bruh....

Veqaj life gamed that final for Valiant. KCorp should have gotten that damn first seed

this map is already won. Charles Neddington is back online 😎

back to hope stage. comeback starts here

fella yella hella umbrella

i watched 8 series of tac fps half of the, at the same time today. my brain is fried

THere is hope...

yikes.

Lets hope map two he turns monitor on

Youre talking about Tier 2 here. Thats online regardless.

The important discussion is Tier 1 location. And if youre scared you can just partner the teams with big viewership. Thats way they are guaranteed to compete.

Also you dont understand what i am saying.

There is people who watch VCT emea for the league as a whole. Those people will watch regardless whether its Org A or org B. Meaning adding teams with additional viewers who only watch for that specific team are not gonna cannibalize your existing viewership. You cannot lose as Riot by adding these orgs.

https://x.com/bfgnorway/status/1921554358275023246

why was this game delayed?

rose cant shoot well

he just joined the team and rain is replaced by a sub...

Its not just mates and KC. You have joblife, Mandatory, used to have DVM... theres so many orgs who get viewership in france.

Also... this is just racism. You banned the problem org. The people responsible. Now other french people are "dangerous" because of those select people?

Also its normal to watch "your team" more than others. generalists will watch all games regardless of their nationality. If you can get exclusive fans on top of that you only gain in numbers.

They banned the org responsible. Thats all there is to it.

You just want it to be Madrid and are grasping at straws. I dont even really care.

Unless BitFix with Redgar look on another level this should be the group for KOI and top 4. But who knows. Quickz and razzis can just decide to win the game

im sorry but youre yapping a big pile of nonsense here. Bordering on racism really.

Lets relax a bit lol.

Was a good game though.

Yeah... ULF peaked at the perfect time. Would have rather seen Fener here. Or EF

so quirky! so cuuute! + asian

this team will be insane when comeback comes. Jesus christ

What a sweeping generalization. Wannabe gangster org DVM is completely unique in this case. What have the other fanbases ever done?

chronicle will fill anything really. Both Chronicle and Crashies contract is running out this year btw

but why would they replace anybody? Makes no sense.

CGN vs Pixel Lumina
ULF vs KOI Fenix
Navi vs Gentlemates
Faze vs Liquid

i cant

biggest viewership in EMEA always. Must partner

Honestly i aint mad. Less pressure to quickly switch back and forth. SImple be hittin tho

hope he continues that on flash ini with comeback

that game just started. challengers is already 2 maps done

just noticed navi mates started. 4 games now....

3 games. yes

really bad list

why am i being mentioned? Busy watching emea challengers and Faze simple

Genltemates pays faaaar more than poor pfcific plus the new mates roster is really really good. they will make top 8 and win ascension no problem

most of the original val pros were cs people. Now they have been replaced by valorant kids who shoot like aimbot. And its only moving more in that direction

First step is building localized fanbases by touring T1 EMEA through the continent. Especially in big fanbase locations. You need to create an air of exitement, enthusiasm and community for the fanbase to feel like this "sport" means something. A big part why football for example is so big is because it provides local community hubs for people to come together. Spamming Berlin all year does fuck all for anybody. And thats not the usual Berling hating people do. Do a week in Madrid, a week in Berlin, a Week in Paris, a week in katowice. It doesnt have to be every week but you should do this regularly. This same method has recently been massively succeful in Riots european League of legends division, the LEC.

Once you do that i would feel more comfortable doing the same in T2. Props to Turkey however who always do a LAN finals with a nice audience. Also Germany has been trying to do that, for now on a smaller scale. France too. Not sure i can remember spain doing it. Northeast i think is doint it all online.

Also important to note that in case riot opens up the circuit more (T2 teams competing with T1 teams in the some events) and/or changes the partnership structure (more teams can ascend e.g. 6/6 split) T2 should naturally gain importance and have fans actually watch their events. This would make LANs more lucrative for local organizers.

Will reply to this comment to finish my Post due to text limit. Thanks bruv. Not gonna pay rent tho.

KOI Fenix:
This team was part of a major controversy in this mini offseason. Their coach was supposed to be promoted but due to some drama in management ended up voluntarily staying with the acedemy. Monsterr however was promoted to the main team and their star player ZachKappa after being close to sign with Gentlemates and close to be promoted with his coach yabba ended up staying in KOI Fenix for now. A lot of spanish people will want me to panegyrically promise you great success for this team but I wouldnt bet on it. Spanish teams have historically always underperformed at T2 EMEA events and never been even remotely close to winning them. This team however should be decent and Zach will probably be up there in the ratings. I suppose incase the young ULF teams crumbles in the moment there might be a chance to make top 4. They were admittedly quite fortunate with their group draw.

UCAM:
Spains #2. Frankly dont expect to much from this team. They lost their two best players in Ara and Flickless to Giants. Their replacements are just middling T2 players in my opinion. I was already not gonna put them higher than B tier but now they will probably be cannon fodder for their group.

Pixel Lumina:
I just saw myself that Pixel Lumina signed Krizz??? Wow. One of the best talents in EMEA T2. Makes me wonder whether to move them up one just off of him alone XD. They did replace of the worst players in the league with one of the best... Anyways. 4th seed from Northeast so naturally expectations cant be too high. A roster for Polish fans, now with 4/5 polish players. They did decently well in northeast. But they are in a group with PCIFIC and CGN so they will probably still finish last.

Zero Tenacity
Not too much to say here. Decent team. Wont do a terrible amount since there are just better teams around.

Thanks. Lets hope for some good games!

Thanks. Appreciate it. Will add my opinion on KOI now.

that just insanely impressive from derke tbh

its china bro

yes?

Today kicks of the second edition of challengers EMEA. The champions league of the T2 scene in EMEA. At stake are circuit points to qualify for the end of the year Ascension tournament and the opportunity for players to gain the most possible attention of T1 teams in hopes of getting signed.

The competing teams are the following:

Turkey: #1 BBL PCIFIC, #2 ULF Esports
France: #1 Valiant, #2 Kcorp Blue Stars
Dach/Germany: #1 CGN, #2 Fokus
Northeast: #1 Enterprise, #2 Zero Tenacity, #3 BitFix Gaming, #4 Pixel Lumina
Spain: #1 KOI Fenix, #2 UCAM Esports

Since i know attention spans are low i will start of with the most interesting part to everybody: The Tier List
(Fun Fact: When i googled "Challengers EMEA tier list" The first result i got was my own List for the last edition lol)

S Tier: BBL PCIFIC
-
A Tier: ULF, CGN, Valiant, KCorp Blue Stars, Fokus
B Tier: Enterprise, KOI Fenix, BitFix Gaming, Zero Tenacity
C Tier: UCAM Esports, Pixel Lumina

Now lets get to the Groups:
Group A: KOI Fenix(#1), ULF Esports (#2), BitFix Gaming (#3)
Group B: KCorp Blue Stars (#2), Fokus (#2), Zero Tenacity (#2)
Group C: BBL PCFIC (#1), CGN (#1), Pixel Lumina (#4)
Group D: Valiant (#1), Enterprise (#1), UCAM (#2)

My Prediction for the 4 teams qualifying to Playoffs are the following:
BBL PCFIC, KCorp Blue Stars, ULF Esports and Valiant

It was a coinflip between KCorp and Fokus for me but i am biased towards exciting new talent (Fangeer, Yohpa) so i went with them over experienced T2 journeymen.

And since you all love Tier lists and predictions so much i am giving you another one: Congo1's Top 10 player list.

1. ComeBack
2. Larok
3. Cned
4. Loita
5. Xuss
6. DaviH
7. Yohpa
8. Razziss
9. ZachKappa
10. Fangeer

Now for an indepth look at the individual teams. I will highlight prominent names that more casual T2 viewers or T1-only fans have heard of. Also will highlight who i deem the star players also.

BBL PCIFIC:
The by far best team in Tier 2. This team could seriously compete in T1 without any changes to the team. They were last years ascension finalist, losing to Apeks on map 5. Potentially a blessing in disguise as the 3 star players Comeback, Larok and Loita all wouldnt have been eligible to play in VCT due to being underaged at the time. The last Challengers EMEA event ath the beginning of the year they won convincingly dropping only 2 maps the entire event scoring a map record of 11:2 and going undefeated. Comeback has already signed with Gentlemates and will join them after the conclusion of this tournament. This team that has seemed like the uncontested favourite to ascend this year now has to find a suitable replacement to fill the massive shoes of the Superstar duelist. However with how massive BBL PCFICs lead is to the rest of the teams in T2 you'd imagine a solid option would still have them remain the best team. They are still the massive favourite to win Challengers EMEA #2 as Comeback is still playing this event.

ULF Esports:
This team seemingly is the reincarnation of BBL PCFIC. They are a premier team that promoted this very split into the turkish league. While having a good start this team really became the #2 in Turkey after adding two new players Audaz and s0pp. It cant really be said that this team has true star players at this stage. They have distributed the weight amongst multiple shoulders with some notable inconsistency. If i were to bet on two players it would probably be Audaz and Echo with sopp being a darkhorse (Keloqz level inconsistency currently). Considering how fantastic Turkey has been doing since last years ascension you cant underrate this region. Therefore i put them in A-tier.

KCorp Blue Stars:
KCorps strategy of developing young players has been a massive success. Trash can legend Fangeer (18) and french prodigy Yohpa (17) have had a fantastic split and are some of the top talents in the "draft" for 2026 T1. They didnt drop a single map in split 2 until they lost the finals 3-0 to Valiant where new Gentlemates player Veqaj had a legacy making performance to drag Valiant to the win. This team has shown a lot of promise and can definitely make some noise at this event. I see them closely tied with Fokus for the first place in their group.

Valiant:
After initial struggles the winners of France. I was ready to relegate them to B tier at the very least after recently losing their star player Veqaj to Gentlemates. Then came the bombshell announcement. They signed world champion Cned as his replacement. And man... you really couldnt have found a better one. Individually Cned should undoubtably be amongst the best at this event. Even in T1 Cned had still been very very good which bodes well for his success at this "lesser" level of competition. This team should be very competetive but i dont expect them to ascend. I can however very well see a top 4 finish for this team. They are experienced and good but lack that little bit of more firepower for the absolute top level in T2 in my eyes.

Fokus:
Super stable org. Good experienced roster with names such as Mistic and Hoody as well as their superstar duelist Xuss. This man is pretty much next in line for a T1 shot. Consistently amazing carry performances with his T1 experienced team supporting him. If BBL Pcific didnt exist i could easily see this team winning ascension and making T1. Maybe not the most interesting roster as its all veterans but the are just solid. Also the org would be quite beneficial as the only german org in T1 with decent fan potential.

CGN:
Another team quite similar to Fokus. A lot of experience. Former KOI player Wolfen is their IGL. DaviH consistently one of the best players in T2. Overdue his shot at T1. Ellement also been at a high level in T2 for a long time now. 3rd place at last years Asension with the same core. They used to be known for their quirky comps and playstyle under old IGL Benny. Now they are far more conventional and less gimmicky. Like Fokus a good ascension candidate in a non-PCIFIC world. They however have been absolutely screwed by the draw. In back to back challengers EMEAs they been put in a group with PCIFC which once again likely means they will get grouped as only one team can advance.

BitFix Gaming:
This is a very exiciting team for 2 simple reasons. They are named Razziss and quickz. Two huuuuge talents. Finally some new Russians again. Razziss has already been trialed for Gentlemates recently. Also interestingly enough this team recently added an old Valorant legend Redgar! I would expect him to take over the reigns from 17-year old IGL lamelly. Considering how little experience this team used to have this might be the perfect move for them to be more towards the top of the rankings. However i dont expect the team to make top 4 as of now.

Enterprise:
This team is a real throwback! Led by IGL Zeek the former World champion this team consists of big names of the past like Kiles and Doma. They won a hardfought split in Northeast over Zero Tenacity and Bitfix. Quite frankly things could have gone either way. According to the players of BBL PCIFIC they were the second best team at Challengers EMEA #1. A statement that isnt shocking after they were the only team to nearly beat PCIFC in the group stage and therefore putting them on the verge of elimination! However they ended up losing to CGN and finishing last in the group. Ultimately a decent experienced roster i dont expect a terrible amount from. A top 4 finish would already be a great result for them.

I think i reached the max length limit of posts. Will finish in a reply below!
Plugging my Scouting list here for those who care: https://www.vlr.gg/436682/early-emea-talent-scouting-hub

I think a 1.7 performance in a grand final is something i see nobody else doing

weak rumours.

Just to get crushed by Nats again next round 😔

he is not behind jemkin. believe me

Kaajak was the best player in EMEA this stage. that is uncontestable.

Vit is dead. expect changes announced soon

also just tired. They played close to the max amount of games this year. Exhausting hard fought lower bracket run. And Heretics were fucking Thanos that day. Not comparable to their games vs FNC. Must be mental block i swear.

Giving Liquid 2 weeks to cook and a freebie in match 1 is really op for them. They are so smart and creative. They cook up great stuff. In playoffs you cant really. You play every day.

send apeks back to T2 to scout one elite player per season. we need that pipeline

Exactly what i think down to the same maps even