EPT![[image loading]](https://preview.redd.it/a16z0zg31vw51.jpg?width=850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d918b03f5e07f140821106bf688cc2c72d2b51ab)
Glad to see Polt back in Korea and back in e-sports, even if it no longer related to SC2. He's such a smart guy, T1 can really use his brains to try and win the LCK next year. Would explain why he stopped streaming TFT and went quiet on Twitter.
Leak suggests Polt will join T1 in League of Legends
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geokilla
Canada8246 Posts
Glad to see Polt back in Korea and back in e-sports, even if it no longer related to SC2. He's such a smart guy, T1 can really use his brains to try and win the LCK next year. Would explain why he stopped streaming TFT and went quiet on Twitter. | ||
Waxangel
United States33592 Posts
MMA is still a coach on a 2nd division overwatch team. FanTaSy is still a coach on a mid-tier LCK team. MC started out as a coach on a low-tier LCK team. Ex-pros from different games DO get more opportunities in LoL, but this level of direct promotion to a marquee job would be unprecedented. | ||
Poopi
France12911 Posts
On November 03 2020 06:23 Waxangel wrote: Seems pretty weird to be going directly to head coach on the biggest LoL team in Korea? Polt never coached before and has no professional history in LoL. MMA is still a coach on a 2nd division overwatch team. FanTaSy is still a coach on a mid-tier LCK team. MC started out as a coach on a low-tier LCK team. Maybe they took his scholar degrees + english skills into account? | ||
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jimminy_kriket
Canada5532 Posts
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Chris_Havoc
United States600 Posts
Polt going dark may indeed indicate he's been in active negotiations with T1 in October. This is all speculation however. | ||
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ShowTheLights
Korea (South)1710 Posts
On November 03 2020 06:23 Waxangel wrote: Seems pretty weird to be going directly to head coach on the biggest LoL team in Korea? Polt never coached before and has no professional history in LoL. MMA is still a coach on a 2nd division overwatch team. FanTaSy is still a coach on a mid-tier LCK team. MC started out as a coach on a low-tier LCK team. Ex-pros from different games DO get more opportunities in LoL, but this level of direct promotion to a marquee job would be unprecedented. I miss MMA. Greatest player to ever play | ||
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Phredxor
New Zealand15076 Posts
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26739 Posts
On November 03 2020 09:27 Phredxor wrote: It sounds like LS will be the main coach with Polt. LS with the game knowledge etc Polt as man manager plus help bridge the language gap would make some sense. I could see Polt being pretty damn good in such a role, got language chops as well as the experience of maintaining a high level in a solo game while juggling other commitments. Probably a lot of stuff in terms of mentality and structuring practice time efficiently that Polt has some good ideas to pass on. | ||
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redloser
Korea (South)1749 Posts
On November 03 2020 09:27 Phredxor wrote: It sounds like LS will be the main coach with Polt. LS with the game knowledge etc Polt as man manager plus help bridge the language gap would make some sense. Afaik LS is pretty damn good in Korean, so I doubt that he would need Polt to translate him | ||
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swarminfestor
Malaysia2450 Posts
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evilfatsh1t
Australia8854 Posts
the appointment of joe marsh as ceo for t1 seems to be increasingly questionable as time goes on. more interested in bringing in personalities to the organisation rather than actual quality. literally making t1 into a na team. some early reactions to the news: http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=246584&iskin=esports http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=246601&iskin=esports (this article quotes joe marsh saying an announcement will be made next week) the comments are generally: you kicked out coach kim for these guys? t1 is an entertainment company now next season is fked. if admin doesnt get their shit together there wont be any point left in rooting for t1 the coach (ls) is the bigger problem than the appointment of the head coach they picked ls even after the shit he pulled with bbq one and untara? etc etc. safe to say joe marsh is not receiving much plaudits for this decision and polt/ls (ls in particular) do not have good standing amongst korean t1 fans already. even worse is that the season has only officially just finished but t1 is ready to make an announcement imminently meaning joe marsh was set on this way before he even looked at better candidates during the transfer window. ive been a skt fan since i started posting at tl and this is the least interested i have been in this team's success. what an absolute farce. wish skt would just kick comcast out and take the team back tbh | ||
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[Phantom]
Mexico2170 Posts
On November 03 2020 06:23 Waxangel wrote: Seems pretty weird to be going directly to head coach on the biggest LoL team in Korea? Polt never coached before and has no professional history in LoL. MMA is still a coach on a 2nd division overwatch team. FanTaSy is still a coach on a mid-tier LCK team. MC started out as a coach on a low-tier LCK team. Ex-pros from different games DO get more opportunities in LoL, but this level of direct promotion to a marquee job would be unprecedented. I was under the impression MMA was the headcoach of dynasty warriors? (the best team in season 1 OWL). Was he "only" a regular coach and not the headcoach? Was he demoted? Or did I just understood incorrectly and he was the head of their junior team or something? | ||
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Aeromi
France14461 Posts
On November 03 2020 13:45 [Phantom] wrote: I was under the impression MMA was the headcoach of dynasty warriors? (the best team in season 1 OWL). Was he "only" a regular coach and not the headcoach? Was he demoted? Or did I just understood incorrectly and he was the head of their junior team or something? MMA is a coach for the Seoul Dynasty while MC is working on the youth program at Gen.G which is the sister company of Seoul Dynasty. | ||
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sneakyfox
8216 Posts
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Waxangel
United States33592 Posts
On November 03 2020 17:45 Aeromi wrote: MMA is a coach for the Seoul Dynasty while MC is working on the youth program at Gen.G which is the sister company of Seoul Dynasty. Ah, wasn't aware he got promoted to the main OWL team. But the point still stands; even players who were all-time greats in other games typically have to start at a lower position and work their way up. | ||
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Ziggy
South Korea2106 Posts
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26739 Posts
On November 03 2020 13:18 evilfatsh1t wrote: im not aware of who polt is so i cant really comment on his suitability of the role but i am well aware of who ls is and the fact that hes on course to be appointed as coach of t1 is an absolute joke. hes probably the least equipped person to take on a coaching role, not to mention the fact that its laughable that he could bring anything to the team with his coaching when hes surrounded by players like faker and teddy. the appointment of joe marsh as ceo for t1 seems to be increasingly questionable as time goes on. more interested in bringing in personalities to the organisation rather than actual quality. literally making t1 into a na team. some early reactions to the news: http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=246584&iskin=esports http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=246601&iskin=esports (this article quotes joe marsh saying an announcement will be made next week) the comments are generally: you kicked out coach kim for these guys? t1 is an entertainment company now next season is fked. if admin doesnt get their shit together there wont be any point left in rooting for t1 the coach (ls) is the bigger problem than the appointment of the head coach they picked ls even after the shit he pulled with bbq one and untara? etc etc. safe to say joe marsh is not receiving much plaudits for this decision and polt/ls (ls in particular) do not have good standing amongst korean t1 fans already. even worse is that the season has only officially just finished but t1 is ready to make an announcement imminently meaning joe marsh was set on this way before he even looked at better candidates during the transfer window. ive been a skt fan since i started posting at tl and this is the least interested i have been in this team's success. what an absolute farce. wish skt would just kick comcast out and take the team back tbh Wait SKT isn’t running SKT anymore? Don’t follow League at all so I’m just picking up bits and pieces. It would be very odd and indeed sad if one of [i]the[\i] iconic eSports orgs were run into the ground. I’m not generally one for flag waving but if ever there was an org that should be resolutely Korean it’s SKT surely? | ||
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evilfatsh1t
Australia8854 Posts
skt getting american influence was disappointing to begin with but now the results are speaking for themselves. na running the team into the ground lol | ||
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Chris_Havoc
United States600 Posts
On November 03 2020 20:41 evilfatsh1t wrote: t1 is now a joint venture between skt and comcast. afaik skt has majority ownership but it seems management of the team has been outsourced to na, which is why joe marsh is ceo. its also why t1 has picked up more game titles now (dota, fortnite, valorant, pubg etc) skt getting american influence was disappointing to begin with but now the results are speaking for themselves. na running the team into the ground lol Which is one reason why T1 adding Polt as a coach is an interesting idea. Polt is bii-lingual being fluent in both Korean & English. He originally competed in SC2 in Korea, but moved to the U.S.in 2013 for university and to compete in the StarCraft 2 WCS. I am wondering if T1 wants Polt as coach in part due to his bi-lingual language skills and his crossover appeal to the NA market from Polt's days as "Captain America" in the WCS. | ||
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evilfatsh1t
Australia8854 Posts
his english profiency is quite honestly worthless in his role as head coach of t1's lol roster. other than having to now converse with ls, everyone else from admin staff to players is korean. the head coach's other responsibilities are likely to include managing player schedules, scrim schedules, overall player management, in game feedback and coaching, draft analysis and coaching and picking the player rosters for matchdays. out of the above polt (who from what i hear has zero experience in the lol scene and the game) is probably able to fulfil 2 responsibilities; player schedules and player management. i highly doubt polt would be even able to organise scrims for the first portion of his tenure because he doesnt know anyone in the scene. all of the above is not even taking into account the fact that this guy has zero management experience to begin with. questionable doesnt even begin to describe how bad of an appointment this is on paper. its the equivalent of ivanka being hired by donald trump, except there doesnt seem to be obvious nepotism. the only rational explanation ive been able to think of to support why such unqualified people have been hired to "coach" the team is because theres been a consensus that faker should take on a bigger role within the team. shotcalling and drafting was a major issue for t1 last season, with players being shuffled around to see which combination has the least communication issue. perhaps t1 decided that faker just becomes player/coach and does the feedback/drafting and in game shot calling. not many people would be better qualified to do that job anyway. unfortunately this doesnt solve the riddle of why the hell LS has been appointed though. | ||
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Nathanias
United States290 Posts
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xsnac
Barbados1365 Posts
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StarStruck
25339 Posts
That is typical in sports. Just because you are a great player in another game doesn't mean you will be a great coach. In fact, more often than not it is the opposite. | ||
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Fildun
Netherlands4123 Posts
On November 04 2020 10:28 Nathanias wrote: Polt has always been a fantastic LoL player afaik. Dude is super smart and maybe didn't have the talent but certainly has the brains to be an interesting coaching component. Head coach is quite odd tho! He's currently Gold 2 on NA with a not insignificant amount of games, which is probably somewhere around Plat 2 in SC2. At the moment he for sure doesn't have the League skills, but he's obviously a talented learner. I do think someone like Polt with his history is a valuable addition to any team, but the head coach role seems maybe a bit too much for his first job of this type. | ||
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DavidBSantigo801
1 Post
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Mverdo
24 Posts
On November 04 2020 18:02 xsnac wrote: baffling mentality from TL community in this thread. What does coaching having to do with being a player? In all sports coaches never played at top level. Except from Zidane I don't know a top coach right now in football, what do you guys think when you say that it is surprising? Polt has a big brain, demands respect with his Diploma and is charismatic enough to be a tremendous coach in any sport, even better comparing his 1v1 achievements in esport that he could fit the coach role for any esport team. Quite a lot of coaches in football have been players themselves, to name a few: - Antonio Conte (played for juve, now coaches Inter Milan) - Solskjaer (played for Manchester United and coaches there) - Mourinho (played for some relatively smaller teams tbf) - Frank Lampard (coaches chelsea now) etc etc Actually quite hard to find a coach who never played as a professional. While I do agree that it is not necessary for a good coach to have been a good player, it's by far not unprecedented. A deep knowledge of the game is however mandatory I would say. | ||
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Whatson
United States5357 Posts
On November 05 2020 03:26 Fildun wrote: He's currently Gold 2 on NA with a not insignificant amount of games, which is probably somewhere around Plat 2 in SC2. At the moment he for sure doesn't have the League skills, but he's obviously a talented learner. I do think someone like Polt with his history is a valuable addition to any team, but the head coach role seems maybe a bit too much for his first job of this type. probably confusing TFT with LoL (which, idk how anybody could possibly confuse the two) he'll be one of many coaches on the team, probably more of a mental coach rather than a strategical one. Being good at LoL isn't necessarily a requirement to be a good coach, but it definitely helps as shown by kkoma, zefa, reapered, cvmax, grabbz, youngbuck, and mithy. | ||
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starkiller123
United States4030 Posts
On November 05 2020 06:59 Whatson wrote: probably confusing TFT with LoL (which, idk how anybody could possibly confuse the two) he'll be one of many coaches on the team, probably more of a mental coach rather than a strategical one. Being good at LoL isn't necessarily a requirement to be a good coach, but it definitely helps as shown by kkoma, zefa, reapered, cvmax, grabbz, youngbuck, and mithy. hard to keep all these casual games apart lol /s | ||
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geokilla
Canada8246 Posts
On November 05 2020 06:59 Whatson wrote: probably confusing TFT with LoL (which, idk how anybody could possibly confuse the two) he'll be one of many coaches on the team, probably more of a mental coach rather than a strategical one. Being good at LoL isn't necessarily a requirement to be a good coach, but it definitely helps as shown by kkoma, zefa, reapered, cvmax, grabbz, youngbuck, and mithy. Polt used to play LoL before switching to TFT after he quit SC2. He was fairly good in bot lane. | ||
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CicadaSC
United States1906 Posts
On November 04 2020 10:28 Nathanias wrote: Polt has always been a fantastic LoL player afaik. Dude is super smart and maybe didn't have the talent but certainly has the brains to be an interesting coaching component. Head coach is quite odd tho! i get this comment is supposed to praise polt but please dont ever say polt lacks talent. if he wanted to he coulda been a lol pro or whatever you are trying to imply his lack of talent caused him to miss | ||
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evilfatsh1t
Australia8854 Posts
On November 05 2020 05:27 Mverdo wrote: Quite a lot of coaches in football have been players themselves, to name a few: - Antonio Conte (played for juve, now coaches Inter Milan) - Solskjaer (played for Manchester United and coaches there) - Mourinho (played for some relatively smaller teams tbf) - Frank Lampard (coaches chelsea now) etc etc Actually quite hard to find a coach who never played as a professional. While I do agree that it is not necessary for a good coach to have been a good player, it's by far not unprecedented. A deep knowledge of the game is however mandatory I would say. the list goes on. henry, gerrard, giggs, pirlo, arteta, gary neville had a stint, guardiola, koeman etc. not all of them are a-tier coaches but it definitely isnt because they lack understanding of the game. what you will never see is clubs like barcelona, man utd, real madrid, juventus etc. picking a coach with no management experience that only played at fking sunday league level. nor will you see them hire michael jordan or lebron james, because their achievements in another sport arent as relevant. thats exactly what polt's appointment to t1 looks like though. a guy with literally zero management experience who plays lol at sunday league level being hired to lead the biggest team in esports history. | ||
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26739 Posts
On November 05 2020 14:26 evilfatsh1t wrote: the list goes on. henry, gerrard, giggs, pirlo, arteta, gary neville had a stint, guardiola, koeman etc. not all of them are a-tier coaches but it definitely isnt because they lack understanding of the game. what you will never see is clubs like barcelona, man utd, real madrid, juventus etc. picking a coach with no management experience that only played at fking sunday league level. nor will you see them hire michael jordan or lebron james, because their achievements in another sport arent as relevant. thats exactly what polt's appointment to t1 looks like though. a guy with literally zero management experience who plays lol at sunday league level being hired to lead the biggest team in esports history. Indeed. Polt being some kind of coach given his mentality and use of time is absolute top tier, playing a solo game at a really high level while doing other things in life makes all the sense. Him being the head coach in a game he hasn’t played is bizarre. That said I’m unclear and still are what the roles of coaches actually are and who does what. Perhaps it’s different in League, in SC2 and even BW to a degree I’ve never actually read a breakdown about how everything fits together and what the practice regimen looks like, who’s responsible for what etc. | ||
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geokilla
Canada8246 Posts
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evilfatsh1t
Australia8854 Posts
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Morbidius
Brazil3449 Posts
On November 05 2020 03:26 Fildun wrote: He's currently Gold 2 on NA with a not insignificant amount of games, which is probably somewhere around Plat 2 in SC2. At the moment he for sure doesn't have the League skills, but he's obviously a talented learner. I do think someone like Polt with his history is a valuable addition to any team, but the head coach role seems maybe a bit too much for his first job of this type. How the fuck is Polt gold 2? I really don't believe one of the smartest players to ever touch this game is gold 2, its shit even by my standards. Lets not even go into the fact that he's on top of TFT ladder. It seems SKT doesn't believe he's ''gold 2'' either since they hired him. I know people will talk about football coaches and how you don't need to win a world cup to be a coach but don't you need to at least know where the goalposts are? | ||
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CicadaSC
United States1906 Posts
On November 09 2020 13:17 Morbidius wrote: How the fuck is Polt gold 2? I really don't believe one of the smartest players to ever touch this game is gold 2, its shit even by my standards. Lets not even go into the fact that he's on top of TFT ladder. It seems SKT doesn't believe he's ''gold 2'' either since they hired him. I know people will talk about football coaches and how you don't need to win a world cup to be a coach but don't you need to at least know where the goalposts are? If magnus carlson started playing league he'd be iron or bronze. Being smart isn't everything to a game, a lot is mechanics and practice. | ||
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Golgotha
Korea (South)8418 Posts
On November 04 2020 18:02 xsnac wrote: baffling mentality from TL community in this thread. What does coaching having to do with being a player? In all sports coaches never played at top level. Except from Zidane I don't know a top coach right now in football, what do you guys think when you say that it is surprising? Polt has a big brain, demands respect with his Diploma and is charismatic enough to be a tremendous coach in any sport, even better comparing his 1v1 achievements in esport that he could fit the coach role for any esport team. In all sports coaches never played at top level? wtf are you talking about mate. Steve nash, Larry Bird, Jason Kid, Steve Kerr, and dozens more. these top level players in basketball all went into coaching at the top level. don't make such a stupid statement. | ||
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nigel
63 Posts
On November 10 2020 08:52 CicadaSC wrote: If magnus carlson started playing league he'd be iron or bronze. Being smart isn't everything to a game, a lot is mechanics and practice. Which Polt, having had a career playing a game with largely similar mechanics, has plenty of practice with. Is there a source for the Gold 2 claim? I can believe that someone great at one esport isn't necessarily great at an adjacent one. But I would be shocked if Polt has played a significant amount of LoL and hasn't become at least the equivalent to SC2 masters. Just like how I'd expect any professional athlete to pick up almost any other sport and become better than 95% of players. | ||
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geokilla
Canada8246 Posts
On November 10 2020 09:32 nigel wrote: Which Polt, having had a career playing a game with largely similar mechanics, has plenty of practice with. Is there a source for the Gold 2 claim? I can believe that someone great at one esport isn't necessarily great at an adjacent one. But I would be shocked if Polt has played a significant amount of LoL and hasn't become at least the equivalent to SC2 masters. Just like how I'd expect any professional athlete to pick up almost any other sport and become better than 95% of players. Polt used to stream himself playing LoL over the summer before he started playing TFT. He got himself up the ranks pretty quickly. | ||
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Philozovic
France1677 Posts
On November 04 2020 18:02 xsnac wrote: baffling mentality from TL community in this thread. What does coaching having to do with being a player? In all sports coaches never played at top level. Except from Zidane I don't know a top coach right now in football, what do you guys think when you say that it is surprising? Polt has a big brain, demands respect with his Diploma and is charismatic enough to be a tremendous coach in any sport, even better comparing his 1v1 achievements in esport that he could fit the coach role for any esport team. Out of the 29 current NBA coaches : 8 had a meaningfull NBA experience 5 had some pro experience abroad The other 16 all but one (Taylor Jenkins) had a college carrer and were assistant for at least 10 years prior to becoming a headcoach Out of the 16 coaches in the last Ro16 of Champions league : 15 played some kind of Professional football (Maurizio Sarri who had to coach lower team for 28 years before becoming the headcoach of Chelsea) and all but two (Zidane and pep Gardiola who played 10 year for Barcelona and only coach the B team one year) were either assistant or coaching lower team for at least 6-7 Years prior giving a proper headcoaching job. So yeah check your facts | ||
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26739 Posts
On November 10 2020 08:52 CicadaSC wrote: If magnus carlson started playing league he'd be iron or bronze. Being smart isn't everything to a game, a lot is mechanics and practice. No he wouldn't, it's Magnus Carlsen mang. I don't think he'd be a League savant or anything but he probably wouldn't suck hardcore after more than a few days (if he desired to improve at the game) | ||
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evilfatsh1t
Australia8854 Posts
On November 11 2020 08:39 WombaT wrote: No he wouldn't, it's Magnus Carlsen mang. I don't think he'd be a League savant or anything but he probably wouldn't suck hardcore after more than a few days (if he desired to improve at the game) nah im leaning towards the likelihood of him sucking way more than him not. good players are intelligent but intelligent people dont make good players. i dont know if magnus carlsen has played go before but im willing to bet hed suck for a long time at that too, and thats the smallest jump he could make since its board game to board game | ||
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26739 Posts
On November 11 2020 10:46 evilfatsh1t wrote: nah im leaning towards the likelihood of him sucking way more than him not. good players are intelligent but intelligent people dont make good players. i dont know if magnus carlsen has played go before but im willing to bet hed suck for a long time at that too, and thats the smallest jump he could make since its board game to board game I don’t know what iron/bronze league look like in League to be fair, I’m going off bronze in SC2 which is pretty unrecognisable from the game most of us play even at mediocre levels. Maybe if Carlsen hasn’t played any games before, which seems unlikely for someone of his age profile or has zero hand-eye coordination or some similar impediment. Otherwise I just don’t see him being stuck in bronze hell. | ||
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Astronest
34 Posts
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Pangpootata
1838 Posts
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geokilla
Canada8246 Posts
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Chris_Havoc
United States600 Posts
Polt as GM and communications director is interesting. I still think Polt's fluent bilingual skills was a major factor in his hiring by T1. | ||
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lechatnoir
392 Posts
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Waxangel
United States33592 Posts
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J_Frost
United States1 Post
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vult
United States9400 Posts
I also learned the other day that Stardust is a coach on T1 - cool to see retired SC2 pros staying involved in esports. | ||
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MegaGn24r
2 Posts
It's just sad that they'll have to square off against Fly today, but at least 1 NA team is guaranteed to move forward. Let's go TL! | ||
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redspider1
1 Post
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