Most Honest Trophy Wins Of All Time

#1

cirruss

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no recency bias (i promise), taking into account meta, the run the teams went on, and strength of schedule

T1 Bangkok
beat every single one seed to win it all, did it on the brink of elimination in groups and in playoffs, and beat the best team at the meta while not even playing it against them. There is no denying this win other than the fact it was 8 teams
EG Champs 2023
quite possibly the most well rounded team of all time, peaked at the right time, and during a meta where many would consider the golden age. Only possible knock to give is they got a bit lucky with their playoff bracket (tournament could've gone very differently if they played FNC)
LEV London
played their own game, made a full lower bracket run, won against map veto advantage, all while playing a recently nerfed Neon that nearly every team stopped playing because of the narrative that the agent was dead. Genuinely there is grounds for this to be the most honest win but I'll let time decide. No real knocks on their run

HM: FPX Copenhagen, could really go 1 or 2 but didn't know where to put it. There is also the argument that the full LB run would never have happened if not for suygetsu missing the first few games. Still would've been honest but there's too much of a butterfly effect to honestly rank

#2

tubelight

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Not "honest" but most struggling/inspiring wins

#3

cirruss

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struggling/inspiring doesn’t really tell the full story. I say “honest” because the result reflects that, they beat the best, they did the best, and it didn’t rely on gimmick/OP metas to happen (or outside circumstances)

for an example: the most dishonest trophy is champs 2021

#5

ashyemperor

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I see your flair but is it not just nong shim neon shenanigans for most dishonest win?

#6

cirruss

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NS run was dishonest but not the most imo; the meta was the most dishonest but the run was legit (G2, NRG, PRX, m8)

they beat the last two trophy winners, the perennial trophy contenders and the newest team with the best player itw. that accounts for something at least

#25

Madouza

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Was acend's trophy really that dishonest?

Yeah their team was kinda Cned and friends, But Cned didn't even MVP that year, It was Zeek.

For their time they had a decently rounded team. Great flex in Zeek, an amazing duelist in Cned, one of the Best IGLS in the game Bonecold (I will die on this hill, he deserved better.), A great scanner at the time in starxo...Kiles was also there...
THey didn't really have a weak link, for 2021's standards they were genuinely solid. They fought good teams including Prime envy and Liquid, Beat Gambit in a close final, and didn't really rely on any kind of meta since it didn't exist yet. Saying Acend didn't deserve their win to me feels like saying SK gaming didn't deserve 2003 CPL or FNC didn't deserve dreamhack 2013 because of how new the game was.

#26

cirruss

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nothing against the team, but gambit had no proper time to rest for the final

they got roped into doing press stuff late at night and had the game in the morning. hard to argue that the game wouldn't have gone differently otherwise

#4

cirruss

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Bump cuz i want interaction

#7

sentinelmain377

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Ass cheeks list

How is FPX not 1, but rather a mickey 8-team masters winner?? How is LEV not 2?

How is eg 2023 that high (easiest group in group stage, EDG, DRX, LOUD, PRX)

#9

cirruss

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literally gave reasons for both, but u can choose to ignore ig
also the only hard group was group D with navi drx and loud

#8

I_LOVE_LESS

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LOUD vs OPTC
OPTC vs LOUD

two all time great teams winning grand finals against eachother. nothing better than good competition

#10

cirruss

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chamber meta feels dishonest in my opinion

#11

I_LOVE_LESS

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What

#12

Coronos

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And neon bullshit running around meta doesnt feel dishonest for your opinion 😂😂

#13

shrike-

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spike was the only good neon in a meta where neon got omega nerfed

#14

Coronos

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Dambi won a free masters before neon nerf. And among chambers, Yay was way ahead of everyone. Anyway, chamber meta was 100 times better to watch than this zoom zoom sahur meta

#15

shrike-

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i don’t see NS on this list so i fail to see your point

#17

Coronos

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Why would any one disregard the trophy in the name of meta? 2022 as a vct year was way better than 2026. So many tougher teams at the same time to fight, prime drx, fpx, xset, loud, optic, prx. They were closely matched teams and not like 2026 where so many stomps are happening. Trophies of 2022 are way more honest than 2026

#18

cirruss

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you just disregarded NS trophy as “neon zoom zoom sahur” meta (your words)

not here to argue it but to go against your own point is quite silly

#16

cirruss

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i said nongshim was dishonest what more could u want

#19

cirruss

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also forgot to add initially but reykjavik 2022 isnt honest also due to the fact fpx couldn’t attend

#20

Flyingjatt

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FNC Lockin?

#21

cirruss

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in theory yes, but not for me just because it’s the only tournament to follow that format

#22

W1ngFly

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SEN 2024
Sure it was an 8 team tournament but they beat TH, KC, PRX, LOUD and GEN

#23

cirruss

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good shout but imo it's just a little behind these four

#24

GarbanzoEnjoyer

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GEN Shanghai gotta be up there. Clean upper bracket run, favorites from start to finish, playing good valorant with no significant meta crutches.

Only knock against them is SEN kryptonite didn't qualify but who cares