cavern

@twitch @kick Partner / business: [email protected]

[cavern @jacobcavern]

i’ve never opened up publicly about my past and even privately very few people have ever heard this story but this is something i’ve wanted to get off my chest for awhile and backstory on why i have a “cavern” tattoo.

in 2015 i got my first pc and i started playing csgo. during this time i was playing lacrosse year round but still found time to grind the game and by late 2016 i had made my very first team with friends to play in esea open (vivid, schanzii, antagonize, and sean). we had been scrimming consistently towards the start of the season and then january 19th rolled around and my dad called me upstairs and asked me to sit down and at the time it was pretty confusing cause he’d never been this serious with me before. that’s when he told me my mom was found dead in her home and had passed away from alcohol poisoning. i didn’t have the best relationship with her but i was still a 16 year old kid who unexpectedly lost a parent. at the time i had no clue what to do. no clue who to talk to. no clue where to go. i didn’t know what else to do other than hop on csgo and pretend like nothing was wrong. that night i played DM for over 8 hours to take my mind off things until i couldn’t move my wrist anymore. i was lost and clung onto what little structure i had and even went to school the next day. i didn’t want anyone to know what i was going through and only told my team i couldn’t practice for about a week because i had an emergency. i started isolating myself from everyone but this showed me who this is when i found out what real friends were. my teachers told my classes why i’d be gone for a week and not a single person reached out but my 4 csgo teammates who i hadn’t even played a match with yet knew something was wrong and actually made an effort to be there for me. they knew my name and city i was originally from and found a public article about my moms passing bc she was well known in the community and they proceeded to call my phone 20+ times until i answered knowing that i was just ignoring the previous calls. other than family, nobody in my life had ever put effort into being there for me and these guys went above and beyond for someone named “cavern” that they barely knew. after this i started spending more time gaming bc i was surrounded by people who actually wanted me around. i’d wake up at 6:30, go to school, come home and play cs until my dad forced me turn off my pc each night and i loved every second of it. this was one of the lowest points of my life but the friends on this team made things just a little less shitty and for that i’m forever grateful.

fast forward a couple of years, NA csgo is dying, there’s no real hope of making it competitively, and i was going off to college. i had kinda accepted that i had to move on but i loved the time i had and knew that if i got a tattoo i’d want it to reference the time in my life where i met some amazing friends, preferably something people irl wouldn’t know the meaning behind but i would.

following this, valorant came out and as it’s clear i didn’t end up quitting as new roads opened up and im where im at today. both tattoos i’ve gotten have a lot of meaning to me, but i specifically wanted something that held personal meaning and couldn’t just be interpreted from one glance by people who didn’t know me. yeah it’s cringe to have my ign as a tattoo but at the end of the day idc because if i didn’t have gaming and the friends i’d met through gaming, i have no clue where i’d be today.

this isn’t asking for pity or anything like that. many people have made jokes and flamed me for having a tattoo of my ign and this isn’t for them either. it’s just something i’ve wanted to talk about for awhile and i guess nows a time where i feel comfortable enough opening up about it + hopefully it answers some questions i’ve previously dodged on stream.

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@emluluy philly is so pretty wow

[Maxy @Maxyvalo]

There are 16 teams who will play in the Valorant NA Closed-Qualifier.

Only ONE team makes it through guaranteed.

This should upset EVERYONE.

1. Riot cut 2 organizations from partnership and advertised this year as “more open” only to have the exact same results for T2 teams as last year while paying fewer organizations and less to organizations outside of partnership.

2. They are still giving organizations 0 incentive to participate because there is still an extremely improbable chance of making it into the kickoff bracket, let alone any global event.

3. There is 0 prize pool for getting to, and placing well in the closed qualifier playoffs, while last year there was at least a prize pool for teams who didn’t make the play-in but placed well within the playoffs. Remember, even with a prize pool like they had last year, teams were still going massively net negative in profit.

Riot exaggerated promotions to fans and organizations to invest in the scene while actually doing less and giving less incentive for organizations to invest in Valorant.

This NEEDS to stop. We NEED change.

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@TrickVAL @bollybq @Masa6x LMFAO

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@bollybq @Masa6x @TrickVAL a better word would’ve been unorthodox, many top teams follow a consistent meta but new teams who maybe aren’t as well practiced or experienced tend to not have the same level of structure you’d expect compared to pro teams of course

[cavern @jacobcavern]

Help sewers

[Elevated @ElevatedSpeaks]

Wat

[cavern @jacobcavern]

I read all of the announcements about VCT 2027 and Americas and unless i’m missing something they didn’t announce any teams would skip OQ until October 15, months after the initial announcement. Even then they still didn’t even disclose how many teams would be invited and kept it ambiguous. Prior to that though, the official posts it never mentioned any teams would get a head start or advantage by any means at all.

My issue with this new system isn’t the format itself, it’s how it’s made to appear when initially announced and then as it gets closer you realize it’s less and less like what everyone was told.

There have been continuous problems over the past years where formats and rules are changed on the fly as Riot or the TO sees fit with lack of regard and communication to the players those decisions effect.

https://t.co/DntotUAvys

https://t.co/33tMmvU1hS

[cavern @jacobcavern]

When Riot announced the 2027 system it was portrayed as a pure meritocracy without favoritism like pre-VCT days and instead it keeps getting further away from what most people ACTUALLY asked for

[VALORANT Esports NA @valesportsna]

Here are our invited teams for the Qualifier Playoffs! #VCTAmericas

@Envy
@C9VAL
@SRVAL Black + Gold
@QorGaming
@FlyQuest
@YFP_gg
@SadEsportsOrg

[cavern @jacobcavern]

Why would they pack up and leave though? I don’t see any partnered team currently losing in OQs regardless but even if partnered teams get invited sure i understand that. I don’t understand inviting even more teams now outnumbering the spots in Open Qualifiers and that’s not something riot ever did before VCT which is what i’m comparing it to.

Look at how many orgs there were in 2022 competing all the way through OQs to qualify for the main event.

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@ggbench i just checked the vlr rankings from 2022 and at the time there was over 30 salaried teams in NA, much different than what we see today

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@ggbench then why was that not the case pre-partnership? the exact opposite because the T1 orgs have budgets for the best teams and players so they consistently stayed at the top. Once VCT was made the number of orgs plummeted because there was 0 opportunity unless you were in the club

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@Prioraq @emc__tl 8 teams on top of the partnered teams meaning there are more invited teams now than OQ spots which i think goes against the whole idea of it being open circuit, especially when most of these invited teams are completely new rosters

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@Prioraq @emc__tl Pre-VCT only 4 teams were invited after qualifying to internationals which would’ve been teams from this past champs event. they also only got to skip open qualifier but were equal to other teams once in main event. Why are OQ teams starting in lower bracket facing single elim?

[LP porridge @porridgeorge]

EVERYTHING IS A TOURNAMENT! right?
sigh, just sigh.

- ALL open qualifier teams start from the lower bracket.
- no communication of any of this, everything has been built on "OPEN QUALIFIERS EVERYONE CAN QUAL".
- we find out not from Riot themselves but through an invited org tweet?
- no mention of any of this in the rulebook or on social media anywhere before UCAM's tweet, designed to be a haze.
- marketing campaign built on "OPEN" qualifiers, "fairness" & "equality" isn't really correct, is it? but when were you going to tell us this? did you ever plan to tell us this?

oh also haha, NO TECH PAUSES ARE ALLOWED in open qualifiers as the rulebook states this 😭

so not only do invited teams skip open qualifiers, they get to start in the upper bracket with everyone else from open qualifiers having to start in lowers?

the marketing campaign for 2027 was built on open qualifiers & fairness. everyone has to fight for their spot, we find out now only a few days before registration ends that this is not the case but you have partnered teams & invited teams in every region who are given an advantage to everyone else.

not only this but having to start in the lower bracket for EVERY OPEN QUALIFIER TEAM? for invited teams playoffs is double elimination, for open qualifier teams it's single elimination.

well best of luck to everyone in open quals! you're fighting a constant uphill battle. not that you knew it to this degree, of course.

[cavern @jacobcavern]

small orgs without 100k+ per month budgets can sign teams for a fraction that can give players an opportunity while also giving the org equal opportunity to make it to the international stage. i think small orgs offering even a couple hundred a month even as a bridge for people trying to make it to a t1 org is extremely important towards the health of a competitive scene and keeping it alive and if they have equal opportunity as the T1 orgs and work hard to build a good roster, there have been many cases where the investment pays off for them too

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@emc__tl 3/4 invited teams were invited because they qualified to Champions, the most recent event. 100T qualified to the Masters prior. The other 12 teams started in open qualifiers. Teams being invited based off recent performance and qualifications is different than this

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@ggbench i preached for val to go back to open circuit and that its healthier for the scene long term. I'm not angry orgs are leaving, I don't remember them ever clearly saying certain teams would get head starts over others.

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@robmooreEsports

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@Tanizhq atp you can’t expect riot to do right by anyone not on a partnered org

[cavern @jacobcavern]

Just when you finally start to believe Riot is listening to the community & moving in the right direction they pull this type of shit.

[LP porridge @porridgeorge]

EVERYTHING IS A TOURNAMENT! right?
sigh, just sigh.

- ALL open qualifier teams start from the lower bracket.
- no communication of any of this, everything has been built on "OPEN QUALIFIERS EVERYONE CAN QUAL".
- we find out not from Riot themselves but through an invited org tweet?
- no mention of any of this in the rulebook or on social media anywhere before UCAM's tweet, designed to be a haze.
- marketing campaign built on "OPEN" qualifiers, "fairness" & "equality" isn't really correct, is it? but when were you going to tell us this? did you ever plan to tell us this?

oh also haha, NO TECH PAUSES ARE ALLOWED in open qualifiers as the rulebook states this 😭

so not only do invited teams skip open qualifiers, they get to start in the upper bracket with everyone else from open qualifiers having to start in lowers?

the marketing campaign for 2027 was built on open qualifiers & fairness. everyone has to fight for their spot, we find out now only a few days before registration ends that this is not the case but you have partnered teams & invited teams in every region who are given an advantage to everyone else.

not only this but having to start in the lower bracket for EVERY OPEN QUALIFIER TEAM? for invited teams playoffs is double elimination, for open qualifier teams it's single elimination.

well best of luck to everyone in open quals! you're fighting a constant uphill battle. not that you knew it to this degree, of course.

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@juanzp09 this is a criticism of the TO entirely and how unprofessional and problematic they were, nothing against 2g or any of their players

[cavern @jacobcavern]

can’t even be surprised by this the admins weren’t even hiding the fact that they wanted 2g to win

[cavern @jacobcavern]

cherry on top is liga ace mod/employee saying this in the Valorant_NorthAmerica chat after already questionable TO decisions from them

[cavern @jacobcavern]

@juanzp09 if the admins prejudice against a player resulted in them being afraid to make rulings that could upset 2g, then yes that favored them