DeKay Mailbag Part 2: The Valorant Effect and Rosters to Keep an Eye On

Welcome to Part 2 of the DeKay Mailbag, a monthly feature in which Counter-Strike reporter and insider Jarek "DeKay" Lewis answers questions from readers on Twitter. Do you have a question you'd like to see in a future mailbag? Tweet @dekay.

The league changes definitely had a big impact, which was added on to by the pandemic. Long term I do believe there is a future because both leagues right now are possible to qualify for. I also see additional opportunity if the Major sticks with this format of having to perform year round, rather than sitting on a Legend spot. Once we get back to normal man will find that just as much, if not more opportunity exists.

I haven’t heard anything specific about them eyeing top ten teams, but I have heard that there are organizations interested in top ten teams. It would make sense that they would like to lock in a good team for the next season of FLASHPOINT though. I expect I will hear more on this soon.

I don’t really know what there is to say about them. They are so far off the radar that people don’t even waste their time coming to me with information about the team.

I don’t think there will be additional changes right away because they have six men to work with and adjust in different ways. I believe they will perform better as a result of the honeymoon period that comes with adding a fresh piece of talent. Long term, I worry about how suNny will be able to handle the squad when things get tough.

The latest was that eraa would be joining GamerLegion along with a couple others, but nothing related to the top Swedish rosters. They are all either making things work or happy with their progress lately while we are in this holding pattern.

I haven’t heard about any big players even considering a switch to Valorant. I’m sure a few will end up going there later on at some point, but no rumblings. I think that is a testament to the health of CS:GO but also just how lost Overwatch is considering many of their top pros are switching over.

I think this is a situation similar to c0ntact in that it isn’t really worth making the move during this period of online only play and while being somewhat roster locked. The penalty they will take for making a move between Road to Rio stages would be rough.

While they have dropped some matches they should have won, they have had some good results lately. From what I know they are happy with their situation at the moment.

I don’t know too much about them as players but many I spoke with were happy to see the lineup return to full Chinese. They felt that it would be a boost for them, so I expect at least some improvement. Again though, I don’t see a huge impact from any of the Asian teams without BnTeT and without living in Europe or America full time. The level of teams they practice and play against regularly just aren’t good enough to improve.

They would really prefer one that understands Portuguese, from what I was told. That is more of a last resort type situation if they cannot find anyone that fits their needs.

It’s too early to say for sure, but I think it’s safe to assume some of the lesser established organizations like Fnatic and Mousesports might be up for grabs if the offer is right. At the end of the day, everyone has a price. Carlos has always been someone who makes a great return on his teams, so possibly something could happen there too. It’s still very early and just as likely that  none of those teams could move.

As I mentioned in a couple previous questions, teams are holding off for the most part. Partly because of the online play and partly because many don’t want a penalty in the Road to Rio.

They are doing their best to make improvements, just like everyone else.

I don’t feel confident enough to say that they will anytime soon. TYLOO probably has the best chance, but we have said that for a very long time without many meaningful results.

Still no information. It’s very quiet on that front, which leads me to believe it hasn’t been completely finalized just yet. For that reason, I think they are trying to hold out as long as possible to see if offline play is indeed possible for one or both of the remaining segments. We will see.

Considering they don’t have a main team right now, I’m just calling it their main team.

Bright future ahead if he is able to perform the way he has thus far on GODSENT when they get a chance to play offline again. It will be hard to keep him should that happen.