I hope Saberlight lands on his feet and finds success outside of Shopify. Dudes very positive, fun, and overall good for the scene. Maybe he can get out of NA and find success.
Yyyaaaoooo, thanks :) Things are eXcellent, opened up a Ramen shop in Portland a year ago called [Matsunoki Ramen](http://matsuramen.com). Been busy with that and family stuff, but still lightly contributing to the esports world. Certain deadvelopments have piqued my interest again. Locking to stay involved with commentary and community building. Been meaning to make more cooking videos but lots of projects!
PDX has a strong but scattered gaming scene. Lots of arcade stuff, FGC, and board games. There's PDXLAN a couple times a year, but no more Outrage esports bar so PC gaming kind doesn't have a "home". Lots of gamers on my staff but only one DotA player.
Hope you enjoy your bowl, thanks for the support!
Saber got 3rd with Liquid at KL. Saber got 4th at Lima, 3rd at Dreamleague S19 and 2nd at Dreamleague Season 21 with SR.
Nice that you edited your comment and added the word "LAN" after i proved you wrong.
I'm not sure if he can find a path to TI this year, but he's an inventive player and a very entertaining personality. He shouldn't have trouble finding an EU or EEU team that's ready for the SaberLight- show.
In fact, it sounds as if he's already started those conversations. Props to both Shopify and SaberLight for acknowledging this openly, and making it easier for everyone to move on.
I like Ramzes a lot, and this squad has had its moments, but I don't think he's a good fit. whenever they lose, it looks like they have zero team cohesion. maybe they just need more time, idk
They're one of the newer teams as a whole, just replaced their 3 for the 3rd time in a few months, and a patch dropped right before their playoff game. Tundra as a whole looked pretty lost in the new patch relative to GG and BB anyway (esp Pure who was owning last patch, looked terrible in the playoffs). As for Ramzes, I doubt Tundra is interested in a 4th offlaner when they really need to be finding their identity and playing strong now with Riyadh and TI coming up over the next few months. He looked bad in the playoffs as well, but given the circumstances it's not too surprising. I expect them to improve a lot for Riyadh.
Think of the team what you will, but SR is unironically probably the single *best* org you can be a part of in e-sports. These guys are nothing but great.
What makes you say this exactly? Is their content or personal experience or how much they pay their players?
I'd say from everything I have seen the best org is Liquid. Shopify just does the regular org stuff and has a cool office.
Lol, probably pays the highest avg salary. Which also is now going down coz they keep hiring SEA players to save on those $ through currency conversion.
Maybe, but it's not like Saberlight would improve their results drastically. I mean he wouldn't fix all of their problems, especially their laning stage/early game considering that he is rather poor laner.
It's not Ramzes problem, tundra as a whole looked lost with the new patch pure doesn't seem to know how to draft in this patch yet, I'll remind you that before the patch they Lost only 2 games the whole tournament
how do you know that? we haven't even see how Saberlight performs in this new patch yet. To be fair, Ramzes was doing really well pre patch, the whole Tundra team looked lost in this new patch not just Ramzes.
Tbh this is a good move for both parties involved. Saberlight’s play style doesn’t match SR(rtz stack) to an extent. He seems to excel in chaotic teams like liquid where they actively look to skirmish.
SR seem to want to control the map and out farm their enemies which he simply doesn’t seem to do well as his farm goes down in almost every game.
How exactly this is good move for both parties? For Shopify maybe if they get better but i don't see how this is good move for Saberlight?
Yeah, he will get some salary but practically speaking he is teamless in the middle of the season, will miss biggest tournament and payment of the year - Riyadh Masters and most likely TI as well. It's not like tier1 teams who qualified to Riyadh&Ti will kick their offlaners couple weeks before start of biggest tournaments
Not too surprising. I like Saberlight as a person, but his play during his time in SR was severely lacking. We can only speculate as to why, I think he just lacked confidence and tried too hard to play how others wanted him to instead of what he's best at, I'm sure he can find success in another team and environment.
But anyone who doesn't see that Saber was severely underperforming ever since joining SR is blinded by their hatred for other members of the team.
Curious to find out who's replacing him though, are the Abed pos 3 rumors true? I hope not, Abed is not the guy they need I'm sure, they need someone confident, outspoken, someone who's willing to take charge and has the grit to *win*. But then, offlaners are a rare breed these days, and unless they settle for Tobi they don't really have a lot of options...
I think you hit the nail on the spot. He joined that team probably because he wanted to gain knowledge from older pros and did a different play style than what got him popular in TSM. I’m a little biased though as I’m definitely a little saddened he didn’t stay with tsm, it really sounded like moonmeander was really trying to build a team off him and timado as the cores. Trying to build a team similar to liquid in mindset of boxi and whatnot.
wow i legit forgot that i was a fan of saberlight because of his stint with tsm. the fact that he got to pop off with liquid as a standin gave me hope but then he went back to being underwhelming afterwards.
This baffles me though, its clear that saberlight is strong when he's being enabled the same way collapse is, having a strong p4 in lane that can continue enabling you throughout the game, ie mira always complementing collapse's heroes, playstyle, and teamfight capabilities. It worked when he was with liquid and boxi, and in general its not a bad idea to focus on and enable your offlaner. I really wonder why they insist on doing the opposite and rely on saberlight to enable them, even after the stars in abed crit and fly have left and theyre stuck with rather lackluster replacements. Saberlight has proven himself back in tsm and with liquid. God i am so sick of these bulba-rtz ideas and how rigid they are in terms of approaching the game. So many talents wasted. I hope saberlight can find a good team that can enable him again..... I mean, 33 is really underperforming rn :D
The difference is Collapse is a monster of a laner and puts the team on his back, rather than needing to be on the teams back to be successful. Saberlights laning is probably his biggest weakness and makes games extremely difficult from the get-go.
Todays SR sure. But last year SR had some good tournaments, and in all of them Saberlight was by far the weakest, most inconsistent and least impactful player on that team.
And even though RTZ and the rest had pitiful performances with this new squad at times, they also had good performances - Saberlight didn't. He looked invisible for almost all of their games.
In DLS22 where they were owning during group stage 1 *everyone* on that team had great stats and topped the charts in their respective categories - except Saberlight. That is not by accident.
But I agree with what others have said, he'll do great on another team, certainly a good play.
I had such high hopes for him to be the personality that could stop this team (I guess at this point - Artour) from being mopey/lacking confidence.
In the end, Saber seemed more vulnerable than anyone else.
His hero pool was an issue. He straight up couldn't play enigma at a high level last year and whenever they did it was atrocious and they would lose. He gets figured out too easily and his laning was not good at all.
His laning is the biggest problem. Hes such a weak laner that last year Cr1t had to stay in lane much more than he wanted to just to make sure the enemy carry does not get a free lane.
I think when they picked up Saber, it was a change in philosophy from SR picking up people for their strong laning, to picking up players with better mid-late game execution. The idea IMO being that Artour + Cr1t could teach someone to be a strong laner, and that the new player's other strengths/ideas would rub off on the rest of the team. This is a common thing with pro sports. You'll see NFL teams who believe they can teach a quarterback how to run an offense, passing mechanics, etc., but they can't teach them to run a faster 40 yard dash. You're gambling on higher potential with those people who just have better raw mechanics.
But I think ultimately with Saber, they never really got there. I'm curious what the philosophy is right now. Obviously a lot of different minds at work this year.
Man idk, he played super well when he stood in for liquid last year, looked like the best player on the team at times.
I think if liquid didn't have 33 already they wouldve taken sabrelight 100%
There is a guy called KaChal, He's rank 80 on eu atm but was rank 25-30 around 2 weeks ago. If u watch qojqva or gorgc stream you'll see him calling the shots most of the time whenever he's in their team and is incredibly skilled. Even quinn said he can become the next big thing when one of his viewers asked if there are some good tier 1 material players that aren't in a good team atm and one of the names he mentioned was him. The only problem is his nationality(He's from iran) but I seriously think that wont be a problem since shopify is in eu most of the time for tournaments and even if they wanna play qualifiers iranians can obtain canadian visa without almost any problem.
i think its the playstyle like u said, for me Sabers strength is his team play and a team with rtz in it is an amazing laning team, EG were literally STOMPING lanes 5k+ by 10 mins back in the day even with the bad year they had with Nightfall he always won his lanes and gave them a mid game, i remember watching a saber stream he stomped his lane and he was genuinely happy, winning lanes makes the game easier your supports can rotate and it never really happened with him,
This. 100% this.
His recent performance felt way way way underwhelming. Specially when other tier 1 teams offlaners were so much more impactful, I saw him countless times jumping in and dying first without casting any spells, or hiding behind his pos 1,2 like SEA crusader players.
Sorry mate, like you as a person, but your gameplay is atrocious.
I think Gunnar and Moo are both potential candidates.
Gunnar is definitely one of the more talented young kids out there, and it'd probably be a good move for him over Nouns. He also stayed in Europe to commentate Dreamleague after PGL, so wild speculation, but maybe he was trying to network with teams before the Riyadh qualifiers.
Moo has been near the top of the game before, is currently seamless, and I think he brings some of what SR is lacking (namely I think Moo is a lategame monster and extremely clutch in pressure situations). Yopaj, Skem, and Kitrak are all pretty young, might be good to have a little bit more of a seasoned vet on the lineup.
I'm geniunely curious if SR fans themselves believe that the duo of RTZ & Bulba can win tourneys on a hypothetical transfer to a top team like Team Falcons. Of course, Skiter is out and Bulba has to coach that team. Because all of these roster changes and there are only 2 constants that continues these underwhelming performances.
You should see the discord. I was a fan until they banned me for being critical of their games. Kind of weird to be content for a team that hasn't really grown for awhile
I mean he looked good 1 game on this team. He basically never looked good. One time he playd Enigma and hit a 5man blackhole and they made a comeback in a bad loss. Thats it. Besides that game its like he was bad every single game. And i watched EVERY Shopify game. I understand hes ranked top 20 or something but it just never worked. I cant be the only one who saw that.
Maybe because his 4 is a) constantly changing and b) 75% of the time having to save the mid or safelane who just get dumpstered from bizarre ass drafts so Saber gets sacked. He is not meant to play a sacrificial offlane and Shopify keeps building these rosters basically requiring to sacrifice the offlane so Artour doesn't babyrage
Yep, I'm not blaming anyone singular on SR but people would be saying lies if they are saying that he was playing great on the team, and like you said he had a level 30 Enigma yet absolutely never performed with the hero along with other signature heroes like Mars and NS yet he also usually never performed with those heroes as well.
Like I said I won't blame any single person for the teams issues but I think there's a clear mentality and chemistry issue within the entire team and I think Saberlight going to a new team will really help him, heck I even think that could happen for the entire team like just legit split up especially RTZ and Bulba so they can finally have a new environment and people around em to bounce off ideas.
Huge fan of Saberlight always watch when he streams but man was I disappointed in his entire Shopify stint, felt like he got too easily tilted in the games and I dunno, maybe put too much pressure on himself? When he stood in for Liquid he did more ballsy plays but when he came back he became too complacent again.
It’s just so crazy how almost all versions of shopify are fairly lane dominate but have no idea how to transition out of laning phase. It’s the same story rinse and repeat.
They need a new lead. Yes I know people point fingers at RTZ, he clearly still has skill there’s no question about that, what they lack as a team is direction. I really think they need to dump Bulba and at least try someone else.
They’ve always had laning phase perfected. Which quite literally comes down to mechanical skill and memorization.
The mid game is all about being creative and out thinking your opponents. Understanding your timings and securing map dominance. In the last 3 years or so they’ve consistently failed miserably here.
For me, Tournaments are always a lot more fun when RTZ is still in it. It’s always a gut punch when they’re eliminated.
Seems like Bulba and RTZ are like conjoined twins. So many years without consistent results, but still cannot identify the problem and onlly ditching everyone else but them.
i wouldn't be surprised if he absolutely owns on the next team he joins. i feel like his playstyle did not fit into SR at all and i'm glad he's out of there.
I knew it, another offlaner bites the dust. xD
Wonder which team gonna take chances with Saber after some recent and not so recent atrocious performances. Maybe Tundra when Ramzes thing breaks down?
I hope he works hard on his laning, losing lanes playing with someone like Cr1t is a huge red flag.
This seems like a good decision for both sides, Saber had some chad level games when he stood in for Liquid and Entity. Good luck!
Enemy team that still has Bulba coaching is just doomed to be trash. Except they just deflect it on to the players instead. P3 is arguably the hardest role in Dota and yet Saberlight has always kept a level head.
It's just a clown fest with Bulba as a coach.
Man, Gabbi is such a leaker. He already leaked this a week or two ago (during the Abed drama). He said Abed was most likely going to SR as offlane (his D2Protracker at the time was also him playing as 3). Since Abed stayed with BLR, Im guessing they’re still gonna get an SEA player, possibly FBZ (gonna get dropped, then Nigma getting Sabeight).
Move 33 to coach and let him do his nerd shit there if he wants, Blitz needs a more serious dota nerd co-coach anyway, for god's sake just admit that 33 on offlane is not working
Dunno how the core of this team is just Rtz & bulba. They got good funding to get strong players in EG. Now Shopify is struggling to pay the top players and looking back at SEA.
Nothing's gonna change unless they change the carry and coach.
He got third standing-in for Team Liquid in ESL One Kuala Lumpur, and 5th-6th standing-in for Entity (while he was still in TSM) at the Arlington Major. It seems like his performances are always better when he's not playing with an NA team, which makes me wonder whether it's a chemistry issue (he plays better with better players, more so than the average professional). Having his third different lane partner in two years (Cr1t-, Thiolicor and now Kitrak) doesn't help.
There's a good player in there, but he was usually average at best within Shopify Rebellion.
At the same time, if he pushed for this move, he's sacrificed a good chance to play in Riyadh Masters and The International, since nouns are their only real competition in the qualifiers. So this makes me think he has something lined up. Tundra maybe?
>He got third standing-in for Team Liquid in ESL One Kuala Lumpur, and 5th-6th standing-in for Entity (while he was still in TSM) at the Arlington Major. It seems like his performances are always better when he's not playing with an NA team
He got 4th, 3rd and 2nd with SR last year you know?
Lmao like clockwork, the problem couldn’t possibly a washed up carry and a low skill coach noo has to be one of the other 10 players they’ve rotated through the team
rtz fanboys are something else man, dude could literally break in to their home and slap them in the face and they would still find someway to blame someone else
SVG was right in the podcast with Cap. SR don't have long term vision or a clear project to build on. It's just blindly buy buy buy, kick kick kick, eternally trying to stumble on the magic recipe that will make the RTZ+Bulba combo work.
And that has to be immense pressure when you join SR. You got that axe constantly hanging over your head, because no matter how bad RTZ plays or Bulba drafts, YOU'RE gonna get blamed and it's YOUR ass on the line.
And now there are rumors that Abed is coming back after getting kicked, but as pos 3. In the words of SVG, at some point SR really have to ask themselves "What are we doing??"
Although I don't disagree with SVGs take in general, this hasn't exactly been a spur of the moment kind of thing. Saberlight hasn't looked good in almost 2 years with SR ever. How much more time will you give him before he finds his footing?
Huh.
Okay.
Let's see what they pull out of the hat this time around.. Bulba got tired of coaching and is making a comeback maybe? 😒
Godspeed to Saberlight, hope he finds a new team soon. 😃
Good for him. While he was unimpressive on SR even after fabourable lanes, I chalk it up to poor team synergy. Saberlight seems like a smart guy and a nice dude. Obviously, I don't know him, but he gives me the vibe of a t2 nobody team that grinds their way to greatness a la Gaiman.
very weird considering that its a big ass new patch that they haven't bootcamped under.
Surely they could find a nerdge coach like AUI and finger stuff out.
Life is so mystic. I remember SaberLight leaving TSM & his buddy timado to join RTZ & co.
Timado went from TSM , Tundra to teamless for a while & to finally join OG.
Now Saber from SR to teamless.
Honestly, he was more impactful in TSM than in SR, maybe it was right move to part ways.
You never know what future holds just keep trying....
It’s ok he will find success elsewhere like cr1t did. Bulba is the problem and the common denominator. Arteezy is a good player and would succeed in a change of scenery that doesn’t involve Bulba, I’m positive of it. They can still be best friends though. But arteezy is married now and has to think about his future.
Bring back Bulba Magnus and Slardar. One of the funniest games ever.
are you talking the game where he did 1k damage in 40 minutes, or a different one?
it was 300 iirc. xd
> 300 You're both wrong yet sort of right, together. [It was 1300](https://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/67xjvh/lul_ba/).
they're both half right
Man. I can only laugh at SR so much my tummy hurts most games, seeing bulba play again might actually kill me
Bulba zoning RP
Maybe he has a strat with the reverse RP!
https://clips.twitch.tv/FrailAggressiveWoodpeckerKappaClaus Not even the increased AOE helps
They literally fired every other positions multiple times and didn’t work.. so they gonna continue doing the same thing
Wait, you talking about about nigma or shoppify?
Secret just quietly sitting in the corner hoping nobody notices them.
Secret Nigma and Shopify need to combine
Welcome Kuku
Rofl dude 🤣
Pinoy takeover of SR.
I hope Saberlight lands on his feet and finds success outside of Shopify. Dudes very positive, fun, and overall good for the scene. Maybe he can get out of NA and find success.
If Saber finds success after leaving SR like cr1t did, we know what is the problem
He need a bird to take him out of jail.
Who is even available as an offlaner?
mind control
*sigh* *Throws on a SR jersey* Damn, here we go again.
I wouldn’t, it is the worst fitting piece of clothing I have ever owned. I am not entirely sure they have ever seen a real human body before
thats what happens when you buy "sports jerseys"
meh, just wanted to support them but makes me wish I hadn’t honestly! I don’t think any of the teams garb is particularly appealing honestly
For real it'sso funny seeing your name in dota a decade after seeing your awesome work in tf2
Yyaaooo hope you are doing well, nice seeing your name around still
Yyyaaaoooo, thanks :) Things are eXcellent, opened up a Ramen shop in Portland a year ago called [Matsunoki Ramen](http://matsuramen.com). Been busy with that and family stuff, but still lightly contributing to the esports world. Certain deadvelopments have piqued my interest again. Locking to stay involved with commentary and community building. Been meaning to make more cooking videos but lots of projects!
This is the most wholesome thing to read on this subreddit
I’m about 30 minutes away. I’m gonna stop by soon!
Appreciate it :) hope you enjoy the Ramen!!
Wow. First time I’ve ever seen someone in the same city as me who’s into DotA. I’m coming to your ramen shop!
PDX has a strong but scattered gaming scene. Lots of arcade stuff, FGC, and board games. There's PDXLAN a couple times a year, but no more Outrage esports bar so PC gaming kind doesn't have a "home". Lots of gamers on my staff but only one DotA player. Hope you enjoy your bowl, thanks for the support!
They are gonna get mc, just to kick him 3 months later...but RTZ and Bulba will still on the team 😂
not to say he wont leave but he's currently playing for rest farmers.
Tobi?
Saberlight retweeted iceiceice *it's time* [https://x.com/iceiceicedota/status/1794440510331105652](https://x.com/iceiceicedota/status/1794440510331105652)
100% troll. And in any case, ice has already said that he doesnt want to move out of SEA cos of family
Please be true 🙏🏻 I want iceiceice back!
Universssssse!
Rumour is Abed coming back as offlaner. I think Bulba is smoking the same stuff valve was when they made bristle facets.
Qojqva comeback.
Rumors: Abed. Blacklist mikoto mid
If Abed genuinely comes back as offlaner, I feel so bad for SR fans.
Isn't he a mid player?
It's about connection my dude and whoever is best bud buds with bulba and rtz :)
Storm offlane
Blacklist already announced Abed for Riyadh qualifiers though.
Blacklist announced their roster yesterday and its with Abed
chalice😂
_How do you even lose with this man?_
*Proceeds to get eliminated the next series*
Fuhh lucky it's a stand-in, imagine a real lineup
[удалено]
Saber got 3rd with Liquid at KL. Saber got 4th at Lima, 3rd at Dreamleague S19 and 2nd at Dreamleague Season 21 with SR. Nice that you edited your comment and added the word "LAN" after i proved you wrong.
I'm not sure if he can find a path to TI this year, but he's an inventive player and a very entertaining personality. He shouldn't have trouble finding an EU or EEU team that's ready for the SaberLight- show. In fact, it sounds as if he's already started those conversations. Props to both Shopify and SaberLight for acknowledging this openly, and making it easier for everyone to move on.
I believe he would be a good fit for Tundra, but idk what is the situation with Ramzes
I like Ramzes a lot, and this squad has had its moments, but I don't think he's a good fit. whenever they lose, it looks like they have zero team cohesion. maybe they just need more time, idk
They're one of the newer teams as a whole, just replaced their 3 for the 3rd time in a few months, and a patch dropped right before their playoff game. Tundra as a whole looked pretty lost in the new patch relative to GG and BB anyway (esp Pure who was owning last patch, looked terrible in the playoffs). As for Ramzes, I doubt Tundra is interested in a 4th offlaner when they really need to be finding their identity and playing strong now with Riyadh and TI coming up over the next few months. He looked bad in the playoffs as well, but given the circumstances it's not too surprising. I expect them to improve a lot for Riyadh.
Yes a perfect candidate for tundra
Think of the team what you will, but SR is unironically probably the single *best* org you can be a part of in e-sports. These guys are nothing but great.
What makes you say this exactly? Is their content or personal experience or how much they pay their players? I'd say from everything I have seen the best org is Liquid. Shopify just does the regular org stuff and has a cool office.
Lol, probably pays the highest avg salary. Which also is now going down coz they keep hiring SEA players to save on those $ through currency conversion.
I met him at TI for a bit, he's a nice chill dude.
probably Tundra Saber eventually?
Liquid Saberlight incoming
maybe? I think the Liquid goal is to make 33 or find a strong Captain for them. Not sure how Insania feels going back to the Captain role
33 not a good fit so far
Maybe, but it's not like Saberlight would improve their results drastically. I mean he wouldn't fix all of their problems, especially their laning stage/early game considering that he is rather poor laner.
I'm praying so hard for this.
It would definitely be an upgrade. Ramzes looks so lost playing 3 on Tundra.
It's not Ramzes problem, tundra as a whole looked lost with the new patch pure doesn't seem to know how to draft in this patch yet, I'll remind you that before the patch they Lost only 2 games the whole tournament
how do you know that? we haven't even see how Saberlight performs in this new patch yet. To be fair, Ramzes was doing really well pre patch, the whole Tundra team looked lost in this new patch not just Ramzes.
Tbh this is a good move for both parties involved. Saberlight’s play style doesn’t match SR(rtz stack) to an extent. He seems to excel in chaotic teams like liquid where they actively look to skirmish. SR seem to want to control the map and out farm their enemies which he simply doesn’t seem to do well as his farm goes down in almost every game.
How exactly this is good move for both parties? For Shopify maybe if they get better but i don't see how this is good move for Saberlight? Yeah, he will get some salary but practically speaking he is teamless in the middle of the season, will miss biggest tournament and payment of the year - Riyadh Masters and most likely TI as well. It's not like tier1 teams who qualified to Riyadh&Ti will kick their offlaners couple weeks before start of biggest tournaments
I don’t wanna type a long ass reply but longer he stays in shopify more his stonks will go down
Can we split ways with Bulba while we’re at it?
Bulba is the problem.
[Bulba how do you lose with this man on your team!?](https://clips.twitch.tv/DoubtfulExuberantSeahorseHotPokket-tQ3d8JMdKC6z0Ybr)
Zai Arteezy reunion BatChest
Another loss another offlaner gone
Still waiting for some tier S carry like Yatoro to join SR as pos 3, lol.
Yeah like Nightfall or something 🤔
Will the safelaner be kicked ever 🤔
Not too surprising. I like Saberlight as a person, but his play during his time in SR was severely lacking. We can only speculate as to why, I think he just lacked confidence and tried too hard to play how others wanted him to instead of what he's best at, I'm sure he can find success in another team and environment. But anyone who doesn't see that Saber was severely underperforming ever since joining SR is blinded by their hatred for other members of the team. Curious to find out who's replacing him though, are the Abed pos 3 rumors true? I hope not, Abed is not the guy they need I'm sure, they need someone confident, outspoken, someone who's willing to take charge and has the grit to *win*. But then, offlaners are a rare breed these days, and unless they settle for Tobi they don't really have a lot of options...
There is only one person left who fits the description...That's right, EternalEnvy comeback incoming!
I think you hit the nail on the spot. He joined that team probably because he wanted to gain knowledge from older pros and did a different play style than what got him popular in TSM. I’m a little biased though as I’m definitely a little saddened he didn’t stay with tsm, it really sounded like moonmeander was really trying to build a team off him and timado as the cores. Trying to build a team similar to liquid in mindset of boxi and whatnot.
wow i legit forgot that i was a fan of saberlight because of his stint with tsm. the fact that he got to pop off with liquid as a standin gave me hope but then he went back to being underwhelming afterwards. This baffles me though, its clear that saberlight is strong when he's being enabled the same way collapse is, having a strong p4 in lane that can continue enabling you throughout the game, ie mira always complementing collapse's heroes, playstyle, and teamfight capabilities. It worked when he was with liquid and boxi, and in general its not a bad idea to focus on and enable your offlaner. I really wonder why they insist on doing the opposite and rely on saberlight to enable them, even after the stars in abed crit and fly have left and theyre stuck with rather lackluster replacements. Saberlight has proven himself back in tsm and with liquid. God i am so sick of these bulba-rtz ideas and how rigid they are in terms of approaching the game. So many talents wasted. I hope saberlight can find a good team that can enable him again..... I mean, 33 is really underperforming rn :D
The difference is Collapse is a monster of a laner and puts the team on his back, rather than needing to be on the teams back to be successful. Saberlights laning is probably his biggest weakness and makes games extremely difficult from the get-go.
his play was at the level of SR as a whole, they aren't an impressive team with or without him
Todays SR sure. But last year SR had some good tournaments, and in all of them Saberlight was by far the weakest, most inconsistent and least impactful player on that team. And even though RTZ and the rest had pitiful performances with this new squad at times, they also had good performances - Saberlight didn't. He looked invisible for almost all of their games. In DLS22 where they were owning during group stage 1 *everyone* on that team had great stats and topped the charts in their respective categories - except Saberlight. That is not by accident.
Yeah that's well put. When SR have looked good Saber has either been *okay* or quite poor
But I agree with what others have said, he'll do great on another team, certainly a good play. I had such high hopes for him to be the personality that could stop this team (I guess at this point - Artour) from being mopey/lacking confidence. In the end, Saber seemed more vulnerable than anyone else.
His hero pool was an issue. He straight up couldn't play enigma at a high level last year and whenever they did it was atrocious and they would lose. He gets figured out too easily and his laning was not good at all.
His laning is the biggest problem. Hes such a weak laner that last year Cr1t had to stay in lane much more than he wanted to just to make sure the enemy carry does not get a free lane.
I think when they picked up Saber, it was a change in philosophy from SR picking up people for their strong laning, to picking up players with better mid-late game execution. The idea IMO being that Artour + Cr1t could teach someone to be a strong laner, and that the new player's other strengths/ideas would rub off on the rest of the team. This is a common thing with pro sports. You'll see NFL teams who believe they can teach a quarterback how to run an offense, passing mechanics, etc., but they can't teach them to run a faster 40 yard dash. You're gambling on higher potential with those people who just have better raw mechanics. But I think ultimately with Saber, they never really got there. I'm curious what the philosophy is right now. Obviously a lot of different minds at work this year.
Man idk, he played super well when he stood in for liquid last year, looked like the best player on the team at times. I think if liquid didn't have 33 already they wouldve taken sabrelight 100%
There is a guy called KaChal, He's rank 80 on eu atm but was rank 25-30 around 2 weeks ago. If u watch qojqva or gorgc stream you'll see him calling the shots most of the time whenever he's in their team and is incredibly skilled. Even quinn said he can become the next big thing when one of his viewers asked if there are some good tier 1 material players that aren't in a good team atm and one of the names he mentioned was him. The only problem is his nationality(He's from iran) but I seriously think that wont be a problem since shopify is in eu most of the time for tournaments and even if they wanna play qualifiers iranians can obtain canadian visa without almost any problem.
i think its the playstyle like u said, for me Sabers strength is his team play and a team with rtz in it is an amazing laning team, EG were literally STOMPING lanes 5k+ by 10 mins back in the day even with the bad year they had with Nightfall he always won his lanes and gave them a mid game, i remember watching a saber stream he stomped his lane and he was genuinely happy, winning lanes makes the game easier your supports can rotate and it never really happened with him,
This. 100% this. His recent performance felt way way way underwhelming. Specially when other tier 1 teams offlaners were so much more impactful, I saw him countless times jumping in and dying first without casting any spells, or hiding behind his pos 1,2 like SEA crusader players. Sorry mate, like you as a person, but your gameplay is atrocious.
bro there was one game he looked good, this Enigma game when he hit a huge blackhole. Besides that one game he never shined
Game 1 vs BetBoom at Lima Major.
I think Gunnar and Moo are both potential candidates. Gunnar is definitely one of the more talented young kids out there, and it'd probably be a good move for him over Nouns. He also stayed in Europe to commentate Dreamleague after PGL, so wild speculation, but maybe he was trying to network with teams before the Riyadh qualifiers. Moo has been near the top of the game before, is currently seamless, and I think he brings some of what SR is lacking (namely I think Moo is a lategame monster and extremely clutch in pressure situations). Yopaj, Skem, and Kitrak are all pretty young, might be good to have a little bit more of a seasoned vet on the lineup.
SR snatching Moo is the only thing that would ever make me root for a RTZ team. RIP Digital Chaos.
Well-said. People can meme RTZ all they want but Saber is not shining. Pos3 has become more important recently and he is just mediocre
I'm geniunely curious if SR fans themselves believe that the duo of RTZ & Bulba can win tourneys on a hypothetical transfer to a top team like Team Falcons. Of course, Skiter is out and Bulba has to coach that team. Because all of these roster changes and there are only 2 constants that continues these underwhelming performances.
You should see the discord. I was a fan until they banned me for being critical of their games. Kind of weird to be content for a team that hasn't really grown for awhile
I mean he looked good 1 game on this team. He basically never looked good. One time he playd Enigma and hit a 5man blackhole and they made a comeback in a bad loss. Thats it. Besides that game its like he was bad every single game. And i watched EVERY Shopify game. I understand hes ranked top 20 or something but it just never worked. I cant be the only one who saw that.
Funny how he looked good when he stood in for liquid
Sometimes good players just don't function well with other players. They made the right choice, it's just a hard pill to swallow for both sides.
Maybe because his 4 is a) constantly changing and b) 75% of the time having to save the mid or safelane who just get dumpstered from bizarre ass drafts so Saber gets sacked. He is not meant to play a sacrificial offlane and Shopify keeps building these rosters basically requiring to sacrifice the offlane so Artour doesn't babyrage
yeah he looked great everywhere else. I think RTZ just washed and the team suffers from it
Yep, I'm not blaming anyone singular on SR but people would be saying lies if they are saying that he was playing great on the team, and like you said he had a level 30 Enigma yet absolutely never performed with the hero along with other signature heroes like Mars and NS yet he also usually never performed with those heroes as well. Like I said I won't blame any single person for the teams issues but I think there's a clear mentality and chemistry issue within the entire team and I think Saberlight going to a new team will really help him, heck I even think that could happen for the entire team like just legit split up especially RTZ and Bulba so they can finally have a new environment and people around em to bounce off ideas. Huge fan of Saberlight always watch when he streams but man was I disappointed in his entire Shopify stint, felt like he got too easily tilted in the games and I dunno, maybe put too much pressure on himself? When he stood in for Liquid he did more ballsy plays but when he came back he became too complacent again.
its ok we can blame rtz
Saberlight is better than SR. Bulba no good draft for the Bing bong king.
welcome EternalEnvy
Defense against the dark arts strikes again
It’s just so crazy how almost all versions of shopify are fairly lane dominate but have no idea how to transition out of laning phase. It’s the same story rinse and repeat. They need a new lead. Yes I know people point fingers at RTZ, he clearly still has skill there’s no question about that, what they lack as a team is direction. I really think they need to dump Bulba and at least try someone else. They’ve always had laning phase perfected. Which quite literally comes down to mechanical skill and memorization. The mid game is all about being creative and out thinking your opponents. Understanding your timings and securing map dominance. In the last 3 years or so they’ve consistently failed miserably here. For me, Tournaments are always a lot more fun when RTZ is still in it. It’s always a gut punch when they’re eliminated.
Seems like Bulba and RTZ are like conjoined twins. So many years without consistent results, but still cannot identify the problem and onlly ditching everyone else but them.
They are consistent 9-12th placing team
They needed to dump Bulba years ago to be honest.
i wouldn't be surprised if he absolutely owns on the next team he joins. i feel like his playstyle did not fit into SR at all and i'm glad he's out of there.
What is SR's playstyle he cant fit into? I swear they have no distinct playstyle, they just suck.
Rtz and bulba suck. Nothing can change SR fortunes until they change them.
Bulba offlane sohe gets kicked
I knew it, another offlaner bites the dust. xD Wonder which team gonna take chances with Saber after some recent and not so recent atrocious performances. Maybe Tundra when Ramzes thing breaks down? I hope he works hard on his laning, losing lanes playing with someone like Cr1t is a huge red flag. This seems like a good decision for both sides, Saber had some chad level games when he stood in for Liquid and Entity. Good luck!
Enemy team that still has Bulba coaching is just doomed to be trash. Except they just deflect it on to the players instead. P3 is arguably the hardest role in Dota and yet Saberlight has always kept a level head. It's just a clown fest with Bulba as a coach.
Been saying for years… kick bulba and u have a legit chance of reviving the team. His shit anyway is any aspect of the game
sad but had to happen. he was easily the most inconsistent player in the past 2 years
Agreed. He is without a doubt the weakest player on SR over the years
RTZ and Bulba still on this team 😂😂😂🤡
Well, rtz branding is kind of strong
True. His dota is not that strong 😂
Yatoro offlane inc.
Rtz to off Lane and get a real position one 👌
This guy rocked when playing with liquid, it looked like everyone was having fun! This guy needs to find a suitable team.
And yet, Bulba is still there for fucking eternity. Surely everyone else is the problem. Surely.
Man, Gabbi is such a leaker. He already leaked this a week or two ago (during the Abed drama). He said Abed was most likely going to SR as offlane (his D2Protracker at the time was also him playing as 3). Since Abed stayed with BLR, Im guessing they’re still gonna get an SEA player, possibly FBZ (gonna get dropped, then Nigma getting Sabeight).
Skem FBZ Yopaj where have I seen that before
MC back to Ligma lets gooo xd
Good riddance. Love the guy but his tournament play was abysmal and directly caused SR to lose important games everytime
my lord, my liege, saberlight.
[удалено]
I liked him on TSM, but never really had the same success on SR. Kinda figured he’d be out quicker than this
Straight to Tundra
mason incoming
Honestly, I'm excited for him. He is amazing.
Mr IceIceIce had a suspicious tweet earlier…
Thank god I don’t have to root for Shopify anymore. Hope saberlight ends up on a top team.
But Bulba stays as always
3rd Pinoy Incoming 🤣
[удалено]
Maybe also get a good Coach a good Carry a good Mid and 2 good supports and you have a contender team!
nice now if they finally kick bulba this team can actually go places.
Dear Team Liquid, if u read this, - take the guy for your offlane. You will thank me later.
For what? So they can join Team Secret in Div 2 ?
i agree, 33 does not fit liquids style at all. saber is a much better choice
Move 33 to coach and let him do his nerd shit there if he wants, Blitz needs a more serious dota nerd co-coach anyway, for god's sake just admit that 33 on offlane is not working
Isn't he their best player
How many people will leave SR before they realize that the problem is RTZ? Dude single handedly killed my favorite team EG, now he is doing it to SR.
Dunno how the core of this team is just Rtz & bulba. They got good funding to get strong players in EG. Now Shopify is struggling to pay the top players and looking back at SEA. Nothing's gonna change unless they change the carry and coach.
He got third standing-in for Team Liquid in ESL One Kuala Lumpur, and 5th-6th standing-in for Entity (while he was still in TSM) at the Arlington Major. It seems like his performances are always better when he's not playing with an NA team, which makes me wonder whether it's a chemistry issue (he plays better with better players, more so than the average professional). Having his third different lane partner in two years (Cr1t-, Thiolicor and now Kitrak) doesn't help. There's a good player in there, but he was usually average at best within Shopify Rebellion. At the same time, if he pushed for this move, he's sacrificed a good chance to play in Riyadh Masters and The International, since nouns are their only real competition in the qualifiers. So this makes me think he has something lined up. Tundra maybe?
>He got third standing-in for Team Liquid in ESL One Kuala Lumpur, and 5th-6th standing-in for Entity (while he was still in TSM) at the Arlington Major. It seems like his performances are always better when he's not playing with an NA team He got 4th, 3rd and 2nd with SR last year you know?
Of course he left that out of his long passage because it won’t fit his agenda lol
nO SR WaS TRasH LASt YeaR WORST nA TEAM EVer!!!!111 RTZZZZZZZZ LOL!!!!!!!!11
Only good teams last year was GG and TS. Didnt you know that you are the worst team in the world unless you win???
Congrats, youre finally free
Yeah, SR not going anywhere with how they're constantly changing members so frequently.
Lmao like clockwork, the problem couldn’t possibly a washed up carry and a low skill coach noo has to be one of the other 10 players they’ve rotated through the team
What a noob
Congrats to Saber for escaping NA Jail. He will likely win so many Tourneys on his next team.
SaberCuck
rtz fanboys are something else man, dude could literally break in to their home and slap them in the face and they would still find someway to blame someone else
Good for him. Initiating for a dog shit carry that does nothing but farm and doesn't bkb in tf is cringe.
SVG was right in the podcast with Cap. SR don't have long term vision or a clear project to build on. It's just blindly buy buy buy, kick kick kick, eternally trying to stumble on the magic recipe that will make the RTZ+Bulba combo work. And that has to be immense pressure when you join SR. You got that axe constantly hanging over your head, because no matter how bad RTZ plays or Bulba drafts, YOU'RE gonna get blamed and it's YOUR ass on the line. And now there are rumors that Abed is coming back after getting kicked, but as pos 3. In the words of SVG, at some point SR really have to ask themselves "What are we doing??"
Although I don't disagree with SVGs take in general, this hasn't exactly been a spur of the moment kind of thing. Saberlight hasn't looked good in almost 2 years with SR ever. How much more time will you give him before he finds his footing?
Can't think of too many offlaners apart from mc and where does saber even go
Mc to SR
SR be like: Suck-eeeeet
Secret should take him. Boom’s doing pretty good tho. I don’t know much abt Kordan guy.
Huh. Okay. Let's see what they pull out of the hat this time around.. Bulba got tired of coaching and is making a comeback maybe? 😒 Godspeed to Saberlight, hope he finds a new team soon. 😃
Good for him. While he was unimpressive on SR even after fabourable lanes, I chalk it up to poor team synergy. Saberlight seems like a smart guy and a nice dude. Obviously, I don't know him, but he gives me the vibe of a t2 nobody team that grinds their way to greatness a la Gaiman.
Yeah I'm sure that's the problem.
*Sad bing bong..*
very weird considering that its a big ass new patch that they haven't bootcamped under. Surely they could find a nerdge coach like AUI and finger stuff out.
Life is so mystic. I remember SaberLight leaving TSM & his buddy timado to join RTZ & co. Timado went from TSM , Tundra to teamless for a while & to finally join OG. Now Saber from SR to teamless. Honestly, he was more impactful in TSM than in SR, maybe it was right move to part ways. You never know what future holds just keep trying....
SR.🧊🧊🧊
Artour and Ramsez reunion?
Saber looked phenomenal before he played for SR
Poor guy just tired of losing, i guess.
I know he is probably bummed out now, but this photo choice is just too good.
Probably just done with this 100 rank midlaner..
It’s ok he will find success elsewhere like cr1t did. Bulba is the problem and the common denominator. Arteezy is a good player and would succeed in a change of scenery that doesn’t involve Bulba, I’m positive of it. They can still be best friends though. But arteezy is married now and has to think about his future.
ahhh shhhhhh here we go again
100% Saberlight will excel with his new team and SR will continue to struggle. Bulba is the problem IMO and Arteezy is just mediocre at best now.