so is THE GUARD an international tier 1 team now?

they are T1 in NA for sure.
where do they stand globally? or do they have to prove themselves in masters first if they make it there

they gotta qualify first

Obviously gotta qualify for Masters then do a good showing

They gotta make it to international Tourney to be considered that but definitely tier 1 NA

they gotta qualify first

they can choke just u know

nowhere globally for now,im not saying their not this good but i think its the momentum and lack of pressure/expectations that let them play so confident and good overall rn,when they have to play like this against the best in the world its a whole different thing

We can't rate a team internationally without them playing first in LAN, for all we know they could choke on stage (kinda unlikely because no crowd). For now they are just an unknown