Why DRX Could Never Win

#vct #valorant #vctanalysis

[Natty]

I always thought of Drx as the speed bump between the top teams vs the weaker teams

[antonburckhardt]

damn... imma miss them as one of the last standing og groups

[periodiktable]

I've started to watch Valorant pro games in 2023 vct lock in, and as a Korean, I'm really annoyed af that they decided to let Rb leave at such late time. The kickoff seasons are coming soon, so the renewal must be sooner as the Valorant is a team-based game.

Rb, who used to be called 'the god of clutch' like in lock/in icebox 3rd round against C9, has played so many agents so far if the team needed. Like, if DRX substitutes Zest with Foxy9, then Rb picks the agent that Zest used to play like Sova, to make the whole team work properly.

I'm not sure that I could just trust the source from liquipedia, but this is really fked up that Rb seems to be the sixth man of his new team. He could show up like normal, though the time that Rb could practice as a Titan Esports Club's player is very low, plus we can't ignore some minor issues like languages.

Although Foxy9 and Flashback are amazing players, I'm kinda sad that now it seems very hard for DRX to get some great grades like in 2022. DRX's playstyle has been 'unique' for 4 years, in other words, it's expectable and the opponents could easily handle. I hope to see them better and more enjoyable to watch again.

[oddgerman]

the main reason for these issues mainly trading as you said is because of DRX's horrible coaching, the reason there team cohesion was lacking is because RB and Zest WERE NOT practicing with the main 5 before masters OR champs, DRX had foxy9 and flashback as their starting 5 which they still do they never even changed there roster they just decided to play RB and Zest randomly when the team had been practicing with foxy9 and flashback for months leading up to the events. Its insane the coach for DRX needs to be fired but instead they drop RB and Zest?

[coffeus]

Rb is so damn good and did a ton for the team they did him dirty

[Chillgolfer]

My favorite match out of all DRX games throughout the years is Champions 2022 DRD vs Furia. It’s not just because how close it was. It was proven that their team comp was shown how they were unstoppable at the time. I’m sad that RB and Zest are not in DRX anymore because of the off season tournament went down hill. I’m pretty sure D3ffo from team gambit at the time struggles when it comes trading and getting their first blood openings.

[roelofsonneveld]

I probably won’t be a big fan of this vid, as I’m quite upset by the changes (they should’ve changed coaching staff, the players were never the problem) but I must say I’m a massive fan of your content in general! You make such high quality videos, and I wanted to leave you a comment as to stop being a silent viewer. Good job! Keep going :)

[thrivinganarchy]

The issue I have is that now with Foxy9 and Flashback, Buzz/Stax are going to have to start flexing or learning new agents since Rb was insanely flexible. Stax in particular is now going to have to be the full time Sova player. And I also think Buzz is way more in tune with how DRX play compared to Foxy9 since Foxy9 seems to be a lot more aggro to a fault where he gets ahead of the team at crucial times. Tbh, I don't have much faith that DRX will break their ceiling but only time will tell. Maybe now with Skye dying and double initiator comps becoming a lot more viable, DRX will be be more comfortable but idk. We'll see.

[rxptr]

If Leagues DRX can pull a miracle run at worlds, Valorants DRX can too 🗣🗣⁉⁉🔥🔥🔥💯💯

[mukurowl]

They created so many strats in the early days of pro play, sad to see them broke up

[randychew]

DRX, probably the team i would always watch in terms of discipline and strats that they pull off and also a team you can't doubt from coming back. I remember them coming back from a 4-12 against Furia and it was hype af. Also, i hope they change the coaching staff instead of the team because i probably think RB is the most valuable teammate ever in DRX. Love the vids btw!!

[rRozu]

I feel like the changes are a somewhat gambled attempt to break through their ceiling with drastic changes but at the same time has potential to massively lower their floor. It will always feel like we never saw the true peak potential that DRX actually had to offer mostly because of questionable coaching decisions. RB didn't deserve being cut but lets see what they can do this year.

[cutwrist]

that squad has been playing together since 2019 in csgo

[orthoboy]

it is sad to see as apac fan that apac is always the region who innovates aggressive set plays and still choke under pressure due to counter strat and reads of opponents

[justsomedude]

It is my own opinion, but i don't think that team hit a ceiling at all. I think the main problem was their insistence on playing the meta way. DRX had a very distinct style of play. Set plays. Nobody can pull off the quality of set plays as well and consistently as DRX. However, Termi was insistent on always playing "meta" comps rather than becoming like PRX and finding comps that suit their style more. A good example was DRX vs Fnatic at champs. That was a game DRX should have honestly won. They played their own game on bind and absolutely annihilated Fnatic, one of the best Bind teams. Then they went to a more meta style of gameplay which didn't suit them. TMV said it best when he said that he was so annoyed with DRX that he wanted to erase termi's memory of everything that is meta while keeping every other piece of info andmhe believes termi would have cooked with what he would have been able to come up with. To summarise, the coaching staff lowered the ceiling for this squad unnecessarily despite the ceiling actually being much higher.

[rrdrrgtqdes]

The team that ZEST belongs to is a team of streamers who are former professional players in Korea.

[kssk]

Appreciate ur content always produce good content to study as a rank player. I want to go pro and your clip always present the great case study for me! Keep it up man now I’m one of your fans!

[Spades]

i think sideshow or someone in platchat said they werent even practicing with the main roster but with foxy 9 in and out of the year management made them look bad so they could have a excuse to drop them

[thesilvanalyst]

I honestly think THE issue for DRX last year was their coaching staff and the coaches' decisions around players.
The clearest example of this is their fracture. They had a pretty much unbeaten comp with Zest in and Rb on Neon, that they just refused to play for most of the year, only bringing it out for important decider matches.
In general, their decisions about who gets to play were weird. Foxy9 was playing basically every game until it got important when they swapped him out for Zest. It felt like they were trying to build Foxy9 up the whole year, but didn't trust him in big games, bringing in Zest instead who probably didn't scrim with the team much anymore, since he basically didn't play during regular season, and were then surprised that they didn't get as far anymore.
Additionally, when the team was struggling during international games, their coach just didn't use timeouts, putting even more pressure on a team that, again, eventhough they had been together for a long time, hadn't practiced in that lineup for most of the season.

Yes, there were clearly issues with the team adapting to new metas, but I really don't think that the players were the issue there. Yes asking Rb to play literally every single role during the same bo5 looks insane, but the guy can actually make it work. The team could adapt and play a style that looks outside their comfort zone at first, but if you just don't practice with the team that will end up playing your most important games of the year, then no wonder it won't work and they won't trust each other as much anymore.

[zelkraps]

im fine with zest leaving but rb is literally the best player in the team, he has everything a high value player has, this move is really braindead imo