Illustration by: AndyJ

We have a couple of different writers at TLDR (I know, shocking), and depending on which writer you get on which story, it can completely change the article. For example, if this was being written by our Portuguese fanatic shoko, this would be all about SAW winning.

Alas, that is not the case. Let’s talk about s1mple.

A few years ago s1mple wouldn’t be seen dead at an event like this. You’d have to bribe him with the opportunity to punch npl in the stomach every time he lost a round or something. Now, he’s not only at this event, he’s stinking it up.

Well, not him specifically.

Falcons have been pretty terrible since… well, inception, but they can’t even win a map right now. It’s not even s1mple’s fault - he’s been pretty good (albeit not that good by his standards) - but Falcons are dire.

Snappi can’t frag, Magisk is dropping 0.8s after a career of reliable 1.1s, dupreeh is inconsistent and Maden is even more inconsistent. Falcons once more went out of an event without winning a map.

Alright, they did only lose to SAW and Eternal Fire; but npl, s1mple’s punching bag, managed to sneak past Eternal Fire into the playoffs, so what’s the excuse?

That’s right, B8 made it into playoffs – and actually, all the way to the final. They were the better team against paiN, who are perennially disappointing, but were absolutely nowhere near a rampant SAW in the grand final.

For those who were worried that arrozdoce being replaced by Ag1l would make them worse… well, it’s not conclusive. But there’s some evidence to suggest this team can still be solid. More than solid – very good.

roman, one of the old heads, was the standout player, and it turns out that Mr Rice Pudding (edit: arrozdoce) wasn’t the only good player on SAW.

Who knew?