Sakowitz

Seeing threads constantly like what this ktg guy types is so annoying, It's so fucking frustrating watching NA teams continue to import mediocre players year after year instead of giving our own talent a chance, just for everyone to turn around and say "NA has no talent" whenever we get embarrassed internationally. How are we supposed to develop talent when so many of our own players never even get a real opportunity? You have NA players grinding for years, performing at the top of Tier 2, doing everything they possibly can to prove themselves, just to get overlooked for an import who isn't necessarily even better than them. It feels like NA players have to prove twice as much just to be considered for the same opportunities. Being an import shouldn't automatically make you more valuable than a domestic player, and having played in Korea doesn't automatically mean you're better than someone who's been grinding in NA for years. Look at some of the best international performances the West has ever had. 2015 Fnatic and Origen making Worlds semifinals, 2016 CLG making MSI finals, 2018 C9 making Worlds semifinals, 2018 Fnatic making Worlds finals, 2019 G2 winning MSI and making Worlds finals, and even G2 this year at First Stand, sweeping both FearX and Gen.G to make grand finals. So many of our best international performances have come from teams that actually invested in their own region's talent and built strong domestic cores. Why do we constantly act like the answer to becoming internationally competitive is to import more players? There's so much value in having five players who speak the same language fluently, understand each other, share the same goals, and are genuinely hungry to prove themselves and represent their region. Having that team chemistry, communication, and players who actually want to build something together matters so much more than people want to give it credit. I'm not saying every import is bad. There have obviously been imports who have elevated the level of competition in NA, and those players deserve their spots. But importing should be about bringing in players who genuinely improve your team, not just signing someone because they played in Korea or another major region. You can't keep overlooking domestic talent, refusing to develop players, and then use the lack of NA talent as an excuse when things don't work out. There are plenty of players in NA Tier 2 right now who are more than capable of competing in the LCS and would be better than the import you’re thinking of signing over us once again. We just need organizations willing to actually take chances on us players, invest in our development, and give us a real opportunity to succeed. At some point organizations need to stop looking everywhere else for the answer and actually invest in the players they already have here. What Paulo typed at the bottom is only a handful of the people good enough / have the ability and deserve to promote up. Don’t keep saying NA has no talent when you refuse to give NA talent a chance.