Hello, and TIA. I have a home networking question; please do advise and forgive me if I have posted in the wrong subreddit, or posted the wrong question, etc.
* * * *
TL;DR: Client got hacked, bad, and wants a new laptop installed instead of fixing old system.
-> Can I simply install the new system and connect it to the Internet without worrying about the previous hack, since 1) the client left two obvious password files on his computer desktop, and 2) Avast gave a warning of open router ports? His ISP is Spectrum, so I don't have access to open/close any ports individually as far as I know, even from within the My Spectrum app.
-> Would a factory reset of the router work, or even be advisable?
* * * *
I am basically new to computer tech support, and while I have a piece of paper saying I have studied networking, I have never had the opportunity to actually work in the field. So I am being ultra-cautious with a client who got hacked.
I have many years' experience using software and PCs but only 1 1/2 years in actually doing stuff in this new arena. I was a contractor (eww? but I did gain experience) for a year and now am a part-time, bottom-feeding freelancer, helping senior citizens with stuff that's hard for them but that I can do (ISP router and modem setup, printer connection and TS and repair, system research and recommendation, data transfer, OS reset, etc) without negatively impacting them. I happen to live in a retirement mecca, so...
Anyway, I have a client who got hacked, bad, (RAT with accessible password files, multiple-file deletion, etc), and he wants a new laptop - he thinks we can just plug it in and connect it to the internet, and all will be well; he is disconnecting and storing the old laptop and the data thereon rather than face the difficulties of remediation, which would be beyond my current capabilities. I tried referring out to a PC tech company but the client instead wants a new system.
Avast gave a network warning saying there are open ports on the router. Given that the hack was a RAT and that the client literally had two files named "Passwords...[date]" on his desktop, and that the hacker presumably has them, as well as the previous access info for his router, I am concerned that simply hooking up the new laptop will be a disaster, as for one thing, it will be a while before the client can change all the passwords, disconnect logged in accounts, set up 2FA, etc.
His ISP is Spectrum, so I don't know how or if the hacker actually got blocked ports, unblocked. I just checked Spectrum's site and there is an extensive list of the ports Spectrum itself blocks. So, I don't even know if the Avast warning was anything to worry about.
Thanks for all answers, and if I have posted in the wrong subreddit, please advise and forgive.

Epic spring cleaning. PayPal, e-Transfer, or cash. Local in Metro Vancouver-area for meetup, can also ship. Currently not open to trades, sorry.

Gear and clothing:

• USGI UNICOR 1995 PASGT Helmet (Medium)($300):
  • Genuine US military surplus - real Kevlar protection, supposedly stops 9mm
  • Standard OD green shell, comes with M81 woodland camo cover, a cat-eyes reflective IFF band, and an NVG mount
  • Here's a pic of the markings, or at least I tried to take it... difficult with the band permanently attached
  • Working condition - this has definitely seen a deployment (not by me). No cracks or dents.
• USGI Safariland SPEAR ELCS Deployment Kit ($800):
  • All in NEW unissued condition and in M81 woodland camo unless otherwise stated
  • All pieces are genuine US military issue gear, all made in the USA, this is THE kit issued to US SOCOM right before and during the initial operations in Afghanistan 2001.... "rare" doesn't even begin to describe some of the pieces here
    • 1x Storage Organization Device (OD green)
    • 1x Load Bearing Panel Set, (1 Left, 1 Right)
    • 1x H-Harness Panel Set, (1 Left, 1 Right)
    • 1x Shoulder Pad Assembly
    • 2x Pouch, General Purpose, Large
    • 2x Pouch, Ammo, M60/SAW, 100 Round
    • 4x Pouch, Ammo, M16/M4, 30 Round, Double
    • 2x Pouch, Ammo, 40mm, Single
    • 2x Pouch, Medical
    • 1x Pouch, Flashbang
    • 2x Cover, Canteen, 2 Quart
    • 2x ALICE Attachment Adapter
    • 1x Manual
• USGI American Apparel USMC MCCUU Coat (Small-Short)(MARPAT Woodland)($50):
  • Genuine US military surplus, Marine issue with the EGA emblem and branch tape
  • Excellent used condition
• USGI American Apparel USMC MCCUU Pants (Small-Short)(MARPAT Woodland)($50):
  • Genuine US military surplus, Marine issue with the EGA emblem and branch tape
  • Excellent used condition
• USGI Isratex Inc. Hot Weather BDU Combat Pants (X-Small, X-Short)(M81 Woodland)($20):
  • Genuine US military surplus
  • Excellent used condition
• USGI MOLLE II Rifleman Pack with Frame (M81 woodland)($50):
  • Genuine US military surplus - part of the original overall MOLLE II infantry kit system of the late-1990s/early-2000s.
  • Working condition - this has definitely seen a deployment (not by me), but has been taken care of as part of a Cold War display I had.
• USGI SDS MOLLE II Patrol Pack w/ stiffener (M81 woodland)($50):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE II system
  • Working condition - this has definitely seen a deployment (not by me)
• USGI SDS MOLLE II M16A2 6-Magazine Pouch Bandoleer (M81 Woodland)($20): SOLD!
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE I system - great as a backup/extra mag keeper in your backpack or trunk
  • Good condition
• 3x USGI SDS MOLLE II M4 mag pouch (double)(M81 Woodland)($10 each):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE II system
  • It is marked as "double" as in it can hold two mags in a single slot, but it's a tight fit and, realistically, it's better used as a single mag pouch unless you stretch it out
  • Brand new condition
• 17x USGI SDS MOLLE II 40mm HE grenade pouch (single)(M81 Woodland)($5 each):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE II system
  • Brand new condition
• 2x USGI SDS MOLLE II 40mm HE grenade pouch (double)(M81 Woodland)($5 each):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE II system
  • Brand new condition
• 2x USGI SDS MOLLE II 40mm pyrotechnic pouch (double)(M81 Woodland)($5 each):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE II system
  • Brand new condition
• USGI SDS MOLLE II squad radio pouch (M81 Woodland)($10):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE II system
  • Good condition
• 2x USGI SDS MOLLE II sustainment pouch (M81 woodland)($10 each): SOLD!
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE I rucksack set (goes on the sides of the ruck)
  • Fits 2 MREs and many other things - it's a large pouch
  • Good condition
• USGI Handcuffs and SDS MOLLE pouch (M81 woodland)($20):
  • Genuine US military surplus, add-on to the MOLLE II system
  • Brand new condition
• USGI SDS MOLLE II USMC E-Tool Pouch (M81 Woodland)($10):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE II system, meant for the standard folding shovel/e-tool
  • Good condition
• USGI SDS MOLLE II canteen/NVG/general purpose pouch (M81 Woodland)($10):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE II system
  • Good condition
• USGI SDS MOLLE II Ka-Bar knife sheath adapter (OD green)($5):
  • Genuine US military surplus, meant as an add on to the MOLLE I package, fits the classic KA-BAR, M7/M9 bayonet, and issued machete scabbards/sheaths
  • Good condition
• 2x USGI SDS ALICE adapter (OD green)($5):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the MOLLE I system
  • Good condition
  • Free with the purchase of any MOLLE gear, just ask beforehand!
• USGI SDS RACK MOLLE Motorola SABER radio pouch (M81 woodland)($15):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the Ranger RACK system
  • Adjustable and can fit many other walkie-talkie types
  • Brand new condition
• USGI SDS RACK MOLLE AN/PRC-126 radio pouch (M81 woodland)($15):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the Ranger RACK system
  • Adjustable and can fit many other walkie-talkie types
  • Brand new condition
• USGI Point Blank Interceptor OTV throat protector (M81 Woodland) w/ ballistic insert ($50):
  • Genuine US military surplus - meant to attach to an OTV (Outer Tactical Vest). It comes with the ballistic insert that is supposed to be real NIJ Level III protection.
  • Good condition
• USGI Bijan's Elbowpads (Medium)(M81 Woodland)($20):
  • Genuine US military surplus
  • Brand new condition
• USGI Bijan's Kneepads (Small)(M81 Woodland)($20):
  • Genuine US military surplus
  • Brand new condition
• USGI 1 quart canteen (OD green)($5):
  • Genuine US military surplus
  • Never used, but outside has some scratches due to storage
  • Free if you buy the canteen pouch above! Just ask.
• USGI ALICE compass pouch (OD green)($5):
  • Genuine US military surplus, part of the old ALICE kit
  • Brand new condition
• USGI ALICE AN/PVS-7 Night Vision Goggle pouch (OD Green)($30):
  • Genuine US military surplus, has a removable but genuine 3rd Infantry Division tag
  • Good, used condition
• 3x USGI Fireforce ALICE 9mm pistol magazine pouch (OD Green)($5 each):
  • Genuine US military surplus
  • Good, used condition
• USGI Bianchi M1415 Thumb Break Conversion (OD Green)($10):
  • Genuine US military surplus, meant to replace the flap on the M12 holster with a simple quick-unsnap strap
  • New
• USGI Camelbak Thermobak 3L (M81 Woodland)($25):
  • Genuine US military surplus, sort of a late add on to MOLLE II, but it has no PALS webbing - it's designed to be loosely worn over chest rigs and plate carriers
  • Good used condition
• USGI USMC Lightweight Helmet (LWH) helmet headband replacement (large)($5):
  • Genuine US military surplus, replacement part for the USMC LWH helmet, although it is backwards-compatible with PASGT
  • Brand new condition
• USGI M183 Demolition Charge Assembly satchel bag (OD green)($40):
  • Genuine US military surplus
  • New condition, but from the 70s
• USGI PASGT Helmet liner band replacement (Medium)($5):
  • Genuine US military surplus, comes with 4 retaining clips
  • New
• USGI IFAK Insert (OD Green)($5):
  • Genuine US military surplus, meant to hold the standard medical kit but is also a great, durable waterproof case that can protect phones and such
  • New
• Rothco Russian-contract Commando Sweater (OD green)(small) ($15):
  • Used surplus. The NCB code in the NSN of this sweater (57) indicates that this is was built for a Russian Federation military contract - back when Russia and NATO were on friendlier terms (I would assume that would date this sweater to 90s, early 00s)
• Rothco Phillipines-contract V-neck Sweater (black)(small) ($15):
  • Used surplus. The NCB code in the NSN of this sweater (46) indicates that this is was built for a Filipino military contract
• Rothco commercial V-neck Sweater (blue)(small)($5):
  • Used surplus. This came under one of Rothco's commercial brands - Wildlands. Meant for private guards, civilian use
• Rothco DBDU desert chocolate-chip camo BDU shorts (Small-Regular)($5):
  • Used, but fair condition
• Rothco police tactical short-sleve shirt (Medium)(Black)($10):
  • Excellent used condition
• KA-BAR 1216S Kydex sheath for KA-BAR USMC (black)($10):
  • Brand new condition
• USGI GS/FRP-2 Nomex Summer Flyer's Flight Gloves (Size: 8)(OD green)($15):
  • Genuine US military surplus
  • Size 8 which is small/medium more or less
  • New condition
• Propper Patrol Cap (Medium)(Black)($5):
  • New condition
• Propper undercover tactical short-sleeve shirt (tan)($15):
  • Comes with hidden pockets and zippers - meant for law enforcement
  • Lightly used condition
• Rothco moisture-wicking long-sleeve undershirt (OD green)($5):
  • Lightly used condition
• Condor MOLLE shoulder stop (desert tan)($5):
  • For those who like to put the buttstock of their long gun closer to their chest (popularized in the 2010s by some tactical training schools). Also works fine as a sort of grip pad for various uses.
  • Brand new, no tags. Never gamed.
• Condor MOLLE Padded War Belt (desert tan) ($10):
  • Fits all sizes. Brand new, no tags, Never gamed.
• Condor BinoculaLarge General Purpose MOLLE Pouch (black)($5):
  • Excellent used condition
• 1x Condor 20rd M16 mag/Small General Purpose MOLLE Pouch (black)($5):
  • Good used condition
  • 2 sold, 1 left
• Warrior Cordura 1 qt. Canteen/NVG MOLLE pouch (DCU camo)($5):
  • Brand new
• 2x Condor 20rd M16 mag/Small General Purpose MOLLE Pouch (grey)($5 each):
  • Brand new
• Condor IFAK/Medium General Purpose MOLLE pouch (OD green)($5):
  • Excellent used condition
• Condor Cellphone/Electronics MOLLE Pouch (OD Green)($5)
  • Brand new
• Phoenix Industries Velcro Admin MOLLE Pouch (OD Green)($5):
  • Brand new
• Condor 2x 30rd AK mag + pistol mag pouch (OD green)($5):
  • Brand new
• 4x Condor MOLLE Mod straps (OD green) ($5): SOLD!
  • 2x 4" and 2x 6" pieces
  • Attaches anything to your MOLLE panels
  • Brand new
• Scabbard/sheath for 18" machetes ($5):
  • Fits the standard US military 18" machete
  • Lightly used
• Propper boonie hat (OD green, Size 7)($10):
  • Brand new, no tags. Never gamed.
• Rothco MICH 2000/ACH Helmet Cover (M81 Woodland w/ Velcro)($5):
  • Brand new, no tags. Never gamed. A bit folded from storage
  • Uses C-cell batteries (included). Comes with 4 different coloured lenses. Decent brightness for it's design - it's a classic design dating back to the Vietnam-era. Incredibly long runtime.
  • Excellent condition. Carried in games a few times but never used
• Grappling hook set w/ rope ($20):
  • Comes with the foldable hook, 20m of rope, and a black MOLLE pouch
  • Brand new
• VisionKing Illuminated 10x50 Binoculars ($30):
  • Supposed to illuminate, but I can't find out what battery it uses after the old one ran out and I threw it away. It's like slightly larger than a hearing aid battery?
  • Excellent condition
• Cold Steel Rubber M9 Bayonet ($10):
  • Rubbeplastic construction, fits on the M4 and M16
  • Made in the USA
  • Great for close-in encounters on the field or martial arts training
  • New, just used for wall-hanging decor
• Rothco US-made Nylon paracord (ranger green)($1) SOLD!
  • Made by the same contractor that does some US military stuff
  • I used a bit, don't know how much, but most of it is still there
  • Free if you buy something else from me, just ask!
• United Cutlery Tailwind UC2910 Folding Knife ($15):
  • 2 1/2" 7CR13 stainless steel tanto blade, 6" overall, assisted opening
  • Lightly used, blade is still razor sharp from factory
• SOG Aegis Tanto Folding Knife ($5):
  • Assisted opening
  • Lightly used

Gun parts and airsoft-specific accessories:

• USGI Pistol Lanyard (OD green)($10):
  • Genuine US military issue, meant for the lanyard loop on the bottom of most pistols' grips, also used for the MX-991/U flashlight, M2 compass, etc.
  • Brand new, sealed
• High Ready Gear LiPo 11.1V battery ($20):
  • Mini-Tamiya-wired, 1200 mAh, 20C, Graphene, fits in a buffer tube
  • Brand new, sealed
• Tenergy LiPo 7.4V battery ($20):
  • Mini-Tamiya-wired, 1000 mAh, 20C, definitely fits in a buffer tube and even a Crane stock battery compartment
  • Used, but works great
• 2x Well Fire Airsoft Multi-Function Automatic Target System ($20 each):
  • Great for indoor shooting, has a net for catching BBs, automatically resets targets, roughly the size of a microwave oven
  • Brand new, never taken out of the box - I bought two of these and this was a spare. Willing to sell the other one, too - same condition, just taken out of the box
• NCStar 1911 clamp-on rail ($10):
  • Full metal, fits onto any classic-style 1911 with no rail (i.e. Marui Series 70, M1911A1)
  • Brand new, open box condition. never used. Does NOT fit KWC as the frame is too thick - this is why I never used it.
• Magpul PTS MOE M4 handguard ($20):
  • Drop-in replacement for standard Marui-type M4 AEG handguard w/ delta ring and cap.
  • Comes with 3 plastic rail sections - 2 sides and 1 bottom.
  • Gamed once. Good condition.
• AGM pistol optic rail ($10):
  • Full metal, allows for top, side and bottom rails on pistol - side rail is removable
  • Fits any pistol with bottom RIS rail and any slide height, including Desert Eagle
  • Never gamed, just used for display
• KJ Works M9 metal outer barrel ($5):
  • Full metal. Theoretically should fit any V1 Marui-type M9s/M92s
  • A bit of wear from taking it out of my M9, but still functional.
• E&C MK18 to M4/M4A1 outer barrel extension ($10):
  • Full metal. 14mm negative threading. Turns a standard 10.3" MK18 barrel to the 14.5" M4/M4A1 barrel with a cut for the M203 front mount
  • A bit of wear from mounting an M203, but still functional
• Raven Evolution outer barrel extension pack ($20):
  • Full metal,14mm negative threading, includes a 1", 2", and 3" barrel extension
  • Brand new, sealed
• Element tan grippod ($10):
  • This one, if you get it, you have to slam the legs back up the grip with authority to keep it there like the real thing. Slam it hard. Fits RIS/RAS rails.
  • New, out of package condition. Never gamed.
• A&K KAC-style grip and rail cover panel set ($10):
  • 5 piece set - includes 1x standard vertical foregrip, 2x 11-rib rail cover panels, and 2x 2-rib rail cover panels. Fits RIS/RAS rails
  • Brand new
• Docter-style mini reflex red dot sight (RIS-mounted)($25): SOLD!
  • Comes with a sight cover for storage
  • Brand new, open box condition
• BCM-style vertical grip ($5):
  • Fits RIS/RAS rails , a little ding on the screw from tightening, otherwise excellent condition
• UTG rail cover rubber grip panels ($5):
  • Covers RIS/RAS rails, rubbePVC construction, Made in USA
  • Used condition, needs cleaning, still works just fine. Free if you buy something else from me, just let me know if you want it!
• Element LaRue-licensed 30mm cantilever red dot sight mount($10):
  • Full metal, made for all 30mm tubed sights, specifically the Aimpoint M68 CCO/CompM2, quick-detach mount
  • Lightly used condition, never gamed
• Element QD 30mm magnifier twist mount ($10):
  • Full metal, made for all 30mm tubed sights, specifically the Aimpoint and EOTech type magnifiers, quick-detach
  • Lightly used condition, never gamed

So, I think I should start describing my kinda insightful thought in some way.
I've been a regular ARAM player for about 3 years, usually in a relaxed manner, but when I came across a more interesting champ than Zilean or other shit like this I liked to hunch down a bit and stay focused but today's situation was lowkey the last straw that breaks the camels back. I pretty much enjoy playing quite unconventional picks: ap viego, ad ahri, classic every possible variant of ezreal, but please tell me, when did riot games overloaded game with dmg that hard that if I'm playing any mage fucking ap kaisa is oneshoting me from like 1000 range in 6 secs (cuz ofc she has got resets :D). When tf riot games claimed it's good idea to rework adc items for making this role ain't flexible like ever before?? Thank god we got so much new skins!!! I dont even know how much money I've spent on this game and now being restricted cuz Ive told somebody he is fucking shit and he should never play this game (tl:dr pyke player started some crappy actions then running down whole ranked). Deleting vision potion from aram was so fucking bad decision too, who even wanted to see shaco or teemo as frequently as they are drawn in lobby, fucking nobody!! Riot thinks they make game more pleasent and easy for casuals but only thing they do is messing up with annoying shit, not listening to actual players, instead being open only for voice of fucking retarded cosplayers, skins collectors and other creeps without any other type of social life but the LoL. Give me fucking reperation for my maestry tokens I had been completing as you did when rebranding IP for BE (another "xD" change).
And the worst fucking thing ever, why tf any Chinese company is able to see every part of my PC's memory?? Why isn't it banned as the whole Google fighting with adblock was (at least in UE)? I don't claim it's not helping with scripters or something, ofc it does, but aren't there less invasive methods? ofc they are, but w/e.
My point is, riot games is making game less attractive to the most representated type of player, casual guy who sometimes watches some esports, sometimes plays ranked games for testing himself. I know there were like 1000 of posts like this and this is nothing new, I just wanted any rioter to read this: Your company fucking sucks, you cant balance your game, watching k'sante every fucking pro game and seeing him being fucking diff is disgusting, playing your game is disgusting too, it doesnt have any same feeling like for example 7 years ago, when game was srsly about some skill, where you could skillcheck enemy and win by this, not like today, skarner wins game cuz of his fucking overloaded skillset and shitty items, what tf was wrong about sheen giving mana?? Do less toxic designs, more where a player needs to think and train, delete most of these new champions, they are awful and nobody besides otp and tryhard abusers wanna see in this game, last good champion was Renata Glasc, so good skillset and stats, even the W isn't broken that much. W/e its too long

Sorry it's so late this week. I'm an ex Seoul Dynasty player as well and I was a bit too busy so I kind of just listened to all for it and then got way too busy for a few days with work. Here's the loose translations for episode 5 of Overwatch University. Rush had to leave very early on due to Internet issues and Moon who was watching at the time volunteered to help as a lot of the talk was in regards to the Seoul vs Shanghai Rivalry anyways so having both POVs was insightful
Topic 1 Intros and Seoul Dynasty Season 1
Aid: Have you seen Overwatch University given you have been invited by NineK
Tobi: Not really. I've skimmed around and seen pieces of the Crusty interview and Moon interview.
Aid: We're going to go over Tobis lengthy career as we were both pros
NineK: Isn't it kind of disrespectful to Tobi for you to group him up with you?
Aid: I had a lot of talent I just got cursed with a shit Coach like you NineK right Tobi?
Tobi: True
Aid: See two instances of your failures
NineK: What does that make the people who won under me? You two must've been the problem.
Aid: (pulled up Seoul Dynasty s1 roster and Tobi just explains who all of them were) Honestly you guys didn't do amazing right?
Tobi: No we were bad we went 7-3, 7-3, 5-5, and then 3-7. Just mid
NineK: Did you feel in preseason scrims you were in trouble?
Tobi: No I didn't we did very well even in the preseason games we won everything.
Rush: There any problems we didn't know about you can tell us?
Tobi: I can tell all the potential members we could've had though. Carpe, Fury, Gesture, Jjonak
NineK: Wow you started and ended with Seoul now that I think about it.
Aid: So we heard lots of rumors about Seoul but I heard you had unique member rotations where only allowing certain players for certain stages?
Tobi: If I'm clarifying a bit the split rosters was more of a season 2 decision with an A team and B team where eventually the roster mixed together. Biggest issue was the coaches couldn't agree. So sometimes they would just take turns like coach A gets to decide today then coach B gets to decide what to do and then coach c.
NineK: I heard you basically did that with a new coach per stage.
Rush: Who was your head coach?
Tobi: 4 coaches + extras
Aid: How did you decide who played what?
Tobi: Honestly the meta was so hard locked at the time the biggest issue was the coaches disagreed how we should play and it was very confusing how we should do it. We basically went back and forth with a coach of the day deciding what we did.
NineK: Too many games too. That's how Shanghai went 0-40 cause there was way too much. Not to mention no one wanted to scrim them cause it's not like you wanted to be their first victory either.
Tobi: We scrimmed them a bit
NineK: Wow you're nice people.
Tobi: They've invited us over at times and made food for us too.
Rush: Yeah there's pictures of it.
NineK: Cause of the Korean members?
Tobi: No this was way before that
NineK: Wow so kind. Isn't it cause your results weren't good either?
Tobi: Uhhh... Where were you in season 1?
NineK: I came in late. Stage 3. Season 1 was fun though
Aid: Honestly getting dragged back and forth by your coaches must be stressful. As a player there has got to be times when you do something one way and think to yourself why the heck does he want me to do it this way instead
NineK: Also they'd probably never had that many members to work with either since they just added players to Lunatic Hai
Tobi: True. We had 11 starting members and then acquired Gambler when I was having wrist issues. Then we lost another member and went back to 11. I truly believe having 12 members was so pointless
NineK: I agree like it's good if you can make it work but if you don't it just makes people feel awful. I don't know why people insisted so much on large rosters.
Tobi: Lots of people lots of possibilities I guess?
Rush: Also this is when OWL wanted to copy traditional sports so they got a bunch of players on their rosters
Tobi: They did invest more in OWL back then
NineK: They were really the team designed to win everything weren't they?
Rush: I remember an article saying they had an 80% chance of winning
NineK: People don't get how hard this time was cause of the random Mercy meta. Honestly probably wouldn't have been this bad for Seoul if patches came out like they do now
Tobi: Meta was unfavorable sure but we just played poorly to be honest
NineK: Wow so honest very cool
Topic 2: Ryujekong
Aid: Everyone was so confused by Ryujehong on Tank I want to hear what happened
Tobi: Honestly it's been so long I don't remember this time very well. I also wasn't even scrimming or playing at the time because of my wrist. I was basically just going to the doctor. We had kuki who for reasons was having troubles so he stopped playing and then Miro was having a lot of struggles at the time as well with how the meta was playing. It's mostly because of the comms cause obviously Miro had better mechanics Jehong sucks at primaling too but he would take space well and call out commands for the team to help
Aid: How did your scrims go?
Tobi: I don't remember
NineK: He can't help but not remember there were only scrims allowed at the practice facilities at the time and kids that were ill like him straight up just didn't even go. There were set times
Aid: So this isn't Jehongs main position and he was forced to tank must have been hard.
NineK & Rush: Must be
Tobi: It absolutely was. Imagine how sorry he felt to Miro. He was a support replacing Miro. If he fails not only does he get ridiculed for it but people slander Miro for being replaced by a tank of this caliber he felt very burdened feeling sorry that Miro might get insulted more than he did
NineK: I remember at the time a lot of people said Jehong had a bad Zenyatta as well but I thought it was good
Aid: Yeah I don't really see how he was particularly bad
NineK: Honestly the way things were he was probably just getting compared to Jjonak who was a beast at the time. The flame for Jehong was insane at the time
Aid: I remember his team would just hyper pocket Jjonak and have him just frag. NYXL were so defensive and good at pocketing.
NineK: In another way of seeing things that playstyle not being meta anymore might be why NYXL couldn't hack it in finals.
(Watching VOD of Seoul vs London)
NineK: Damn Munchkin fucking sucked at Tracer
Rush: Wait why is Fleta playing Widow?
Tobi: He was really good at Widow
NineK: He was
Rush: Then what is Munchkin good at
NineK: Just Cassidy Soldier. But Widow was so broken back then
Aid: Monkey could never catch her cause of her grapple cooldown
NineK: Nearly all the monkeys sucked at primal dribbling too. If a Mercy pocketed her she never died either. Who was good then again? Carpe...
Tobi: Linkzr Surefour Pine
Aid: Wow such names from my memories
NineK: Gesture Fury were way too good at Monkey D.va. Honestly there's so much shit about London I wanna expose
Aid: Bring Profit
NineK: I'll get Rascal easily. Wow Bdosin looks so young here what the he'll.
Topic 3: End of Season 2 VOD of Jehong Tobi Crying Post Elimination to Spark
Aid: I didn't know this happened at the time but NineK mentioned this happened can you explain?
Tobi: At the time role lock got forced and doomfist hanzo reaper were good. At the time we were kind of really good in scrims but lost to a team in tournament we never lost too in scrims. Jehong was already out there crying and I didn't want to come out and Danny kept forcing me to come out even though I said I didn't want too. But I was afraid the broadcast would get delayed or ruined cause of me so I was forced to.
Ninek: At the time we were preparing for our game up right after them but our GM was so fuxking angry at the time like how could you force them to do this right after they lost he complained a lot to Blizzard. Cause just imagine, thank God you brought out two veterans and media trained players. Imagine if you brought out complete noobies if it was this hard for these 2 veterans imagine what they might let slip on a broadcast when emotions are this high. This is also right after their season ended and they were officially eliminated.
Rush: From Blizzards POV these 2 were icons of the game and they probably felt like they could really show the importance and feelings toward this game to the audience watching
NineK: But like RIGHT after they lost is insane to me. Like let them process instead of fucking ambushing them as they're coming down from the stage.
Rush: But it's important cause this is when they're at the peak of the emotions being felt so I get it.
NineK: There's actually so many players who went down that stage to the hallways down crying
Aid: Of course they work hard and it didn't work.
Tobi: When we scrimmed we only lost to 1 team ever. Shock. We beat Vancouver NYXL Spark everyone else.
NineK: Wow so strong
Tobi: But in the end we just lost to Spark
NineK: I can say this now but we scrimmed Hangzhou a lot at this time. They didn't have a coach we were their coaches. Literally they would scrim us and copy us the next day in games. Since GOATs they basically decided they couldn't beat us so they copied our opening strats positioning skill usage everything. That's why they did decent
Aid: So Seoul lost cause of you
Tobi: We regretted a lot because of some of our microplays. There was a thing when double shield was first happening where Moria sprays her heals on the tanks right? The enemy Sigmas could shoot their shield out behind the Orisa to block the heals. And we thought this was possible but went and said it wasn't going to be a difference maker and ignored it
NineK: Wait we were doing that since day 1 lol
Tobi: We lost to Spark because of that. We felt awful cause this is something we thought could happen but ignored. At the time Marvel was our Sigma and Michelle who was a traditional offtank was forced on Orisa. We had Fissure who was good at Orisa who retired so we had no Orisas.
Aid: Timings always been off for Seoul I guess
NineK: No wonder you felt so many emotions. I was so sad seeing this. Seoul was honestly so good in season 2 but always somehow was just one step short. It hurt my heart to see them.
Aid: Players don't like to cry like that so they have to have been feeling so much to cry like this
Topic 4: Seoul vs Shanghai
Aid: We had Moon and he said some stuff on this we were all in the West and we would just see the results but this May Melee where you were up 3-0 and got reverse swept... your stories about this?
Tobi: We didn't get ahead of ourselves Shanghai was always good at Gibraltr and we thought we would lose this map but win the rest for a 4-1. I'm not sure how we lost Busan though
Tobi: We won a lot with our double shield
Rush: Fearless wasn't supposed to play
Aid: Fearless told me at the time he didn't get to scrim even once and then came in and won everything
NineK: Wow
Aid: Yeah no scrims at all
NineK: Wait Tobi why us Bdosin on Brig and you on Baptiste?
Tobi: I played the Baptiste for Seoul at the time cause Bdosin fucking sucked at Bap. This mother fucker could never use his abilities properly. He must've gotten sick in the head watching Viol2t play or something cause whenever he had cooldowns he would be on some high ground alone shooting and scream "Aghhh" and die off on his own
NineK: I remember now it wasn't super locked who played what because no one had Briggitte experience at the time
Tobi: Also if this happened there would be cases where in double shield mirror your Brig had to swap to Zenyatta but at the time Gesture had too many complaints about coordinating his pulls with Bdosin
NineK: I have no idea how Seoul lost this right now
Tobi: There's no absolutes in Overwatch. But the only thing I remember is our loss in Junkertown
Aid: For Kings Row I remember the Felta carry with Widow this was probably in all of those OWL top 5 highlights. I still can't believe how far Shnghai got in Junkertown though
NineK: Wow even Fearless is playing Orisa here
Tobi: That's why we thought we would win here. It's such a double tank focused map. Fits was randomly flanked high on the left and I td him to get down but he died on our A defense.
NineK: Wow you guys got out ult cycled like crazy
Rush: The Torbjorn choice here leaves a lot to be desired
NineK: I agree
Aid: So then there is that little celebration Shanghai did how did you feel
Tobi: Can I curse?
NineK: Seoul is just so ugh... like back in season 2 they beat New York during GOATs who was supposed to be top 2 but Seould couldn't take those next steps to greatness here as well. There are those super important games that once you win you just go on a roll and Seoul never got to do it
Tobi: I really hated losing to Shanghai cause I could've been on the team.
NineK: Really?
Tobi: Yeah I received offers from them on 3 separate occasions but ended up choosing Seoul. I wanted to believe I made the right choice so I wanted to win
Topic 5: Tobi Happy. Season 3
Aid: There's this gif of you happy after a win
NineK: It's so funny you took your glasses off before cheering
Tobi: At the time we lost to Shanghai so often but then finally beat them
NineK: The thing is Seoul was lucky cause they actually shouldn't have been in the season 3 finals originally.
Rush: Washington was the biggest offender
NineK: Off memory it felt like a "everyone suffered because of COVID so everyone gets a chance" thing
Tobi: But the thing to note is we did well in the West before we were forced to go to Korea and beat Glads and Valiant. We won like all of our scrims at the time.
NineK: Fine I'll give you that
Rush: Seoul was honestly really good during the online era
Aid: What did you think of the Hog meta?
Tobi: I was a huge doubter. Like at the time it was Zarya Hog or Sigma Hog. It just had none of the fundamentals of Overwatch I was used to seeing. I just couldn't believe it.
NineK: Tobis a purist "where do you come from thinking Hog could ever be a main tank"
Tobi: His ability to take space was unreal at the time. But Gesture was really into it and Wizardhyeong pushed for it
Aid: Gesture was a really good Hog though
NineK: All the guys there had good Hogs. Gesture Super Smurf Fearless were all good at it
Rush: But Shanghai didn't play it
NineK: I don't know Shanghais reasoning but I know Shock played how they did cause Viol2t fucking sucked at Ana lol. The thing is he did win with it but his scrim results as Ana was terrible
Rush: Viol2t Ana is known in the community as weaker though
NineK: But he doesn't think so
Tobi: I heard it got to the point where Crusty said he would do better if he played than Viol2t
NineK: That's why Architect played it for a bit. They had Twilight but I have no idea why they didn't use him more. I don't know how much I should say when there's no Shock rep from the time here but as far as I Know Super wasn't supposed to play. Smurf was but he didn't fit with his playstyle and the team well enough at the time
Tobi: If I have to point out regrets in the Shock game it was not using Zenyatta on Busan
NineK: But shouldn't you playing something other than the Ashe?
Tobi: No this was when Ashe was super broken and Profit was really good at her
Aid: The more I see it the more I really feel regrets about Seouls performances
NineK: That's what I've been saying Seoul was almost never bad and had huge upside a lot for different points in time. Honestly they're Asia's Philly Fusion
Tobi: You know how it is NineK if one thing changed with your Hotba strategy or Rascal not waking the monkey
NineK: I had a team with Tobi and Carpe and caught the 2nd place curse
Tobi: Woah why are you blaming me I've won plenty.
NineK: I did too before meeting you guys
Tobi: Then it's Carpes fault
NineK: I guess it is lol
Aid: At this point we need to have Carpe on to defend himself
NineK: We're going to go watch his games this Saturday
Tobi: The Hollwood bug pissed me off too
(Vod review where Tobi popped Valkyrie in spawn and the D.va bomb from Choi killed Tobi in the respawn room) this and Viol2t living at 1 health
Aid: Wow you guys are just destined to not win that day
Tobi: It was everything against us honestly
NineK: Honestly in the regular Hog comps Seoul and Dhock were about even but Seoul couldn't beat Shocks Hog and Ball Comp
Tobi: I actually wanted to go Numbani here instead of Hollywood
NineK: I remember at this time Choihyobin was getting gapped by Hanbin a bit and all of us joked his time was over and Hanbin would replace him as the new offtank goat
NineK: I remember at this time Shock felt Bdosin was scarier. They took more maps with him. Even though they defended better with Creative
Tobi: I think at the time he wasn't getting too much scrim time so he just said to let Creative play
Topic 6 Coach Tobi
Aid: You came back after being a player for Fusion to being Head Coach of Seoul Dynasty how was that for you?
Tobi: I kind of just stopped feeling the desire to compete like "I definitely can still compete mechanically but guess it might just not work out from here"
Tobi: Was worried that newer players he hadn't yet played with wouldn't follow his leadership well
Aid: So who was the player who least listened to you
Tobi: Everyone below me followed very well
Aid: So did you work well with the other coaches given it was mentioned there were previously conflicting visions?
Tobi: Oh these people were later coaches and we had very good talks together and worked well together
NineK: Since we wanna wait for our other guest when we talk about the next topic let's move on and talk about our time together in Fusion
Tobi: There were a lot of regrets weren't there?
NineK: The biggest problem for me was I didn't know we would be playing in Korea when I made the roster and heard it from someone from another team.
NineK: I felt sorry to Carpe for that. He's like Seoul where certain key moments not working out it feels like de-railed everything for him.
Aid: What did you think when you joined and first got to know NineK?
Tobi: When I joined I did so because I heard so much good stuff about him. Like he just knows a lot about Overwatch so I was curious about him and learned a lot. There's Crusty NineK Moon and Rush that are the coaches that are very well talked about that I was curious about. I got to meet NineK and Wow I'd never believed someone could get so angry over this game he would slam on the desk yelling while coaching. But the thing was while doing that he would always be right about what he's saying
Topic 7: Moon Joins
(Moon joins the podcast because Rush was lagging out)
NineK: So is it true you sent offers to Tobi
Moon: I guess I should say hi first. My name is Coach Moon who tried to get Tobi every year but failed.
NineK: I tried that with Fury
Aid: Is one of the reasons you wanted to beat Seoul no matter what because you didn't get to recruit Tobi?
Moon: No actually around that time I got in a lot of trouble with my wife. She said I talked to Tobi more than her. This was before we signed LeeJaeGon
Tobi: In 2020 season Shanghai actually had a lot of players I wanted to play with. Fleta Lip and such. As well as just giving a better offer out right.
NineK: Void too.
Tobi: Yeah always keeps contact with him too. But I really wanted to run it back with Ryujehong one last time because of the regrets of our last 2 seasons together to redeem ourselves. But he ended up choosing Vancouver and as I ended up wanting to go to Shanghai instead, they ended up already getting LeeJaeGon instead
Aid: Man the timing has just never worked out for Tobi
NineK: When he was on Fusion with me he used to always joke "damn if I was on Shanghai at least I could've been winning while benched"
Moon: So at the time LeeJaeGon and Tobi were my first choices but LJG told me he didn't want to join because he wanted to go to Mayhem with other Runaway members and then Tobi was looking at Seoul so I almost ended up with no one. But eventually LeeJaeGon chose us and tobi reached out the day after that.
NineK: So you regret not getting Tobi?
Moon: I mean you can't argue this given our results...
Tobi: They did so well
NineK: Tobi would've made the team fun for you though. That season was really bad for us but we had a lot of fun
Topic 8: Seoul vs Shanghai KickOff Clash
Aid: It looked like Seoul was happier beating Shanghai in winners finals than beating Philly in finals
Moon: The thing was the situation was so terrible for us at this time. We were quarantined with nothing.
Tobi: This team was the one we wanted to beat more than anyone else. It's why Profit was crying at the end of it all.
Moon: I will say their strats against us were very good they deserved the win regardless of what circumstances we had
Tobi: This gave me PTSD cause there was a moment when we were reverse swept in May Melee where Bdosin got pulsed with Rally. I told Vindsim no matter what to hold your shield up when he has it and in this one moment in the VOD he got stuck by fleta but thankfully Profit clutched
NineK: I will say when we got to the Hawaii LAN Shock picked you guys at Shanghai and I'll just say I didn't want to pick you.
Aid: Ahh it was the eternal rivals (implying Crusty chose Shanghai for revenge)
Moon: This time was really tough for us and we had a bunch of retirements after this. I think we thought more about what we would get to eat the next day or when we would be able to go to a Koreatown for the food we missed
NineK: It was so long
Moon: Honestly it was the hardest times for us.
NineK: It was really tough for us as well lockdown was so long.
Moon: I honestly don't want to hear lockdown complaints from anyone around me. If we were offline and I told you our horror stories everyone here would cry.
NineK: I mean everyone suffered but this sounds like military stories lol. Like everyone thinks they had it the hardest. Anyways Tobi tell us how you did things that led to that win.
Tobi: So you know there are things a lot of us say behind the scenes about coaches right? Like this guy is more of just a caretaker or this guy is more just strategies but I really wanted to be the coach who wouldn't have players feel bad I was their Coach. It's why I asked for a lot of help from previous coaches I worked under. I wanted all of my least favorite aspects of coaches I've seen in the past to not be things my players go through I let them all speak casually to me so they wouldn't be uncomfortable with me
NineK: Moon has the opposite take. He said his players can never act chummy with him and will always refer to him as coach
Tobi: My feelings were that I had previously worked with a lot of these players in the past so it feels okay
(VOD shows Seoul winning Kick off Clash 4-0 over Philly Fusion
NineK: Oh Carpes expression came out (literally half covered in shadows)
Aid: I didn't want to become a useless coach. Every explayer wants to be the opposite of the coaches they hated
Tobi: When I first won I was so happy to finally get a star under the Seoul Dynasty banner for Gen G.
NineK: I thought at the time though "all that for a stage win?"
Aid: We were like Wow they really are happy for a stage win
Moon: Well it was their first win of course they're happy and they beat us to do it
NineK: As coaches we can tell whether they just got lucky or actually were prepared. Poor Carpe though
Topic 9: Q & A
Aid: If you became a coach again and had to form a team which players would you want?
Moon: Wait but isn't the answer for those year very obvious?
Tobi: Yeah just erase Moons name and put me in
NineK: Then mix and match a bit
Tobi: Smurf Stalk3r Lip Chorong seems very good and then Shu
NineK: That's basically Crazy Raccoons. I'll just say this is cause he doesn't watch it
Tobi: I watched all the big games actuall
Moon: If he was really keeping up with the scene wouldn't he have picked Donghak?
Aid: If Gen G or T1 asked you to coach or team up with Ryujehong again for OWCS?
Tobi: I already got an offer to play with them and said no
Aid: Oh really why?
Tobi: Cause I knew what would happen lol. The kids nowadays level of play is so high
NineK: Just for fun I guess
Tobi: Well yeah if I streamed it and stuff sure but the team even with me or without wouldn't have done well
Moon: Honestly the player gap between the experienced old guard and the new is high right now but you'd hope it would get closer by next year
NineK: More than player gaps I'd rather be worried about the coaching level. It's really just Moon Crusty Rush again. Tobi isn't coaching anymore either... so tobi this is to say coach again please.
Tobi: I did get an offer but the timing didn't work out.
Aid: Always the timing
Tobi: Before Falcons formed I think it could've worked but Smurf was gone and all the teams were formed and then I got the call and was a decent offer. But the timing was bad.
Moon: Where the players weren't available anymore. But just swipe them from their teams
Tobi: But I didn't wanna steal players with offers of contracts
Moon: Why not?
NineK: The difference between a dirty person and clean person
Moon: But the thing is they don't have contracts
NineK: Yeah wait they definitely would want money
Moon: That's my point he could've offered stability to more players in the scene
NineK: Then you are at fault Tobi
Tobi: There was a condition though. The org really wanted to win and asked if I could form a team to win.
Moon: Oh that would be hard (smiling in Crazy Raccoons)
NineK & Aid: (dies of laughter at the humble brag)
Moon: I did work really hard to swipe the good players.
NineK: Was it a foreign org?
Tobi: Yeah it was
Moon: I wish more teams came into the space
NineK: If tobi even at least coached Genesis they would've been better
Tobi: I did get that offer but said no
NineK: Didn't want to work for bottom feeder teams?
Tobi: Well I wasn't close with any of the players either
NineK: You shouldve just gone to orga offering up super teams and swiped like Moon did.
Moon: I just had a skeleton crew formed and did mine
NineK: Whatever it was it's just kind of sad Tobi isn't coaching actively right now is all
NineK: I like this question. If Coach Tobi could speak to player Tobi of the past what would you say to them?
Tobi: Probably to be sure of yourself and confident in your play and your decision. I used to basically fly to whoever screamed for help no matter who was in a bad position trying to help. I definitely learned afterwards and worked really hard to improve my Mercy
NineK: I remember at that time Yobi worked really hard to improve his Mercy and it was really good I agree. It's sad to hear given how things went for Seoul but it is a cool answer
Aid: ProFits from friend POV to players POV
Tobi: Profit whether as a friend or player was a great and reliable friend. Fits was the hassle
Aid: How so?
Tobi: Never listening always whining just a big baby. Cute little brother while Profit was a reliable friend
(Just chatting while looking for interesting questions)
Moon: I'm saying this now but Shanghai starting at 0-40 we worked so hard to hit that 40-40 and it took so long. We won so much and still took a while
NineK: A fun thing to ask whenever we have an ex-player is have they ever felt like watching a scrim they would do better?
Tobi: I have scrimmed actually. Vindaim was ill and in the hospital so I played. We won.
Ninek: You say yes to this question if you win the scrims if you lost you would say it didn't happen
Tobi: True
Tobi: Here's one about Seoul I like. Why did you when you had LeeSooMin and Krillin make Krillin a main support? The answer is Krillin said during Washington he got to try a bunch of heroes and LeeSooMin was pretty decent at Kirik at the time. I had worked one year with Vindaim and it was good for us so I hoped for the same to happen. The initial meta was good for us too until we hit the Sombra meta
NineK: I think the only ones happy to hit the Sombra meta was Atlanta
Moon: (struggling to find a good question when smurf comments in chat) Yo Smurf don't you need to go practice right now?
Moon: Sorry that was a joke
NineK: Oh I like that one
Tobi: So there's a question about our 2023 roster and I wanted to talk about it. Right after 2022 going into 2023 was to keep Smurf Profit then get Lip who was receiving some offers at the time keep Vindaim and get Twilight. This would've been my personal choice if I had the money to form my team but everyone ran out of money. I even had back ups for everyone but like Bernar planned but everything fell through
Moon: Do you regret picking up Void?
Tobi: No I don't
NineK: What about losing to former players of yours and stuff?
Moon: Want me to call Void and ask him what it felt like losing to the Fleta Tank?
NineK: Oh my god that sounds so good
Tobi: I think he's working right now
Moon: Oh that's right he would be working right now
NineK: Man I'm so curious. I hate losing to my former players
NineK: Wanted to know if back in OW1 you had a team fully built around you who would it be and would you win?
Tobi: Honestly looking at my history I'm kind of bad at forming teams lol. Honestly I could've been on NYXL in season 1 as well.
NineK: Wow.
Moon: I can say one thing. I've literally walked to his house before. He thought a lot about it. Like I didn't think it should be this hard a decision when I was so convincing.
Tobi: I just really wanted to run it back with Jehong one last time and Fearless wasn't in the planned roster at the time either.
Moon: True it was very early on in the team formation
Tobi: Yeah it's regrettable isn't it?
NineK: Tobi does make bad choices that's why he joined Fusion under me
Tobi: Timing worked for that time period though
NineK: Alright back to the question make your super team only caveat is you can't change them and have to run them seasons 1 through 6
Tobi: To be happily teamed with them Carpe Profit Gesture Fury...
NineK: Wait a second Ryujehong isn't being brought up
Tobi: We are excluding him from this but honestly there's way too many good flex supports so I don't know. Shu was really good but Viol2t is also nah just Shu.
NineK: Shu is fun and good.
Tobi: He's good at like everything. Even since season 2 when I'd play Mercy he would shoot me so much more than everyone else as Ana
NineK: When you went game 5 against MightyAOD any players that stood out to you?
Tobi: Did we go game 5 against MightyAOD? I genuinely can't remember the Lunatic Hai games that well outside of just like finals games anymore. I'm sorry but it's been years.
Moon: Ooh how did you feel about Prophet being on your team and then once he was dropped and went to 02Blast losing to him?
Tobi: He was good but the thing is whatever we put him on just didn't fit with how the team played and the Sombra meta was at its peak as well. We were tired and he was tired cause it just wasn't the best fit for either of us. I wanted him to keep doing well so I could be confident it was just a mismatch and that my scouting ability was still good. But then the meta swapped to like Widow Hanzo.
Moon: Oh wait so once again it's a choice Tobi made he regrets...
Tobi: Well no technically in the last game versus them we did win to be fair. Honestly though when he did win damn I felt low key a little bit upset/betrayed
NineK: Did you see him do the X on the Dynasty symbol spray?
Tobi: I didn't mind that all the players do that
NineK: Hears something funny for Moon to answer. " I heard Lip purposefully made sure not to wear the Fusion skins for Asia Finals is it true"
Moon: I specifically checked his PC to make sure he wasn't wearing it "Are you wearing a Fusion skin or not? Yes or no."
NineK: Wow you check their PCs?
Moon: Yeah I made sure none of them wore Fusion skins for Asia Finals
Tobi: Carpe might need to come on here at this point
Moon: I don't believe in jinxes like this but my players do so I did it just so they don't have to think for a second there is some Fusion curse that will make them lose
Tobi: Like you don't want unnecessary factors creeping into their minds
Moon: Exactly
NineK: Did you have any of those jinxes or lucky charms as a player?
Tobi: During Lunatic Hai I would on game days only eat noodle dishes and then we would win. I'd wear the same pair of socks for all the big games as well. But then I went to the League and kept losing and none of that stuff applied anymore
Moon: Yeah I don't believe in it as a supernatural force but whatever makes people more confident the better
(Randomly scrolling for questions)
Moon: I really did wanna try coaching Dynasty once.
Tobi: Why?
Moon: You know as a Korean it was kind of sad seeing the Korean team under perform I wanted to go there after my contract with Shanghai ended and try to get them a big win
Tobi: I see
Moon: Now that I'm thinking about it I never got an offer from Seoul ever
NineK: Really? I think I got an offer from Seoul basically every year since 2019
Moon: Oh one thing I really wanted to ask was how you beat the Infernal (Dynasty vs Infernal early 2023 when Infernal scrimbux was way better than everyone else)
Tobi: Oh that? They just played poorly.
Moon: I was so curious cause they were supposed to be so good
Tobi: Yeah they must have been nervous or something we didn't win cause we were better they were just worse that day.
NineK: When Tobi first joined Fusion he actually beat Dynasty and was so happy about it. He was such a good player to have he was on the bench for quite a while initially but kept his mental up and was a very good teammate for us.
Final Words
Tobi: I'm not actually retired from coaching. I still keep up with the League and love the game. I hope Overwatch keeps growing and I want everyone to know I'm not gone just yet. If there's a chance I'm ready whenever
NineK: Honestly I will say a lot of Overwatch kids have this issue not just Tobi where they hope opportunity will fall on their laps.
Tobi: I'll agree. It was my first time doing this stuff and I had no idea what the scene was going to be like.
Moon: I was very proactive and quick about it for sure
NineK: Do you have any team you'd like to join? Quickly before we end the podcast appeal to Moon for a job
Tobi: Well if you just give me the call I'm ready
Moon: Well one thing I will note when Tobi was talking about coaches he asked for advice on being a coach he didn't contact me at all? Even though we talked for hours?
Tobi: I only contacted the people I actually worked under. I didn't want to bother everyone with my questions. It's not like I could expect other coaches that don't know me as well would divulge their secrets
Moon: I would've. I think it would have been very cool if you asked for my help
Tobi: Well to be fair before you joined I did say Crusty NineK Moon and Rush were the coaches I really wanted to try working with
NineK: It's not too late Tobi he's here now
Aid: Anyways final thoughts from you Tobi?
Tobi: It's been a while since I got to see fans of Overwatch and sit down with fellow coaches. I hope you all keep supporting Overwatch University and myself in the future.
NineK and Aid: Thank you to Moon as well for helping us last minute.
Moon: It's no problem I saw Tobis face and wanted to join right away.

For the past few months now, I have been getting random restarts on my Windows 11 machine. I would play a game or spin up a Hyper-V virtual machine and then suddenly, my monitor turns black and I see the reboot sequence. This sometimes happens once every week or so, completely random of course, and I would ignore it thinking it may be just a random power failure.
However, in the recent weeks, I have been getting random restarts more frequently, sometimes everyday, and it is literally causing my computer to be unusable. In fact, it has gotten so bad that at the time of this posting, its crashing and restarting every few minutes or so, and its extremely hard for me to diagnose the error because even by the time I navigate to event viewer, I barely have time to find the error before it crashes. However, I did manage to get some information on the culprit when looking at event viewer. Take a look below, the event is logged by WHEA and says
``` A fatal hardware error has occurred.
Reported by component: Processor Core Error Source: Machine Check Exception Error Type: Cache Hierarchy Error Processor APIC ID: 0
The details view of this entry contains further information.
```
I click on more details and I get a XML data tree which I have no idea how to interpret:
- - 18 0 2 0 0 0x8000000000000000 15617 System VJZ-WORKSTATION - 3 0 22 0xbaa000000002010b 0x0 0xd0130fff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
I do not know how to read this at all and I do not have the resources to buy new components and try to test each one. Maybe somebody can decode the XML data and tell me exactly where went wrong. For reference, I have the following specs on this machine

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
• RAM: 32 GB DDR4
• GPU: GTX 1650 SUPER
• SSD: 1 TB Samsung NVMe

I should note that in the BIOS I have reset to factory default settings because I am afraid to brick the system entirely. I have only XMP Profile 1 enabled but everything else is factory default. Then again, I may be completely wrong since I do not know how to read WHEA error logs. Please help because it is making my machine unusable!

hello, I have been having network issues with MetroPCS, when trying to use the app I have to constantly close it an open it as if I were refreshing a browser, hard to accept orders because when I click on it its like freezes then I have to close the app and open again and click again. I receive text just fine, calls, and browse online, only a little lag while watching youtube videos now and then, when I do the network tests on settings in the Doordash app it shows as FAIL! it also happens with Instacart, I have taken 5g of it and still have the same issues dunno what else to do, has anyone experienced this before or knows how to fix it????

I keep my notepad regularly updated. These were my thoughts on the first week of my new phone and then after months later with extended use. Here it is:
HONOR MAGIC 5 PRO
(My guess is that the cameras would fail first 27/12/23)
*GOOD*✓
PRICE, performance, camera, thermals, super bright, ltpo 1-120hz, ufs 4.0(won't struggle loading gallery photos), battery 5100mah amazing battery life, 220g, 3x 50mp cameras with night video + night selfies + cinematic mode + macro mode etc, ultrasonic fingerprint, 3d face unlock.
•Really nice Extended screenshots that aren't bugged (looking at you OnePlus 7 pro)
•Dual apps and dual sims
• I knew the camera was good but wow but still lacking optimisation in tough scenarios.
• I never knew screens could actually get better again , wow
•WiFi 7 or whatever is awesome
•Awesome Speed
• easy to use ui to organise the home screen
•Cool miniture multitasking windows
•extended screenshots work amazing especially on WhatsApp
•Grabbing text from images in the gallery is great but doesn't work sometimes with screenshots and webpages
•love one handed mode, easy to get to. Love the floating shutter button in the camera, I Really helps using the camera one handed.
The link to windows feature is meh but it's there.
*BAD on honor***
• The notch Vs 18:9 videos 😭
• notification issues, no matter how hard i try, some apps just won't give me notifications like push bullet. WhatsApp works fine. When I wake up in the morning and turn the wifi on the phone on, I expect the phone to scan through and give me things I've missed but nope, I got nothing. As I checked through my emails, I saw that I made a sale on eBay, but no notification or anything popped up even after turning WiFi on. After about a few minutes I go into eBay app settings, and then the notification of my sale comes through.
•Clicking WhatsApp youtube links takes me straight to the regular yt app instead of Vanced or the browser even after changing around the default settings
• I don't like how the volume buttons and power buttons are so close to each other and on the same side, I am always confused which button I'm clicking and have to always double check.
•Can't lock rotation in landscape (workaround is using the quick setting tiles app)
• can't go into specific app settings from the recent tabs either (Workaround, you just open up the multitasker, then you have to hold the app icon In the top left corner, super hidden but found it 😁)
• no offscreen gestures but doesn't matter too much
•No way to turn off honor virtual ram turbo (apparently not good for the storage, I don't need more than 12gb ram anyway)
• weak support for launchers, where switching between the launcher and the magic UI is clunky without the usual animations
• slow to switch between camera lenses with all the ois it's trying to do and sounds it's making.
6.8 inches size
EDIT GOOD Few months later:
Also, I found out that if you pull up the Google assistant when there's an image, and tap on search screen, it does exactly what Samsung s24 were advertising.
I found out that if you pull up the multitasker then long press the bin icon, you can go to thr uninstall page in settings. If you long press the app icon, it's takes you to the app settings, quite tough to findout.
With the new updates, video editing in the gallery has been greatly revamped, the camera UI is must more useful but could be a bit cleaner looking.
EDIT BAD Few months later:
• can't go below minimum brightness, when using the phone at night (please ADD extra dim feature in the eye comfort mode)
•when using app drawer, NO auto add app to home screen after downloading an app
• no double tap and empty part of the screen to turn off the screen (used this for 8+ years every day, so now I'm adjusting to using a screen lock widget instead)
•cant change icons, rename apps or remove names from apps for a clean look (I don't personally care, but this is for the sake of thoroughness)
•With/without app drawer enabled, when you hold an app on the home screen, Please add option to Uninstall the app, Rename the App or Go in to App Settings.
While using" tap to display AOD", After turning the screen off, the AOD is displayed for 5 seconds and turns the screen off which is very strange, I would like to turn this off.
PLEASE ADD long press or double tap Power button for camera. I already use double tap volume down for torch feature.
Please add NOTIFICATION HISTORY FEATURE!!!
PLEASE ADD double tap an empty part of the home screen to turn off the screen
On the AOD, after magic os 8 still I don't have the feature to display what music is currently playing.
I would like to see the addition of an object eraser in the gallery..
Putting the phone on silent or do not disturb should Automatically mute the media audio
In the camera app, When I toggle flash manually, take the photo and then close the camera app, the camera flash should reset to auto mode or off. but next time when I open the camera app, the camera flash is still turned on. PLEASE fix this!!!!!
On iPhone and other android phones - when using the timer in the camera, the flashlight will flash every second. This is not available on honor, PLEASE add this feature. The Timer should use the flash!
Screen calibration needs more customisation options, sometimes my screen feels more yellow compared to other smartphones.
Sometimes, When I pick up a phone call, the other person can't hear what I'm saying. Mic is turned on everything working but they can't hear me. I am forced to disconnect the call and call them back PLEASE fix this issue. I use Google dialer app but it's a problem in both dialers.
Tldr: i knew I'd love the speed. The battery is amazing but still a one day battery, camera is amazing and the main reason I bought this phone as I take alot alot of photos.
Last year November, there was no other phone with a sd 8gen2, crazy fast ufs4.0 with usb 3.1, 512gb storage, 3x50mp cameras and 100x zoom, face unlock etc etc, it was an absolute Bargain at £550.
After 5 years of Honor magic 5 pro, Would I do this again? I'm not sure simply because of meh Honor software, awful customisation and the software bugs Ive listed out. I am open to trying a Samsung or pixel or nothing phones tbh but I might come back after that.

I'm leaning toward thinking it's some kind of cooling failure because it works normally for about an hour but then the full screen begins flashing rapidly except for a small area which stays dim (video for reference). When I turn it off and try again the next day (presumably after it's cooled off or something) it repeats this pattern.
Was wondering if anyone else experienced this problem or, even better, if anyone knows how hard it might be to fix it.
I have done a factory reset, tried changing the picture settings and even tried Samsung customer support but they pretty much just told me to buy a new tv.
Tv has been in use for almost 3 years I think. Probably began a few weeks ago

I'm leaning toward thinking it's some kind of cooling failure because it works normally for about an hour but then the full screen begins flashing rapidly except for a small area which stays dim(video for reference). When I turn it off and try again the next day (presumably after it's cooled off or something) it repeats this pattern. Was wondering if anyone else experienced this problem or, even better, if anyone knows how hard it might be to fix it.
I have done a factory reset, tried changing the picture settings and even tried Samsung customer support but they pretty much just told me to buy a new tv.
Problem began after about 3 years of use

1. What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games (ex: resolution, FPS, settings) or programs you will be using.

would like to be able to have multiple programs open without having to close some due to performance issues (for example, vscode, video playing in browser) specific games: bg3, poe, rust, valorant. not too interested with running on the absolute max graphical settings

2. What is your maximum PRE-TAX budget before rebates and shipping?

$1500

3. When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

ASAP, as my current laptop is dying

4. What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ex: toweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

just the tower itself

5. If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? How old are they? Brands and models are appreciated.

samsung s24r350fzn monitor logitech mouse and keyboard

6. Will you be overclocking (ex: CPU/GPU/RAM)? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line?

no

7. Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, VR, VirtualLink, tensor cores, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

need to use wifi i'm currently not close enough to use ethernet cable ssd would be nice but optional

8. Do you have any specific case preferences (ex: mITX/mATX/mid-towefull-tower sizes, styles, colours, window or not, LED lighting, etc.), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

no preferences on the case

9. Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? Note: some post-secondary students can get Windows 10 for free.

i might be able to transfer my previous windows 10 license, or maybe run an unactived version?

10. Will you be upgrading this PC in the future (ie: will you swap out better parts later on or will you build an entirely new tower later)? If so, when?

yes maybe 3-4 years down the line

11. Do you have a brand preference? (ex: AMD/Intel for CPUs, AMD/NVIDIA for video cards, etc)

no

12. What are the specs of your old PC / laptop? Do you want to see if it can be upgraded instead? If so, paste its build from PCPartPicker here.

no it's quite outdated and hard drive is failing would just like a new one instead

13. Extra info or particulars:

I am new to building pcs and saw this prebuilt pc i'm curious to know how it would compare to building myself, would it be a drastic improvement in performance for the parts I would be able to get?
Thanks in advance for your help!

So I know how nothing of hacking and technology. My Whatsup app got hacked, I had texts open. They took over everything, my email, my social media. I'm learning how to correct it the best I can. Tired deleting Google mail. That didn't work. But this is not my question. My question is, it got so bad that they even cloned my phone. Like how bad is this? I texted my husband on that phone, are they on his phone now? Are they on the phone of the people's texts I never deleted? Are they on everyone's Whatsup app?
Edit: I'm going to try to keep this short. Just to let you know I am aware of how incompetent I am, and I really appreciate your advice, because I don't know what to do at this point.
I had a phone from MetroPCS. I dropped the phone lots of times, had cracks in the screen, would use it while I was smoking cigarettes and raining etc. It started acting up, I didn't think anything of it. The screen started twitching, and one day I couldn't log into it. I thought I had dried it out some, and was able to log into it the day I bought a new phone on the same plan, with the same number. I transferred all my accounts, it was hard to do cause the screen twitched and apps would close on their own and I would have to go back and forth to get my information. I put the phone down,telling myself that I would get around to getting other information like the many chrome windows I had open. Logging out of everything etc. It died, I never got back to it. I'm using my new phone. I notice that there are some screen shots of job postings from my whatsapp groups. Haven't used the app in a while. Didn't know how whatto make of it. Time passes and I get a call from what's app. I accidentally answered it so I did say hello, didn't get much hung up. Time passes. I'm doing things exac6the same, not deleting emails, not deleting texts etc. My new phone starts glitching. Screens minimize on there own, keyboard not recognizing every command. Slow speeds. I didn't know how what to do so I tried to get a hold of my accounts. I put 2 step verification on. My passwords kept changing. And my account says Andriod pixel 6 is signed in multiple times. I stopped receiving texts except from my husband, I tried deleting the accounts, but my yahoo mail was attached to them and they were opened back up. I realized it was my old phone, didn't log out of anything and rebooted it. Facebook was taken over, I couldn't make any changes, because I could not keep my password mine., Whatsup app was added to one of the accounts which I didn't do. I deleted all my friends, because I didn't know what to do. I also rebooted this phone, twice I think. The first time I noticed a couple duplicates of apps like Google. And the second time I noticed it was downloading way more, so I stopped the download and made a new account. I just got a new phone, and it is glitching. All new information. New service etc. Curser moving on its own. Some weird gray G for Google logo at the top and a blank screen window that popped up and magicaly went away. My husband's PayPal account was broken into today, he deleted the app, deleting all the notifications in his email and called his bank. I'm at a loss. Do I log back in on my old phone to log back out? Or just contact Google and all the companies? Do I contact all my contacts attached to Google and tell them what?
Do I get new wifi? Just found out that my Avast app lock magicaly had a the apps unlocked.

Hi folks,
Unfortunately, I've made a mistake.
I bought few days ago a second Hand Bundle with a Samsung S24+ with a Watch 6 and some Buds for a very interesting price though.
I had not checked if the Watch was reseted or so. Now I'm really struggling. As soon as I reset it to factory ( tried soft and hard reset) the Galaxy Wear app gets stuck as soon I add the Watch on " Verfiying you watchs Number".
I also tried to initialize the Watch whitout phone ( Long press on Watch logo etc) and the function, switch to other phone keeps saying that the Watch has to be on the same Google Account as the new phone ?.
I've read an other Thread here that you should triy to force quit, empty cache, uninstall Wear app and reinstall etc, unfortuntaley this doesn't work either.
Tried to contact the person who sold it whitout any succes....
Does anyone has any Idea on how to get rid of the old Google Account somehow or why even with an hard reset this isn't working ?
Thanks a lot for any help.
Jon

*ISSUE SOLVED - SOLUTION BELOW*
Samsung Galaxy S20+
Android 13
MetroPCS / T-Mobile
I have tried multiple VPN's (Cyber Ghost, Nord, Kaspersky, Windscribe, Proton, Fine vpn, private vpn) and none of them will connect if I'm using mobile data...
If I connect to Wi-Fi, all of them work with no problem!
I have tried changing what protocols they are using including IPSec/IKEv2 port 500, and every other one and still has no effect.
No matter what none of them will connect if I'm on mobile data. Again if I connect to wifi they all work fine.
The only "vpn" that will connect is the cloudfaire 1.1.1.1 app
*SOLUTION*
The issue seems to be with Android 13 / Mobile carrier using Ipv6 instead of IPv4...
The fix is to change your APN settings to use IPv4.
Here is a simple guide on how to:
https://protonvpn.com/support/connection-issues-android-13/

Hi all! This is a rather comprehensive guide for newcomers to PC gaming to help understand the relevant technologies when it comes to docks, peripherals, external storage and monitors. This should help navigate the sometimes conflicting and confusing advice online and enable you to make buying decisions based on your personal needs.

Cables, Power Delivery and 30W Turbo

(More info regarding cables under Data Transfer - Cables)
Cables and Power Delivery
All USB C to C cables built to spec are capable of providing 20V@3A for a maximum of 60W. For any higher power output, there are different protocols and the Ally uses the Power Delivery (PD) protocol which is common for laptops - If you already have a laptop with USB C charging, check to see if its charger supports PD charging since you could use its charger with the Ally and vice versa.
The PD protocol requires a handshake where the power source, whether it be a charger or power bank, communicates its different capabilities (eg. 15V @ 3A = 45W, 20V @ 3.25A = 65W, 20V @ 5A = 100W, etc.) and the device communicates what it can safely receive over the USB cable. This communication requires an E marker chip built into the USB C cable which allows the power source to deliver up to 48V @ 5A = 240W, although it is more common to find the older 20V @5 A = 100W cables. The E marker is also what allows you to plug in a high output PD charger to charge much lower powered devices without frying any components since the charger will keep to a safe/low power output until the E marker communicates the capabilities on both ends.
The Ally uses the 20V @ 3.25A (65W) PD power profile and any USB C to C cable with an E marker should work for the Ally as long as your charger or power bank can deliver the aforementioned 20V @ 3.25A.
Note: Sometimes cables just aren't built to spec and cheaper cables might not work as intended or fail quickly. The E marker chip malfunctioning is a primary reason why your charger and cable combination might suddenly stop working as intended and not deliver the 65W to the Ally even if it did earlier - in most situations, it might just drop to 20V @ 3A (60W).
30W Turbo requirements
As far as the ROG Ally is concerned,

• If a 20V @ 3.25A PD profile (or higher) is powering the device, the device will allow up to 30W to the GPU.
• If the Ally can't draw at least 20V @ 3.25A, it'll max out at 25W to the GPU.
• USB A to C cables simply cannot provide the higher output PD wattages. Some USB A to C cables (OnePlus/Oppo ones for instance) use proprietary pin layouts to achieve higher power output up to 100W but these are proprietary implementations and won't work with the Ally.
• PD charging requires a USB C to C cable (or PD chargers with attached cables like the original charger)

How to enable 30W Turbo
If you're connecting the power source directly to the Ally, i.e. not using a hub:

• The original charger works flawlessly as well as any similar ones from reputable laptop brands (HP, Lenovo, etc.) that use PD and have the 20V @ 3.25A profile as well.
• If you're using a power bank or charger with a removable cable, make sure it supports the same PD profile as mentioned above and use a USB C to C cable with an E marker. Any cable with an E marker should reliably provide at least 100W since the minimum spec is 20V @ 5A.

If you're connecting the Ally through a dock/hub:
This is where things get interesting. Without getting very technical, USB specifications are set by the USB Implementers Forum (USB IF). For docks and hubs, the specification states that USB devices should be able to draw power at the port with max power draw specified. For USB 3 devices, this max power draw is 5V @ 900 mA (4.5W at the port) and for USB 2 devices, this max draw is 5V @ 500 mA (2.5W). This is why most docks and hubs have their own power requirement, around 15W usually but may vary, so that power is reserved for the USB ports. Depending on the device connected, this power draw can vary - a portable spinning hard disk drive will draw more power than a dongle for a wireless mouse for instance. Insufficient power to the ports can manifest in many ways such as USB devices disconnecting and reconnecting, HDMI intermittently disconnecting, etc.
I haven't been able to test this so please take this section with a grain of salt - docks that support 30W Turbo with the original charger don't seem to meet the official USB IF specs since the dock must be exposing the Ally to the 20V @ 3.25A PD profile without reserving any power to the USB ports. I haven't been able to confirm this myself as all the docks and hubs I use reserve around 15W for the ports and require at least 80W+ PD to allow the 30W Turbo mode. Based on my digging online, it seems like some people have no issues using these docks while others have reliability issues such as the ones I described earlier.
To summarise, enabling 30W Turbo mode reliably on the Ally when connected to a dock or hub requires (should require?) the following:

• A charger or power bank capable of 80W or higher PD profiles since the hub should ideally be reserving power for itself to prevent issues on the ports (usually around 15W but can vary).
• Like earlier, if you're using a removable cable with a charger or power bank, make sure to use a USB C to C cable with an E marker chip.
• Potential option if you have a 100W power bank that supports PD passthrough - in this scenario you can plug in your original ROG Ally charger to the power bank (65W input to the power bank) and then connect your dock to the power bank (up to 100W to the dock). I can confirm it works with this power bank: https://www.amazon.ca/imuto-26800mAh-Portable-Charger-Charging/dp/B0BC7NJHCW

If you don't care about playing on 30W Turbo mode,
As mentioned earlier, all USB C to C cables should be capable of at least 60W. Using a charger with any lower PD profiles such as a 45W charger will not cause any damage or harm, you might just lose battery even with a charger connected but that's about it. I often use my 25W phone charger or even Nintendo Switch charger - reliable chargers will not damage your device.

Data Transfer

General info
Mbps, MB/s, Gbps and GB/s - there's a difference.
You'll often see the terms Mbps or MB/s (alternatively Gbps or GB/s) used to refer to USB speed, storage speed, internet speeds, etc. but it's important to note the difference.
Mbps = Megabits per second, MB/s = Megabytes per second
Gbps = Gigabits per second, GB/s = Gigabytes per second
Data transfer is usually measured in Megabits per second, Mbps (or Gigabits per second, Gbps). Your internet speed is a great example of this. Files and any storage in general is measured as Megabytes or Gigabytes. To work out file transfers in Megabytes or Gigabytes per second use the following:
8 bits make up 1 byte and 1 Gigabit = 1000 Megabits. To keep things confusing, 1 Gigabyte = 1024 Megabytes.
If your internet service provider is providing a 1 Gigabit connection it works out to 1000/8= 125 Megabytes per second, i.e. a file that is 250 Megabytes will take 2 seconds to download. (Note: real speeds will always be lower due to network overhead, congestion, distance to servers and a bunch of other factors.)
A breakdown for the things most relevant to the ROG Ally:

• USB 2 ports, cables and devices max out at 480 Mbps, ie 480/8 = 60 Megabytes per second. These shouldn't be used for file transfer since they're slow but work great for peripherals such as keyboards, mice, webcams, wireless dongles, etc. These devices tend to use very little bandwidth and won't saturate a USB 2 port.
• USB 3.0 ports, cables and devices max out at 5 Gbps (5000 Mbps), ie. 5000/8 = 625 Megabytes per second. Ports on most docks max out at these speeds.
• USB 3.1 (also known as 3.1 Gen 2 because USB naming convention is a hot mess...) ports, cables and devices max out at 10 Gbps (10000 Mbps), ie. 10000/8 =1250 Megabytes per second.

The Ally's USB C port is USB 3.1 Gen 2 with DP Alt mode so the max transfer speed you can get from the Ally is 10 Gbps. Ideally you should look for docks and cables that are capable of 10 Gbps.

• USB 3.1 Gen 2x2: 20 Gbps, ie. 2500 Megabytes per second. Although the Ally can't achieve these speeds, you might find enclosures or portable SSD's operating at these speed at comparable prices to 10 Gbps ones when on sale. Just worth keeping an eye out for.
• USB 4/Thunderbolt: up to 40 Gbps, ie. 5000 Megabytes per second. if you have a device capable of USB 4/Thunderbolt I would recommend looking into a Thunderbolt dock/hub but otherwise they are overkill for the Ally since the dock will operate at lower speeds and some USB 4/TB features in the dock won't work at all. These hubs and cables require in depth certification making them very reliable but also very expensive.

Other notable mentions:

• A functioning SD card slot in the Ally (UHS-II): maxes out at 312 Megabytes per second
• LAN (1 gigabit): 125 Megabytes per second
• LAN (2.5 gigabit): 312.5 Megabytes per second
• WiFi 5: Typically 866Mbps, ie. 108.25 Megabytes per second
• WiFi 6 (80 Mhz channels): Typically 1201 Mbps, ie. 150.125 Megabytes per second
• WiFi 6 (160 Mhz channels): Typically 2402 Mbps, ie. 300.25 Megabytes per second

WiFi 5 and 6 speeds are theoretically MUCH higher but this is what most people can expect from their routers to their device - including crappy ISP provided routers.
For LAN and WiFI, these are the speeds you can expect on your local network and NOT the speed your ISP provides to the internet. Your local network is what you are using when you stream in home from a PC or console to the Ally using something like Steam Link or Sunshine. Or if you access storage on your network (NAS, Plex server, Jellyfin, etc.)
Real speeds will always be lower across the board when you account for any overhead such as the Windows File system, background tasks, network overhead etc.
Data Transfer - Cables
Make sure you're using a cable that can match the speed of the device, ie. if you're connecting a USB 3.0 device, make sure the cable also supports USB 3.0 at least. Similarly, you need to use a 10Gbps USB cable to achieve 10Gbps data transfer speeds. Using higher spec cables should always work reliably with lower spec devices too, such as using a 10Gbps cable with a USB 2 device will just operate at USB 2 speeds.
NOTE: A cable containing an E marker chip does not necessarily mean it can do video or even USB 3.0 file speeds. The E marker chip is unrelated to data transfer capabilities. In general, most 100W E marker cables only work at USB 2 speeds if used for file transfer, unless they explicitly state other capabilities.
I've personally had great reliability with 240W E marker cables though and it's been much easier to find reliable cables that provide 10Gbps data transfer, 4K 60Hz video output and any level of PD required all through one cable. I suspect the reliability mainly comes from the more stringent certification process required for 240W PD. These cables can be chonky though.
Can games run from an SD card, external hard drive, external SSD or USB flash drive?
Short answer, yes.
Longer answer, yes, but keep the following in mind:

• For most games, you will see a difference in terms of load times taking longer when running from external storage - the game performance should be identical though. Games which explicitly state they need internal SSDs can also work from removable storage but your mileage may vary. Forza Motorsport for instance throws a warning message upon launch but you can safely ignore it without issue.
• Some launchers work better with removable storage for games. Steam, Epic Games and Ubisoft have all worked great for me but games from XBox have had issues with updates breaking game files. Most launchers will allow you to select removable media for storage though.
• The Ally might not recognize games that are installed on removable storage if the storage isn't plugged in when you turn the Ally on. Basically, if you're not seeing a game you have installed, shut down the Ally, connect the storage device to the Ally directly or through a dock and then turn the Ally back on. The games should reappear and be playable.

My advice would be to install any game you intend to play only while the Ally is connected to a dock on external storage devices, otherwise install them internally. For instance, I only play Ace Combat when I'm connected to my TV so it made sense to install it on external storage that is always connected to my dock and TV.
External storage - What should I use?

• Cheap option - If you have an old laptop, PC or console that you no longer use, consider reusing the internal HDD or SSD from those devices in an enclosure. The form factor and connectors vary so make sure to buy the correct one. Spinning hard drives will be slower and depending on age, might not be the most reliable so keep that in mind.
• Using an M.2 SSD in a 10Gbps enclosure. I personally prefer this method since you can find M.2 SSDs frequently going on sale and it allows you to reuse the drive internally in a future PC build. If you don't want to go this route though, you can look into external SSDs from the likes of reliable brands like SanDisk, Samsung, Western Digital, etc. which offer comparable speeds to M.2 SSDs in an enclosure.
• USB/USB C flash drives (thumb drives) - I personally only recommend using flash drives to move data rather than for storing data but no harm if you want to install games on them.
• SD/Micro SD Cards - I wouldn't recommend buying one given the Ally's SD slot issues BUT if you already bought one or have any cards laying around, consider using an external card reader to plug into your dock/hub or to the Ally directly. Read/write speeds vary based on the card and reader but keep in mind that the Steam Deck runs games off its SD card slot (UHS I) which only has a max speed of 104 Megabytes per second.

What's the best keyboard, mouse, controller for the Ally?
This will entirely depend on you - There are three main ways to connect and each has its pros and cons. The way you personally see these pros and cons will help you pick.
Wired devices:
Pros - lowest latency in most cases, no need to recharge devices.
Cons - need a dock to connect more than one device and you'll need to manage cables.
Bluetooth:
Pros - cable free, no need for a dock to connect to your devices.
Cons - some latency, need recharging/batteries, connectivity issues are common.
Wireless dongles:
Pros - cable free, lower latency than Bluetooth and some devices have latency comparable to wired performance.
Cons - still need a dock if you require more than one dongle, dongles often use 2.4Ghz protocols and might have crazy interference with poorly shielded devices around them.
Some devices will offer more than one way to connect - I've found them ideal for the Ally.
My peripherals (not recommendations per se, rather my use case since all were bought for an existing work from home/gaming PC setup)
Keyboards:

• Keychron K4 (V2): 3 devices over Bluetooth or wired. The Bluetooth has always been slow to connect with any device so I use it wired with my gaming PC. Otherwise, excellent mechanical keyboard.
• MX Keys Mini: 3 devices total over Bluetooth or Logi Bolt dongle. Very little input latency with the dongle but I stick to Bluetooth personally for the convenience. Much smaller than the Keychron K4 too and quicker to connect on BT so my go to for the Ally.

Mice:

• Logi M720 Triathlon - 3 devices total over Bluetooth or Logi Unifying receiver - Works perfectly regardless of using Bluetooth or the dongle. My go to for the Ally on Bluetooth for the convenience.
• Surface Arc Mouse - 1 device, Bluetooth. Overpriced and uncomfortable to use for long periods of time but it folds flat so I use it if I'm travelling with my Ally.
• Logi G502 SE - 1 device, Wired. Often regarded as one of the best wired gaming mice. I've used it with my gaming PC for about 4 - 5 years and have no complaints.

Controller:

• XBox Controller - Wired, Bluetooth or XBox USB adapter - pretty standard. The AUX port on the controller works if you're using the XBox USB adapter which is great.
• 8BitDo SN30 Pro - Wired, bluetooth. I believe the newer version has hall effect sticks. Triggers aren't analogue though - they are buttons.
• GameSir T4 Cyclone Pro - Wired, Bluetooth or Dongle. Hall effect sticks and triggers, lots of customizability, haptic triggers (only on Bluetooth mode though), gyro support - my go to for the Ally.

Displays

HDMI vs DisplayPort
Like any data cable, HDMI and DisplayPort carry data but in the form of audio/video data. DisplayPort can carry more of this information based on the most common version available, ie. DisplayPort 1.4 which supports up to 32.4Gbps. The most common version for HDMI is 2.0 which supports up to 18Gbps.
DisplayPort is preferred for gaming PCs generally since they are better at communicating capabilities such as FreeSync capabilities, HDR capabilities, etc. which is why most monitors use DisplayPort, especially modern ones.

• For TVs - Use HDMI
• For Monitors - Use DisplayPort if your monitor and dock both support it

DP Alt mode and USB C monitors
The Ally along with numerous phones and laptops support video out over USB C using what is known as DisplayPort Alt Mode (DP Alt Mode). This only works over USB C to USB C.
Some newer monitors support this and can be driven by just one USB C to USB C cable. They might also provide USB PD power.
Portable monitors also use DP Alt Mode to work over USB C. For HDMI, they use a standard HDMI to mini HDM and you need to plug in power when using HDMI. I haven't come across a dock that supports DP-Alt mode on its USB C ports making it impossible to drive a portable monitor over USB C with a dock (HDMI obviously will still work.)
Thunderbolt hubs may have USB C ports which allow DP Alt mode but in my experience they downgrade these ports to only USB 3 (without DP ALT mode) when connected to something that isn't Thunderbolt.
I only have experience with the Arzopa A1C (1920x1080, 60hz, 15.6 inch display) but here is my takeaway:

• Decent picture quality - think iPad level screen, better than what I was expecting frankly and same resolution as the Ally so I don't even change my settings.
• It was not mentioned anywhere in the manual/online but this does 50W PD passthrough. I plug in my charger to the monitor and use a USB C cable from the Ally and everything else I use is wireless. Pretty portable.
• Has an aux port if you want to plug in headphones/speakers to it directly.

Common misconceptions for anyone used to console gaming or new to PC gaming
(Note: The section below is only relevant to native resolution output without any frame gen or upscaling such as RSR, FSR, AFMF, etc.)
I've seen numerous posts asking "will this __inch monitor work?". Your physical screen size does not matter. The pixel count does. A 24inch 4K 60hz monitor will be just as hard for the Ally to run as a 60inch 4k 60hz TV.
For the Ally at its native 1920x1080 resolution at 120 frames per second, the GPU has to render 2,073,600 pixels, 120 times per second.
When you connect your Ally to a 4K 60Hz TV and try to output at your TVs native resolution of 3840x2160, the Ally has to process 8,294,400 pixels, 60 times per second.
Essentially, you will never get the same performance hooked up to a 4K TV at native resolution compared to running a game at the Ally's native 1080p resolution.
The same goes if you're looking at 3440x1440, 2560x1440 or any resolution when considering a monitor. In terms of "will it work with the Ally?" The answer is always "yes it will work" since the Ally is a PC, but adjust your game settings or your resolution accordingly.
Simply put, the higher the resolution (and frame rate), the more pixels the GPU needs to render, the bigger the performance hit.
I can put together a detailed AMD Adrenaline and general game settings guide if there's interest.

Things to keep in mind while buying a dock or hub:

• Form factor - If you want to use it with other devices consider getting a different form factor than the standard dock shape (the classic Steam Deck and ROG Ally dock where it sits with a non removable right angled USB C connector).
• Will my case work with it? Personal example - I put a JSAUX case on my Ally and it doesn't fit in my dock anymore. The case has a stand though so still fully functional but just doesn't look as "clean".
• Should ideally reserve power for the USB ports to avoid random issues.
• Be capable of 65W passthrough after reserving power to the dock.
• USB ports speed - ideally you should aim for a dock or hub featuring 10Gbps ports to use the max bandwidth of the Ally's port. Most docks and hubs max out at 5 Gbps however which is also adequate.
• Monitor support - consider if you would prefer one with DisplayPort or HDMI - few will have both. If you're mostly connecting to TVs, HDMI will be fine. If you have a monitor with FreeSync, ideally look for a dock with DisplayPort.
• Multi monitor - If you want to connect to multiple displays, you need one with multiple outputs since you will not be able to daisy chain docks. Keep an eye out to avoid DisplayLink however. It is NOT the same as DisplayPort - it drives video over USB 3 (USB 2 even) but involves compression and some other proprietary work happening on the dock - absolute non issue for productivity/office work but just not for gaming with its own overhead.
• Consider one that has a removable cable to host - being able to use your own cable length can be great but just make sure it meets specifications (E marker, video and USB 3.0 at least for it to be usable with a dock and the Ally)
• LAN port speed - most cap out at 1 gigabit but you might come across some with 2.5 gigabit ports.
• Consider if having an SD card slot or M.2 enclosure built into the dock/hub is something that you need.

My thoughts on the docks/hubs I own
All of them work pretty identically and offer 4K HDR, 30W Turbo, etc. when connected to a 100W PD charger. The ports are all USB 3.0 so max speed of 5Gbps. I’ve mentioned anything of note

• Aceele - https://www.amazon.ca/Docking-Compatible-Ethernet-1000Mbps-Charging/dp/B0CF57SZY5 - Has an On/Off button on the front for HDMI which can be handy. Works with the Nintendo Switch too surprisingly.
  
• Dockteck - https://www.dockteck.com/collections/usb-c-hub/products/usb-c-hub-ethernet-hdmi-6-in-1-usb-c-to-4k-60hz - Some strain on the USB port due to the form factor.
  
• Lionwei - https://lionweitech.com/products/usb-c-docking-station-dual-4k-hdmi-8-in-1 - Separate USB 2.0 port, dual HDMI and a removable cable. The cable out of the box stopped working after a month but the hub itself works great.
  

Other handy accessories

• Jsaux 90 degree USB C to C adapter - they come in a 2 pack and can be used at the same time to form a 180 degree adapter - https://jsaux.com/products/90-degree-right-angle-usb-c-male-to-usb-c-female-adapter
• Pluggable USB C extension cable with multimeter - reliably extend any USB C cable and check power draw - https://plugable.com/en-ca/products/usbc-meter3-1mf

Thanks for reading and hope it helps!

Hey fam, thanks so much for whoever chimes in. I'm not new to putting together pc's however, i'm new to ryzen CPU's and creating what build around that. I've seen more and more users swapping to ryzen for streaming/gaming and it's said to be a better option for multitasking. I want my build to have a 4070 TI because I've seen it in my friends custom build and I love the graphics i see when watching him play.
I've heard the Ryzen 7 7800x3d will work wit the 4070 TI. I know everything bottlenecks, but when i put both of them together at 2k on bottleneck calculator it says that the cpu is not strong enough for the full effects of the 4070 ti and bottlenecks at a 25.5% and thats my concern.. Any suggestions and swaps under budget would be incredible.
I would prefer a website where i can bundle things or get a credit card/payment plan for the parts, if that's not doable, it's not the biggest deal.
Thanks for all your help.
What to base build around:
GPU: Nvidia 4070 TI
What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.
Max settings Apex, BG3, Overwatch, Valheim, Fornite.. High settings for Rust & Cod (unless build can also run max for them)
What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?
$2,200.00
When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.
ASAP
What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)
Tower (white preferably) , windows OS, monitor (would prefer a 32inch 2k with 244 hz or better)
Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?
US, Yes i have access to a microcenter location.
If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.
Razer Basalisk v3 wired mouse, razer wired keyboard.
Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?
No I will not be overclocking as i'm unfamiliar with it. (if it's recommended please include a video and description on how this effects my pc/graphics card)
Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)
2T storage SSD Samsung preferred. I would like lights (i can always buy LED strips off of amazon but if there is a specific brand that could work better please lmk!)
What type of network connectivity do you need? (Wired and/or WiFi) If WiFi is needed and you would like to find the fastest match for your wireless router, please list any specifics.
I would like to have the option to swap to WIFI
Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?
Mid to full tower. White, Windowed, LED lighting. It's very hard for me to find a WHITE 2k monitor thats around 32 inch and runs at 244 hz or better as well, if this is possible to find I would love and appreciate that.
Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?
Latest version, as much as I would prefer windows 10, not many things are able to download with it..

It was a winter morning, and I was standing on the railway station of Adityapur, one of Asia’s largest industrial hubs in the outskirts of Jamshedpur, formally known as TATANAGAR, the city known for TATAs & their steel. I updated my current whereabouts to my mother just before boarding the Tata-Gua passenger train, sounding her on my expected time to reach home. I was visiting home after 2 months, the longest interval in the 3.5 years at NIT Jamshedpur due to my business around hosting the first alumni meet of NIT Jamshedpur and a 15-day train travel across India through Jagriti Yatra. I was just carrying my laptop bag as it was a usual 2/3-day trip and I just had my Compaq laptop, a change of clothes & charger to be precise beside my small blue denim wallet & a Samsung smart phone. In 2012, smart phones were just stepping in and my brother-in law was generous enough to lend it to me to take pictures of the places I visit & the events I attend during Jagriti Yatra. Jagriti Yatra is a train ride across India with 600 yatris from different countries, different walks of life who embark on this journey to learn about various social & business enterprise. In that day’s train journey, I was travelling with a batchmate who would get down 2 stations before mine. We’d travel together many times during the four years, and we’d always take the morning train instead of the evening one. It was a passenger train which was always very crowded, and it passed through many small stations in that belt which were dimly lit, these stations were primarily existing to connect industries to the mining towns of Noamundi, Barbil, Jhinkpani and had goods trains plying with iron ore, limestone, cement, so evening trains seemed unsafe for girls travelling alone. Jhinkpani was a small town in that belt with a cement factory, ACC Cements, and a residential township for it. My dad had booked the station trip which was a Maruti Van to ply the resident of the colony from station to the colony which was around 3 kms away & there was no public transport available in this route. I was waiting to board the train all excited to show my parents the pictures of the Yatra clicked on the borrowed smart phone, I’d also met my sister and niece at Visakhapatnam while we visited Akshaya Patra mega kitchen and I remember getting clicked a cute photo of me holding my niece at the station but my excitement was short lived as soon as I kept the phone in the small zipper pocket of my laptop bag. I was modestly dressed in a kurta and leggings, without pockets of-course, pockets are a recent phenomenon in women’s Indian clothing. So, my phone and wallet were always kept in the bag.
As I boarded the train along with around 20 other people from that gate, I felt a sudden force pulling me back, but I managed to steer my way inside but with an eerie feeling, I quickly reached out to check the tiny pocket immediately only to find that both the wallet & the borrowed phone were gone. A shiver ran up my spine and I started to feel numb. There was Rs 200 in cash in that wallet which was a month of pocket money, my SBI ATM card and college i-card. Now, having zero cash, no phone I went about near the gate to see if I can find it, I spoke to couple of people but barely anyone knew Hindi, and it struck me real hard that reaching home was my single motto now. Although scared that I would be scolded by parents for being reckless, I had a sinking feeling as to how would I break this news to my sister & my brother-in-law whose smart phone I’d lost, what would I do about all the lost contacts that I’d woven so meticulously while organizing the alumni meet, what of the memories that I’d captured during the Yatra. My brain started to fizzle with all these entrapping thoughts when my friend shook me to bring me back to the dreaded train which was my reality then and I started planning my next course of action. I first called my mother from my friend’s phone to tell her about the loss, she comforted me and then she informed my dad to arrange a vehicle from the station, the trip was booked but it’d sometimes leave passengers if there are more people than capacity or not turn up due to technical glitch in the age old van that was used. My friend got down at Chaibasa and my heart started racing more as people around me in the train knew my situation and vulnerability and I tried to pose a strong and confident front. The train took more than 20 minutes to travel 17 kms but for me it seemed like ages, the sight of Jhinkpani station never made me so relieved. I quickly deboarded the train, holding on to my bag tightly this time and found a friend waiting there in his Maruti 800. He happened to have met my dad while coming to the station for a personal work and my dad asked him to pick me as well. I finally reached home travelling without a phone and a penny in pocket, my mom was so glad to see me safe and sound. I was taken aback a little to see her overtly calm demeanor at the face of such an adversary and having no concern whatsoever for my lost phone or the wallet. She prayed and thanked God for my safe return and narrated about her dream which she saw about me the previous night. She was very disturbed by it, and she’d been praying from dawn that day for my well-being as the dream was a very bad omen for me. She felt relieved that it was only few items that were lost, and I was completely unharmed. Mother’s love manifests in mysterious ways I thought while gobbling on my favorite sambar, rice that afternoon. Meanwhile, my dad deactivated my ATM card and arranged an old makeshift phone for me to be used in the remaining two months of college. When I sit back to think, I always think about my mother’s reaction and feel relieved that it happened, may be a way to appease myself of the guilt of not thinking through that somebody must have noticed me putting the phone in the small pocket and chanced upon it in the crowd while boarding. To compensate for the loss of phone, I gifted my sister with a digital camera after I started earning 4 months down from this incident. From then on, I never kept anything valuable in such obvious places in public while I maneuvered my ways in Delhi’s metro or the local trains of Mumbai, in the buses of Visakhapatnam or in the streets of Paris. I hold my wallet tight and my phone close.

It was a winter morning, and I was standing on the railway station of Adityapur, one of Asia’s largest industrial hubs in the outskirts of Jamshedpur, formally known as TATANAGAR, the city known for TATAs & their steel. I updated my current whereabouts to my mother just before boarding the Tata-Gua passenger train, sounding her on my expected time to reach home. I was visiting home after 2 months, the longest interval in the 3.5 years at NIT Jamshedpur due to my business around hosting the first alumni meet of NIT Jamshedpur and a 15-day train travel across India through Jagriti Yatra. I was just carrying my laptop bag as it was a usual 2/3-day trip and I just had my Compaq laptop, a change of clothes & charger to be precise beside my small blue denim wallet & a Samsung smart phone. In 2012, smart phones were just stepping in and my brother-in law was generous enough to lend it to me to take pictures of the places I visit & the events I attend during Jagriti Yatra. Jagriti Yatra is a train ride across India with 600 yatris from different countries, different walks of life who embark on this journey to learn about various social & business enterprise. In that day’s train journey, I was travelling with a batchmate who would get down 2 stations before mine. We’d travel together many times during the four years, and we’d always take the morning train instead of the evening one. It was a passenger train which was always very crowded, and it passed through many small stations in that belt which were dimly lit, these stations were primarily existing to connect industries to the mining towns of Noamundi, Barbil, Jhinkpani and had goods trains plying with iron ore, limestone, cement, so evening trains seemed unsafe for girls travelling alone. Jhinkpani was a small town in that belt with a cement factory, ACC Cements, and a residential township for it. My dad had booked the station trip which was a Maruti Van to ply the resident of the colony from station to the colony which was around 3 kms away & there was no public transport available in this route. I was waiting to board the train all excited to show my parents the pictures of the Yatra clicked on the borrowed smart phone, I’d also met my sister and niece at Visakhapatnam while we visited Akshaya Patra mega kitchen and I remember getting clicked a cute photo of me holding my niece at the station but my excitement was short lived as soon as I kept the phone in the small zipper pocket of my laptop bag. I was modestly dressed in a kurta and leggings, without pockets of-course, pockets are a recent phenomenon in women’s Indian clothing. So, my phone and wallet were always kept in the bag.
As I boarded the train along with around 20 other people from that gate, I felt a sudden force pulling me back, but I managed to steer my way inside but with an eerie feeling, I quickly reached out to check the tiny pocket immediately only to find that both the wallet & the borrowed phone were gone. A shiver ran up my spine and I started to feel numb. There was Rs 200 in cash in that wallet which was a month of pocket money, my SBI ATM card and college i-card. Now, having zero cash, no phone I went about near the gate to see if I can find it, I spoke to couple of people but barely anyone knew Hindi, and it struck me real hard that reaching home was my single motto now. Although scared that I would be scolded by parents for being reckless, I had a sinking feeling as to how would I break this news to my sister & my brother-in-law whose smart phone I’d lost, what would I do about all the lost contacts that I’d woven so meticulously while organizing the alumni meet, what of the memories that I’d captured during the Yatra. My brain started to fizzle with all these entrapping thoughts when my friend shook me to bring me back to the dreaded train which was my reality then and I started planning my next course of action. I first called my mother from my friend’s phone to tell her about the loss, she comforted me and then she informed my dad to arrange a vehicle from the station, the trip was booked but it’d sometimes leave passengers if there are more people than capacity or not turn up due to technical glitch in the age old van that was used. My friend got down at Chaibasa and my heart started racing more as people around me in the train knew my situation and vulnerability and I tried to pose a strong and confident front. The train took more than 20 minutes to travel 17 kms but for me it seemed like ages, the sight of Jhinkpani station never made me so relieved. I quickly deboarded the train, holding on to my bag tightly this time and found a friend waiting there in his Maruti 800. He happened to have met my dad while coming to the station for a personal work and my dad asked him to pick me as well. I finally reached home travelling without a phone and a penny in pocket, my mom was so glad to see me safe and sound. I was taken aback a little to see her overtly calm demeanor at the face of such an adversary and having no concern whatsoever for my lost phone or the wallet. She prayed and thanked God for my safe return and narrated about her dream which she saw about me the previous night. She was very disturbed by it, and she’d been praying from dawn that day for my well-being as the dream was a very bad omen for me. She felt relieved that it was only few items that were lost, and I was completely unharmed. Mother’s love manifests in mysterious ways I thought while gobbling on my favorite sambar, rice that afternoon. Meanwhile, my dad deactivated my ATM card and arranged an old makeshift phone for me to be used in the remaining two months of college. When I sit back to think, I always think about my mother’s reaction and feel relieved that it happened, may be a way to appease myself of the guilt of not thinking through that somebody must have noticed me putting the phone in the small pocket and chanced upon it in the crowd while boarding. To compensate for the loss of phone, I gifted my sister with a digital camera after I started earning 4 months down from this incident. From then on, I never kept anything valuable in such obvious places in public while I maneuvered my ways in Delhi’s metro or the local trains of Mumbai, in the buses of Visakhapatnam or in the streets of Paris. I hold my wallet tight and my phone close.

If you have questions feel free to ask 😊
So I'll preface this with I don't want to engage in political debates about Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong/Macau. I am treating them as seperate only because they have different visa requirements. I have my own views on the matter but my opinion doesn't matter.
So I am a 27M white european and this was my experience. 5th time solo.
Taiwan (14days) Taipei - north coast - Puli/sun moons lake - Tianan - kaohsiung - Yuli - hualien (taroko gorge)
Opinion Taiwan is incredibly beautiful, the level of English in the north especially is very high. Most people will be able to speak a few words which makes travel around easy. The highlights for me were Taipei/sun moon lake/taroko gorge.
You'll want to get an easy card for general travel. This can be picked up at the airport and reloaded at any station.
The food, like the rest is quite limited in either being big American brands like McDonald's or local noodle shops. If you have dietary requirements please have these translated and saved on your phone beforehand. As a vegetarian I found that people would often just give me fish regardless of how persistent I was. This was common throughout.
The people are very respectful and friendly, but unless you get someone who wants to have a conversation you're interaction will be very surface level. They are happy to just let foreigners be alone.
I would highly recommend anyone who wants to try this culture to go via Taiwan as it is a much more gentle introduction.
Things to be wary of Getting around by walking is quite frankly a nightmare. Every pavement outside of Taipei is covered in bikes and if you are disabled this will be a serious issue without a car.
Everything is ticketed so be sure to carry cash. You can use the easy card but cash is just much simpler for attractions.
There are multiple different train types and they enforce ticketing strictly. The local train can use the easy card as well as the metro. Regional trains are more fancy and require a purchased ticket. Highspeed is treated similarly to flying and you should show up 30minutes before to ensure you get there in time.
Hong Kong/Macau (4days)
Hong Kong city - main island - Macau
Opinion Honestly I was disappointed, Hong Kong just felt very boring in comparison to Taipei. It's very multicultural and due to this I found it hard to see a unique identity for Hong Kong. Macau felt unique but just a bit irrelevant.
The highlight was certainly the hike up Victoria peak and watching the city move in seclusion. When I got to the top people were camping there I had never been so jealous. It's truly an amazing view. Be sure to go past the mall and take the small mountain path. It's well lit and fairly easy incline if you are in relatively good fitness.
Mainland china (48 days) Guangzhou - hengyang - Changsha - Zhangjiajie - Chongqing - Emei Shan - Chengdu - Xian - huashan - luoyang - pingyao - Datong - erlian (visa reset) - Nanjing - Qingdao - Jinan - Beijing
The main part to my trip, there's no pretending. China is difficult. Mostly because of the restrictions and the unwillingness of china to accommodate for foreigners. You need WeChat, you need trip.com and you need to use A map. The people do not speak English. I would go days or weeks without haveing a real conversation. I was often cut off from the outside world due to my VPN struggling to get past the firewall. (Surfshark)
If the above scares you avoid china for any long trips. If like me you see a challenge then you will adore china. It's frustrating, but I've never been in a country that gave me the same kind of highs. The mountains of Huashan rival the dolomites and they are much more accessable for everyone.
This is a large bonus for China, once you adapt everything is very easy to do. And nothing feels off limits. Except that sectioned off my armed police. China is so safe I never once felt in danger of theft or being attacked which I can't say about my own home. There is a reason for this. Anyone who breaks the law will be delt with due to the survalance.
The negatives Be prepared to take a lot of screenshots to translate via WeChat. Menus, metro stations, hotel check in. Anytime you need information you need to translate it yourself. This gets exhausting.
People will stare at you, I always took this as curiosity. Especially in the west and south as there are very few foreigners. Many of the people are very racist however. The things said to me about black people, Japanese and Koreans genuinely upset me. But I want to experience and understand so I would listen. If you speak up in defence you are often ignored. It's ingrained sadly. And it makes me question how many felt similarly towards me.
Banned websites, pretty much all our sites are blocked. It makes it hard as your only option for a search engine is Bing. And who wants to use bing. A VPN is an option but can be spotty and it is illegal so becareful where you use this.
As someone from a country with 8million. There's just so many Chinese people for me to be comfortable with. Everything is packed. All the tourist sites are full. Metro full. Bus full. The worst case for me was the terracotta army which I visited on a normal day and it was hard to just walk around.
Getting searched going into any metro or trainstation. You basically have to go through airport security everytime. It's a real pain when you have a 15kg backpack.
The spitting, it's gross.
The pros China is so cheap, my hotel in Zhangjiajie for example was only 5€ a night. And it was a decent little double bed and bathroom, tv and toiletries supplied. Easy 70€ back home.
Food (for me when I got it) was incredible and very cheap. Average was about 15 yuan or 2€ a meal. Drinks are also very cheap 3yuan for a bottle of coke and 2yuan for a water.
The trains, man did the chinese build an excellent train network. You need to use WeChat or tripmcom to book these. But they are well priced and very efficient.
The apps, there's an app for everything. Want to read a menu? It's a WeChat app, metro line app! Book tickets for the summer palace app! Sometimes you'll need to look up the qr code in advance, especially around high tourist season.
Cashless, you can totally use cash. But you don't need to. If you have wifi or data which is cheap and easy to get (30days unlimited 150yuan China mobile) you just scan your WeChat Code and pay. Similar to contactless but not as convenient.
Overview China is a real solo travelers challenge I think, it's a great way to test how good you are at making split decisions. For short trips I recommend Nanjing, Chengdu, huashan, Chongqing and Zhangjiajie.
Conclusion. (Tldr) I will be going back to both Taiwan and mainland china. Both have got a hold on me. I'm hooked and I'm hoping to get you all hooked too. Taiwan is better if you want a chill holiday to explore Chinese culture. I recommend the north. Mainland is best for the experienced traveler as they will be able to get so much love from this unappreciated country. And my fellow Europeans take advantage of those visa free 15 days.
If you have any questions feel free to ask 😊