he could force a wedge between the team and the fans and move to LA. It was so bad that the city won a $790 million lawsuit against him. I know little about this situation in particular but knowing Kroenke, it wouldn't shock me if we have a similar situation where he intentionally derailed the team to spite his Valorant players or something tl;dr: The owner of The Guard, Stan Kroenke, is and has always been a colossal piece of garbage.

[@springthyme501]

One thing I think Lud is really missing in his calls for relegation is that the players are not inherently tied to the org they ascended with. Even if the Guard won champions with this roster and were sent back down to tier 2 after 2 years, its not like the players would go back to playing tier 2. The main franchise orgs would clearly be interested in them and the players would have cemented their places in the "Franchise" ecosystem. Moving Orgs in and out of franchising and the support Riot provides being uncertain would just make the Valorant Esports scene more unstable, and more orgs will ultimately fold. In saying that it's a complete shame what has happened for the players. I definitely wish they got to play together as a full roster but this now seems near impossible.

[@Vulp_The_Philosopher]

That sponsored segment was really jarring, just stitched in there.

[@irocc-09]

Damn I haven’t even watched yet I know there has to be a juke out Edit: after watching a little bit I would like to take back my previous statement

[@Viceprezbacon]

I would like everyone to acknowledge that this is what Stan Kroenke does. As someone from St. Louis, I will never believe that this man actually cares about the teams he builds. All he cares about is money and doing whatever it takes to make more of it.

[@woodyyyyyy9820]

Well it was fun while it lasted🤷‍♂️

[@exitpath2]

I know CS isn’t your game and Valorant is super popular in the US but I really think with the new CS2 tournament rules coming out y’all should consider focusing on that?

[@mr.floofles3100]

Who else read this as Ludwig was dying 💀

[@daylen577]

I actually think it's a good thing that Riot is demanding there's some money and certainty behind each team, but it's a little absurd they just straight up went 'nope, goodbye' this time. Would've been easy for them to work with the players to see if they can reorg or something

[@boggersegg6237]

okay lets be honest, who thought it was the last year for his entire life?

[@HappyVLR]

Me 😢😂

[@alexmodnueldo8493]

I appreciate this video giving real information and context instead of the 1 min clips of streamers reading chat and going "dam fuq riot lol thanks for the sub"

[@JP_gaming]

I liked my own comment

[@ziaxthewarrior3167]

as a person who has wanted to get into esports for a very long time and play professionally, this is the biggest red flag i have ever seen. if they do not let one of the teams ascend to t1 i am 95% sure it will result in massive crumbles in players wanting to compete, and massive stale periods of vct. if you dont believe me then look into OW's t2 scene and how that went with how blizzard treated their t2 scene

[@kacperoo29]

Imagine investing any kind of money/time in Riot's games. They always were cancer and will remain the same. Franchising shouldn't be a thing and there needs to be multiple TOs just like in CS for a healthy e-sports. Monopoly on these kind of things is never a good thing and will only hurt the scene in the long run.

[@kirdish3689]

I’m ngl I am never playing valorant but watching moist mogul play has a really high intensity as a viewer and was super fun wayyyy more interesting than cod tbh

[@maksiksq]

"Amazing month for Valorant" hahhahaha

[@unoriginalname3442]

Love that I can see when the ads over by when he goes back to bald 💀

[@Ray-wh7uc]

"fuck aiden" is a wild transition to an ad.

[@Rialagma]

After the ad hairless Ludwig was like a jumpscare

[@shmackkboy]

nah the ad starting with "fuck Aiden" is Crazy 😭😭

[@armonster95]

The Aiden dig in an ad is class a comedy🤣

[@tlk889]

8:40 - I don't hink it's dumb to put everyone back after 2 years. If you allow the best peopel to constantly compete against each other, they will keep honing their skills, while any newcommer and all the other teams are stuck competing against the somewhat worse teams. Having all the teams shuffled every now and then seems like a good way to freshen up the pool and give everyone serious enough a chance to tackle the big boys.

[@DrChris44]

Leo is destroying the valorant comp scene. Its okay though you guys all love him he gave you premier !!

[@Miniplev]

Franchising is so bad for e-sports and sports in general. It makes it completely about anything other than the sport itself. Investors like it because they can try guarntee revenue but it's the most anit-competitive thing to do to a sport. Take a look at what they tried to with Football a couple of years ago with the Super League. They do not give a fuck about the sport or the fans, it's just purely about printing money. Luckily football was established when it was about the sport so we protested and got it stopped but e-sports is to fickle to do that. I think another issue is the e-sports community itself. It is huge now but there really isn't many orgs that can sustain this delusional thinking that players and talent should be paid millions when the org makes no where near that. There was massive investment pre-covid to allow orgs to act like a fully established company and it's falled like a house of cards. The whole industry needs to go back to being within it's means.

[@sbastianbrilyanto4722]

Riot should take example on Dota2 and the DPC system, which although not perfect, allows any team to ascend to tier 1 or even to compete in TI.

[@takusek]

What is worth mentioning is that apparently, contrary to the words of Valorant Head of Esport, the contract given to the team that is to be ascended was worse than what Franchised teams are getting(no team skins etc.)

[@maarten699]

Isn't no team skins the only one?

[@Mr.Crab097]

The sponsor is apparently so good it made your hair come back

[@FitinLizard]

you sound like ludwig, military dude. thank you for your service.

[@giffyhunter]

Interesting to note The Kronke's (owners of the guard) had a very successful season in the NBA and EPL last season (Denver Nuggets, Arsenal). What kind of made this move with that guard fortellable is that Arsenal who has not been performing well in the EPL in the last decade, finished 2nd to Man City and the Kronke's being able to foresee this very early in the year back then have decided to spend a lot of money in the most recent summer transfer window. i.e. £208m So it make sense for them to drop any existing investments. As ensuring that Arsenal performing well in/continue making the champions will net them more money than any Esports team will ever make.

[@Level3Lifestyle]

All these rules and regulation and money problems- doesn't sound as fun as cramming 30 dudes into a basement and playing Mario kart for $250

[@bastiancastroatooritmo7175]

bald -> grows hair -> skips 30 sec -> bald again

[@kronksstronkstonks6360]

All im seeing is a company treating a purchased eSports team players as stock market commodities. Buy a team that's going places, then attempt to sell the players to other aspiring orgs at a premium after they've done really well. So they attempted to sell their 'stock' before they went up against the big leagues and potentially dropped in value, nobody bit at the offer and so they've basically pulled the plug due to the costs to promote the team for Tier 1 events. This is 100% an issue of a company not interested in the scene attempting to make make money from it with no care as to how it would effect the scene.

[@Mady0]

I don't mind the hair honestly. I liked the old hair more, but I got a buzz cut about a month before he did so it's kinda cool to see people with a similar hairstyle.

[@Monksfnleaks]

I just searched up the creators of the Guard and they own so many stuff, they own Arsenal Football Club (which is absolutely crazy), Arsenal Women’s Football club, Los Angeles Rams (American) Football Club, Denver Nuggets, the LA Gladiators and LA Guerrillas and for real estate they own SOFI STADIUM (wtf), KZbin THEATRE (again, wtf) EMIRATES STADIUM (3rd time, wtf), Arsenal Training Centre and more and they own a bunch of media YET THEY CANT FUCKING MANAGE AN ESPORTS TEAM?!?!? LIKE WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

[@yaboyjay7202]

Riot's decision to make Valorant esports a franchising system and not just copy CSGO (like they did with so many other things) is SO dumb. This is the first ripple where you can tell it will hurt them in the long run. Cause what org would want to start a tier 2 team now? What motivation actually is there for any tier 2 org? They are stuck there forever no matter what. That's why no one wants to buy The Guard. Therefore, Valorant esport is inherently adverse to profit

[@Test_Tube_Boi]

Why didn't VCT just let the runner ups right behind the guard ascend to the next tournament?