Did Zen Live Up To The Hype? 

I feel like I literally just watched this exact same video by Feer LMAO I love how both of you came out to defend our new 1v1 overlord 🙏🏼

Reminds me of Vatira. He was the best in the world defending for Joyo and Rise and is the best for being the allrounder with Itachi and Exotiik. If someone is good enough he can play everything. Zen definitely lived up to the hype.

I was expecting him to solo play a lot but he was an incredible team player. He lives up to the hype for me but not in the way I was expecting.

regardless of whether his individual performance was what people expected the fact that vitality won their first regional with zen when eu is this stacked means he lived up to the hype imo

By playing so selflessly, Zen exceeded my very high expectations.

@9:45 subtle elite defense by zen, pre jumps the top corner shot because he knows his teammate has everything else covered then adjusts to the pass knowing an enemy is on the back wall shooting

Zen surpassed expectations by making his teammates better instead of soloing playing by himself which would of not won them this regional. Haters except him to show off for himself like Daniel which won’t lead to team results. He played the Vatira role to perfection and that by itself says alot Instant impact, instant regional win.

My expectations were way too high. I told myself that if he did anything other than win the regional, there's gonna be questions. Well, he won the regional, and looked amazing doing it. Don't know how anyone can think he didn't live up to the hype

I would say it lived up to a different hype. The hype was that he was gonna dominate mechanically which he did a little bit of, but he was so much more of a teammate that I think was a different hype. So yes and no, but this is the much better outcome

I really enjoyed this video. I would love more of these when you don't have showmatches going on. I don't personally watch RLCS so I find it really interesting to see your commentary on it with the games in the background

I feel like Zen played well, Alpha was the highlight player on the team for sure. However, I feel Zen was doing a lot of the dirty work to open up space for his own team. As he gets more comfortable with the professional setting, I'm sure he'll get even better.

He definitely did live up to the hype. I noticed a few times where he was potentially out of position and going for shots he'd never gonna be first to (but wth do I know), but other than that it was just a stellar performance from the new kid. It wasn't the flashy 1v3 plays that made it, although we got a few of those, but it was the way he just slotted into place with the other members of Vitality. :) A large part of their success in the spring major I think was that, with the rock wall Zen as the last line of defense, Alpha54 could be fully unleashed on offense.

The hit and recovery at 2:49 that impressed me more than the flip reset after!

For me, he totally lived up to the hype. I watched a lot of his 2v2 games and wasn't sure if he's really able to give his team space. But by the looks he will finely evolve into the 3v3 environment.

bro won his first regional and popped off when he needed. i said on feers video that he could be a modern turbo. where he needs to be when he needs to, but obviously he still is the mechanical genius.

He did live up to the hype for me and even surpassed some of my expectations. I was expecting him to come in and take that "starplayer" playstyle you know going for mechy plays all the time, but he was so selfless and team oriented it kinda blew my mind, it shows how versatile he is. The only complaints I maybe had on his playstyle is that in the first 2 series I found him "naive" on some challenges but luckily he corrected it afterwards. P.S : sorry if I made mistakes english is not my mother tongue

9:58 It's refreshing to see that even pros do that sometimes.

This is one of the best individual performances I've seen. He balances defense and attack and has one of the best mechanics in the game without a doubt. Who is stupid to say he's not up to the hype ?

Really cool to burst unto the scene with a win and such a mature play style and mindset. I think because in the majority of cases he's been watched in 1s, which lends itself to a very showy play style. 3v3 is different, and if he tried to pull out all his tricks they might've not won. We all know what he's capable of, but he chose to go in with a clear mental game plan. Too often we see amazing players almost leaving their team behind while trying to pull off crazy things that, and while in a minority of cases it might work, it isn't sustainable for a whole tournament. Especially not as stacked as this regional was.

Very good points. Often overlooked that one of the core skills of 1v1 is not about scoring but being a one man brick wall for your own net. Honest from these 2 games I have seen some of the most consistent and confident play from a rookie likely ever. Huge event for someone so new and he was so on point with his challenges in timing, consistency, and winning the 50/50

Zen is so impressive, it's his firat regional and he looked like the veteran on the team

As the mechanical skill level of RLCS continues to rise, the fundamentals can get over looked when they are in fact the atlas of the game. Vitality made a great call doing this, combining solid teamwork with the newest pro on the scene. Put a smile on my face to see Zen come through w the team and cop a dub

I mean idk how to define “the hype” he looked like zen dangerous with every touch. Plus the vision and his challenge game is outstanding bros just great

He lived up to the hype as they won the regional for his first ever RLCS tournament. They were awesome this weekend, all the 3 of them

won his first event and didn’t drop a series his stats weren’t incredible like Seiko’s debut, but he played incredibly unselfishly knowing damn well everyone thought he was going to be going for 20 solo plays a game what more do people want him to do not drop a game?

Zen is just so efficient with his boost, 50s, shots, touches and mechs.

The scary thing about this VIT roster is, I don't even think they played their best rl this weekend. I think they can peak even higher for sure. At times they looked uncomfortable, especially early on in the tourney. The fact that they won this weekend while all this pressure was going on just makes my mind even more blown over the whole performance

In my opinion, he definitely lived up to the hype, but in a way that everyone didn’t expect. Yes he had the mechanical outplays, but he was so much more of a team player. I believe Alpha played the best for the majority of the tournament. Yet Zen had also his great moments in the semis and finals. Overall he lived up the hype, just in a different way than most expected!

To me, it's just a weird thing to answer from a personal perspective. It's like one person orders apple juice, another person orders orange juice, then a third person comes and asks "How was the juice?"... Like hold on, they need to have the same juice first to answer that. Juice = the expectations for Zen. Ppl have different expectations, so obviously they're gonna have different answers for if he lived up to them Also, many ppl have expectations based on overall split results. Simply too early to say for them

Incredible situationnal awareness, team spirit and mechanical ability from this little dude. His team mates also did their job incredibly well.

Omfg finally someone incredibly intelligent that actually watched his gameplay recognizes these points. I’ve been saying this on everyone’s channel who claims he didn’t live up to it. Thank you.

9:46 insane read. I can't even... What?

He went above and beyond my expectations! Big up johnnyboi!

he did absolutely live up to the hype. what else is he supposed to do other than winning the whole event?

Johnny, I'd like to see a more thorough analysis of what Zen actually does. Pointing out the concrete things he does could help people understand what's going on. Favorite play: 8:46

Wise words by Johnny!!

Zen definitely lived up to the hype........It's obvious, even from an old guy who has only played the game for one year.........He can score, pass and is a great defender.........He was the reason they won....

Zen absolutely lived up to the hype for me. He was doing so much that I was surprised to see his stats weren't higher

Not sure how much better Zen can do than win his first regional

Zen's defensive reads are unreal.

Zen just proved himself to be what I'd call the perfect teammate! His offensive and defensive qualities are just from another world! He definitely lived up to the hype with such a selfless attitude! Such a great team Vitality is right now!

I mean just look at these two games, he virtually had 0 mistakes. I saw him whiff once and that's it. He has performed extraordinarily well.

the thing that stood out to me the most was his acceleration/speed and how he is just gets so much speed with such little time. Its insane once you really start to think about it

He definitely lived up to the hype, he showed his mechanics and style when he needed to, but he was an absolutely top class team player when he needed to as well, and helped his team to the win, you can't live up to it anymore

People only want to see mechanics from him but in my oppinion zen's biggest talent is his intelligence smartness brains

He was a team player and showed his talents when his team needed it. Wanting 1v2/3 plays isn’t being a good 3’s player. Zen did awesome!

"did zen live up to the hype?" "has zen lived up to the hype?" feer and johnny are on the exact same wavelength lmaoo

Zen is amazing because the best team would be 3x Zen. He plays all positions insanely well.

Zen scoring absolute bangers

9:58 me and zen r the same

I don't think zen lived up to the hype. Especially when everyone was expecting him to be a mechanical mastermind flip resting double tap every touch. But he did the unexpected by being a great facilitator for his team giving them space and confidence to pop off not worrying about defense. While this wasn't what was expected from him, he did absolutely wonderful for a rlcs debut. Lastly, if we fouced on Vitality team as a whole then definitely not only they lived up to the hype but also surpassed it.

if you look back on all former vitality rosters the key for the success has been using all 3 players, seen it with fairy, kaydop and scrub who was also a hyped player and was for many years before vitality proving there's no suvh thing as a one man army, they all use all 3 players well and imo I think that's what makes a top team. For example all 3 eu titans do this, KC, Liquid and Vitality they use all 3 players to the best oof their aspects and I also think that's the reason why zen lived up because none of the teams this tourni played bad, G1, QUAD, KC and liquid etc were all insane, and I firmly believe zen alpha and radosin all lived upto the hype bc although everyones eyes were on zen i think that they should've been on the full vitality roster as all 3 players are out of this world!, truly a golden preformance on all 3 players

if Zen didn't live up to the hype then the hype was impossible to live up to. Pro RL is all about the effectiveness of the team as a whole. The most important player on the team is the enabler. Zen enables his two ELITE teammates by consistently beating 2-3 players down the pitch. His 1v1 IQ allows him to position perfectly and take better 50/50s that get the ball by the defense for his team. The fear of his mechanical ability allows him to close space for himself and effectively open it up for his teammates. The amount of times a player had to challenge Zen early just for him to have an easy pass offloaded to his teammates with half the field open was astonishing. Its the same concept of Lebron being the scorer he is but making an attempt to get his teammates going too. The best players take what they're given, and nobody wants to give Zen a highlight goal.

And he said it in an interview on the french chanel rocket baguette that he was not 100% confident on the regional so we can expect a lot more in the future

The thing with having the best 1v1 as 3rd is pretty obvious with the same reasoning you had. The same kinda happened to SSG with Daniel as well which makes perfect sence

those ceiling double flip resets 👌

6:58 why does the ball in the background not get covered by the demo explosion smoke?

Johnny's upload schedule is perfect. New video always waiting when I get home 🫡

he did yes, but his debut was not as good as seikoos one was.but he defo lived up to the hype

Secondary assist should be enabled/coded into RL as they are in hockey. Starting a play as Johnny said is just as important as finishing.

He def didn’t live up to the hype (as an individual not as a team) , but he was still outstanding as a 3v3 player. Someone said he was actually better for his team with the playstyle he had instead of a Daniel Air-Dribble Selfish style that doesn’t work.

Just came and watched after the fix un that version 1 did with positioning. They put Daniel in the same position as Zen as third man for much the same reason as Zen.

Great content and breakdown!!

He won his first event which he ever played. In the most stacked RLCS regional ever. How much does he have to do more to live up to the hype?

Liking the video before watching, because I know Johnny got that banger content

It doesn’t make sense for the hype to be so great that he couldn’t live up to it when he literally won his first regional. He accomplished what he can so far

i saw the shit with tbates on first touch that was such a meme. 100 % lived up to the hype. For me even more because he wasnt just flashy plays and not winning like some other highly mechanical players

2:50 wtf was this touch, zens crazy

Need a closer look at: KC vs Vitality, post time out.. what did KC do to bounce back for 1 game, a d what did VIT do to shut em right back next game

Vitality played him perfectly. Having a 3rd that can carry the ball cross field every time 1 and 2 man were getting boost opens so many plays. He was comfortable in net with 12 boost and is out many times, but mechanics make up for it. Invaluable. GenG showed us passing plays beat solo plays. Zen’s play style and impact don’t show on a stat sheet, but many of those Ws were not possible without him.

His playstayle he adopoted reminds me of how Joreuz played against him in 1v1.

I’ve just watched this video after watching Johnny bois most recent V1 video… holy crap EU is so far above NA. Online at least the gameplay is on another level. Wonder if they can keep it up on LAN.

At first I really thought that it was a huge mistake not to bench Alpha54 instead of Saizen, but I realised how much I was wrong when I saw the third man role that Zen took, I never thought he would do that Good job to them, such a good team

He definitely did considering he looked nervous

Zen on the pitch has to feel like a skyscraper sized being is just staring over the entire field. There isn't anything he doesn't see and he just emits so much pressure on defense and offense. You can't breath with him on the field. He won't let you. You have to worry about him in all aspects.

i dont know i.. enjoy watching zen the most somehow huh!

What fennec decal is this?

I think he lived up to the hype. Vitality wasn’t that team in the past year but his first RLCS with them they win? RL 3s is team based and they won every series. If a team relies on just one player all the time they wouldn’t be successful. Like SSG did with Daniel. That fact they won the first regional together without dropping a series says it all. Zen is living up to the hype.

zen fit into his team extremely well, especially as a player who stuck out because of his 1's playstyle

Living up to your personal hype and living up to the general hype is way different.

I mean he played very solid. I can't think of a blunder, even under that pressure. And his amazing mech put alpha and radosin in such good positions. Definitely lived up to the hype

Not even a question in my opinion. Vitality won the regional and Zen looked more than comfortable the whole time. His individual performances will only get better from this point and he's proven that he is an incredible team player in 3s already.

Everyone have a great day

Was this a live event with crowd?

I just want to know what expectations he “didn’t” live up to, what were people expecting?

He definitely lived up to the hype

I hope Daniel can take a leaf out of Zen's book. You don't always need to do flashy solos to achieve success.

First Touch was giving Hopium for NA

I think he is already crazy just sometimes he rotates kinda weird into the corners in which his mates already are😅 may come from him playing mostly 1s and 2s? Or they just play very intuitive with not much of a gameplan

yes absolutely

He also had an extra year to mature which raises the question should young players be allowed to play RLCS.

I personally think this discussion is ricdiculous. Purely bc of the fact the people base their opinion just of this ONE event. We still have 2 more splits, major and worlds comming up. Hypothetically he could still choke all of those. What if he had an even better regional now but played terrible in the other ones, had he lived up to the hype then? I think he did an outstanding job so far, and like johnny said really fascilitated his team. Ofc everybody hopes to see more of the 1v3 plays he is capable of but guess what, we still have so many matches left. So feel like everybody just needs to take a step down, let it all play out for a bit and then come back to this topic.

Someone explain to me this dodge he does at 2:50 ???

6:00

Ye but they didnt play hogan mode, lucky them

He’s very good. He’s no Daniel but he’s really good.

People saying he didn’t live up to the hype are not above plat in RL

HERE AFTER WORLDSSSSSS

As professional players these boys make money if they win. If it was me I could care less if you were entertained with the match. Zen most definitely played to win not to show off and see how many clips he could make. He'll do that for you in a ranked in the end show matches.

Yes, obviously.