Overall, really excited to see how things play out.
Here is my pick'ems for how I think groups will play out: (https://www.vlr.gg/pickem/304f59d0).
I took a lot of curveballs since I think Champs has historically, the last 3 years, always had winners that were unpredictable, and struggling during the regular season; NRG '25, EDG '24, and EG '23 (why do they all end in G? Within 3 letters? Maybe I should've predicted XLG going through). I feel more satisfied with this group of draws then last years. I feel as though each group is a lot more open then people are making it out to be. And that's what makes each match a great match to anticipate regardless of who you support.

You're correct. The points updated and they have the same as NRG somehow. When I was doing the points calculation, I was coming out with 19 and factoring G2 & 100 thieves & Lev's H2H this year. Apparently, there were points on the table I was missing. Right now it looks like Lev is praying on the current matches downfall (Mibr/Loud).

TLDR: G2 & 100 Thieves. Must win their next match. Otherwise, their fate lies in upcoming matches and MIBR/Loud not qualifying with a 1st/2nd.

Looking at the points situation and I mentally am locking NRG and LEV through points tho Liquipedia doesn't show it, but I don't see the world in which Lev don't qualify through points because Mibr/Loud would have to qualify and both G2 100 thieves would have to qualify...Both g2 and 100 thieves worst case is Loud/MiBR place 1st or 2nd and the other qualifies through stage 2 with a grands appearance...

Pacific is sad. Varrel must go to grands or GE & T1 make it.

this literally can't happen since G2 is an ascension team. Only one can ascend since G2 still holds the ascension slot.

So, a nothing burger change...He's still on the team despite never doing anything. There's not a single other coach who has been a coach on the same team for 3 years without a title...This is insane nepotism.

XLG and Wolves are screwing my Pick'ems...Unbelievable.

The guy who picked Wolves over DRG is a madman...But DRG are notorious for choking, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's how the game went down...I didn't watch any this week because I was pretty confident nothing could go wrong...

https://www.vlr.gg/pickem/c93b0700
China feels pretty predictable atm. I feel lost in the other regions. The extra time should've fixed some rosters but some are still worse than expected (teams like MIBR, KRU, Nongshim). I really want GenG to do well and failed to punt (I was hoping Nongshim would take their head out of the dirt). I'm not doing horrible, but the other regions just dont seem to be living up to potential as much. Really the only unknown in China feels like Tyloo ( I've accepted FPX are the MIBR of China). Do they shoot back or nah? Does EDG remember matches aren't scrims? Safe to say, I'm pretty hopeful about China and that it translates to the international stage...The fundamentals need some work, but they should have plenty of time...Also, screw you Wolves. But thanks for beating the fraud.

People like to bring up things that are off-topic when they're upset, and can't even be consistent.

The [only] coach who has been on a team for 3 or more years, doesn't have a trophy, and the highest placements are at invitationals. Zellsis got exceedingly worse when transitioning from Kaplan's Sentinels and I can't be convinced that it's because he got onto an IGL role. Immi has a personality, just based off the podcasts, that seemingly feeds into a delusion that the players make very few mistakes, shouldn't be getting outgunned, and constantly are unlucky. You can look at most teams and say you'd pick that player over the whole team minus Oxy (and potentially Zellsis; vibes is pretty important). With the rookies, you might've consider it a second because they're not proven, and one that looked somewhat promising got removed over scrim bucks (I'm sure Penny would be proud that he lasted longer with how strong his scrim bucks lasted).

This is all to say. Immi has 0 accolades in Valorant. None. Which is insane based on the amount of time he has on the team. You can name another coach among many other teams that have some sort of accolade or strength that has shown itself in the past or currently. You can not say the same of Immi. This doesn't even account for the fact Furia was made up of "hard stuck" Tier 2 Talents & Artizin and probably is more favored in a match against C9, despite the fact that 3 of the 5 players have had the same coach for more than 2 years. Only comparable team that I can think of is PRX :)

o7

Mikey Mouse Tourney

Jack hasn't performed at any point...Nepo9 or racism, call it.

There's literally "Something" who's not from China, last time I checked.

Can't nerf an agent where only one player is good at it. Don't think the same? Name the 2nd best Neon. Dambi is unanimously #1- so if you see multiple names popping in your head on who's #2 thats how you know it's mastery and not imbalance.

Best 1 out of 2 for Swiss? Eh
2 out of 3 for groups and playoffs? Sure.
3 out of 5 for Losers Finals. Cool
1 set of 3 out of 5 for Grand Finals? You're telling me the loser can come off a hot streak from the previous day and 3-0 the Winner and thats the end? Really stupid. I would much rather see Grands the Upper Finalist get priority ban on 2 sets. I feel like Grand Finals should be long and drawn out. I feel like draws should also be a thing so that the matches dont become too long. So you dont have 6 sets of 15-17. The storyline of a sweep 6-0 from the lowers sounds like such a run too.

As for the player perspective, it'd be awfully draining, but I feel at the end of the tournament you should be able to maintain a mental resilience and poise to maintain a long drawn out set of high level play especially if you're removing long overtimes and opting for potentially tie breaker maps instead. In my head it sounds like a long day of valorant and honestly thats what im looking for. There is so much down time between masters that it'd be nice to watch really long grands. Whereas players now can play 5 maps and in worse case scenario now they're struggling to maintain composure because they're getting reverse swept in True Finals (2nd set).

This isn't the solution at all to how I feel about Grands, but I do feel as if the opponent from lowers actually wins out on the opponent getting double ban and a set of 3 out of 5.

He's to cool for one. I'm not.

EDG picked S1mon up because he was frying in Tier 2. They won champs, and S1mon was being a debby-downer on his performance and criticizing teammate's work ethic. There was no indication at all that S1mon couldn't fry, it was just he had so much pressure for perfect util and to clutch, that he didn't fry.

Reminder that G2 is an EMEA org.

China has way too much going on. The only clear-cut outcome is Wolves are praying on AG, DRG, and Tyloo's downfall.

First and Second place of Stage 2 make it to champions. Does that mean a minimum of 2 (up to 4) teams from each region can make Champs (Idea is that 2 make it from Champs points and possibly 1 or 2 more can make it through Stage 2)?

Pearl is getting banned. If PRX pick Sunset then it's just Sunset. Don't know why you aren't even thinking about an EMEA team perma banning Pearl. It's like you haven't watched a single recap of bans.

Do you think the teams from the lower bracket have a stronger chance to win the tournament due to the nature of their resilience and the extra game to reset nerves?