Saadhak, NagZ, and Nozwerr have done fairly well for themselves since winning First Strike LATAM-S undefeated.

Yeah, a lot of teams are having slow starts, but they are one fluke loss vs ING away from failing to make playoffs (potentially). This single round robin with teams playing only 4 matches over 5 weeks for some reason is really dangerous. Hopefully they have a fire lit under them now.

Right at the top with a bold TLDR lol.

TLDR: Keyd Stars are still good, but they have not fully unlocked the potential of this squad.

Here comes another casual analysis of the BR VCT teams. Here are the others that I have made so far.
Sharks not Cohesive
LOUD lack Nuance

Now that KS have played two series, it has become apparent that they have not significantly improved from Champions. I did not think that KS were the best BR team at the end of 2021, but I did think they had the highest potential. Now that other teams have been built to overcome that potential, KS needed to figure out how to get more out of this roster. They lost to a good but not yet great NIP squad that has started to gain steam to contend for the top of BR. They also had a close win over a Sharks team that has not been as cohesive as expected.. That win over Sharks will likely keep them in the playoffs, but their dreams of a first round bye are now possible but out of their control. The primary problems I see with this squad are role conflicts and an imbalanced roster.

Role Conflicts:
Their biggest problem when they brought in mwzera for Champions was roles. Heat is a great Jett, but he has never played anything else. (He did just play his first non-Jett game with Chamber on Bind). mwzera has nuts stats on duelists, but he downgrades from superstar to just a star when playing initiators. He has definitely improved on initiators which has helped KS from falling apart. murizzz is also a part of this problem, as most people remember him for his 2nd duelist pop off performance at Berlin. He is really effective in that role, but has struggled now that he is relegated to more supportive roles. He was mediocre at best on supportive agents against Sharks, and did better against NIP on duelists. Obviously this core of three players is extremely talented, but double duelist is only effective on a couple maps, and this team requires at least two aggressive agents for them to really shine. Heat looked good on Chamber, so I think they need to get him on that agent on more maps. JhoW playing hard support and v1xen playing exclusively smokes makes it difficult to build agent comps around that, so maybe JhoW could play the extra initiator.

Roster imbalance:
This team is still driven a bit too much by fragging. Their strategic game has never looked distinctive which is good because it doesn't stand out as terrible, but bad because I rarely see them doing super interesting things. They have done a better job than most at leveraging their high skill players. JhoW and v1xen (and murizzz if on supportive agents) are extremely good at playing their roles, but rarely take over a round. JhoW in particular is simply at a lower tier of individual skill. I think he brings a lot to the team besides mechanical skill, but if he isn't IGLing, it might be too much of a deficit to keep him on this roster if their goals are to dominate BR or challenge for international titles.

My player grades:
heat 8/10: His individual form has continued to be great, but he hasn't been able to carry like in previous tournaments.
mwzera 7/10: Some good stats, but his utility hasn't been amazing. He is still most effective when taking over rounds instead of methodically playing with his team.
v1xen 7/10: He has been quietly solid so far. His stats in the international tournaments were terrible, but he is still a solid role player.
murizzz 6/10: He has only done well when taking the higher priority fragging agents for himself. The two stars are so important, that figuring out how to make them work might have to come at the expense of his playstyle if they can't adapt.
Jhow 5/10: His stats are on par for his career which isn't great. From what people say, he brings a lot to his teams besides stats, but the stats are still important, and the eye test confirms that he rarely does anything outside his role.

KS should still compete for the top spot in Brazil, but they are no longer (if they ever were in the first place) running away from the pack.

Killdream has struggled by his standards but hasn't been terrible. Sharks just don't seem super cohesive and Prozin, Gaabxx, and Addicted have been super inconsistent.

The last two weeks they lost 7/10 pistols and all 7 second rounds after they lost the pistol but were winning most of the gun rounds. This week they have won all 4 pistols and all 4 2nd rounds, but have blundered the 3rd round and gone on a massive losing streak every time.

Killdream has also played in BR before in CSGO

I wouldn't say ING is the worst team in the group stage. Vikings look much worse and ING played Furia close as well. However, yes Sharks are missing something. I made a post last week that describes my problems with the team. I am still not sold on Addicted as an IGL for this team. The individual level on everyone except frz has been bad, however their teamplay is pretty meh.

I mostly meant on an individual skill level they match gambit pretty well if not better. They are still nowhere close in terms of cohesiveness.

I think they could definitely be Gambit level, but they need a lot of work to get to that level of prowess. I was waiting to do a VK analysis until they played another game or two.

Yeah, I think bzkA is great for the team atmosphere. I would like a secondary coach/analyst, but I don't know if they would necessarily have the authority to implement their system. Hopefully LOUD only need small adjustments and they don't get comfortable with what they have.

DRX vs LOUD for the masters 1 title would be fun.

Now that LOUD and DRX have the money behind them, it could be big if they were able to bootcamp for longer in EU before masters 1 if they qualify.

Yeah, there is no individual piece that needs to be changed. The other good BR teams fall off hard if their best players have a bad game, but LOUD are just so good across the board. The only change that I could see happening is a change based on tactics such as a coach change or IGL change with Saadhak going back to sentinel (or just flexing). I don't see any good replacements for either position and don't think it is necessary yet. Its a shame the groups are so lopsided and we won't see LOUD tested again until playoffs.

TLDR: LOUD have good macro tactics, but they lack midround adaptation.

LOUD just beat Liberty and basically guaranteed themselves a bye in the BR playoffs. This win did not come without some serious weaknesses in their game being exposed. LOUD have the best average individual skill across the team out of anyone in BR, and contrary to popular belief, they have relatively good teamplay. However, they did struggle with the cohesive nature of Liberty's tactics. It took some miracle plays to rescue the final map, and besides one stretch of rounds on Haven, LOUD never strung together a lot of rounds despite making good plays in most rounds. The problem that I see comes down to the nuance of their strategy. LOUD have excellent set plays with macro level executes and micro level utility combos, however the midround and adaptations are lackluster.

1) Adaptation
While writing this, I saw a clip from the latest Platchat episode where they basically said the same thing. When rounds are thrown into disarray, LOUD's utility and timing break down. There is a clip at 1:31:45 which shows an example of their lack of direction in midrounds. I think it is particularly visible when opponents make aggressive defensive plays with utility. When people criticize LOUD for their individual play it is these situations that are usually pointed to. On the defense, LOUD have very good

2) Variation
LOUD's macro plays match up fairly well with other good teams. However, once they get stopped, they often flounder. The best example I can think of is their Ascent attack. They set up 4 players towards A at least 80% of all rounds. Liberty decided to punish this by taking mid in a couple of crucial rounds and by continuously leaving only one or zero players B to fend off Less's lurk. I had this problem with the Saadhak led Vikings last year as well where when their initial plays didn't work and they ended up completely zoned by utility or a player down, their next moves were so much less potent. LOUD are keeping more opposite side map control than Vikings used to, so the rotations are better, but they still struggle to outmaneuver opponents if they lose the initial engagement.

My grades on individual performance:
Aspas 8/10: He has been excellent in the entry department and don't believe people that say he cannot play with the team. He is almost always working in tandem with another player and is usually directly opening space that is critical for what the team is doing like site executes. He is however, the biggest culprit of losing discipline in midrounds. His individual form has been good but not great against the good teams, but he should pad the stats until playoffs.
pancada 7/10: A top tier site anchor and one of the best mechanically gifted controllers.
Sacy 7/10: He has been somewhat disappointing so far. In particular, he is often part of the groups of LOUD players that are caught pushing together without clearing separate angles. He plays with his team a lot, but it feels like they need more practice being methodical.
Less 7/10: A young question mark, he has stepped up fairly well. His awareness at times can be lacking, but the gamble on him looks like it will pay off.
Saadhak 6/10: As an IGL and someone who takes a lot of entry fights, his anticipation of coordinated enemy plays has been rough. A lot of LOUD's tactical struggles fall on him to call

Ah true, I don't speak Portuguese, so I don't really follow anything outside the server. ableJ brings some more recent CS experience so maybe that helps.

Furia haven't looked super impressive to me. This roster doesn't seem like a big improvement over the old Furia as Quick is much more inconsistent than xand on Jett and ableJ has been pretty mediocre so far in Valorant. Nozwerr is definately one of the best fragging IGL's in BR. If it starts clicking, they could definately challenge the best teams. I really want a 3 way tie for the 2nd/3rd spot out of group B.

It is held back by Gaabxx bhopping into the open without his rifle out. I watched this live and it was absolutely nasty.

I have not been impressed by their icebox. It takes Frz off cypher and Killdream off astra. Addicted and Prozin didn't combo their information util very well so I would like to see them flex prozin to sage and frz to chamber. They can leave Frz to do more of the solo lurks and anchors while Gaabxx is used as a rotator that the rest of the team plays off of.

I still think Sharks are better than VKS, ING, TBK, and GLB, and on the level of NIP, FUR, LIB, with the potential to be better, but they are going to be locked out of the playoffs unless luck goes their way.

Thanks! I'm just a casual, but I will try to keep up the opinion pieces and stats analysis. Hopefully at the end of the group stage there will be some fun results.

Agreed, I mostly meant that there is no guarantee that other young players in BR with their potential would be able to adapt either. I would have liked a gamble on a younger player to develop, but I haven't watched the tier 2 enough to see anyone that could help.

My NA rankings: I limited it to one player per team, so for teams that split controllers, I just picked one. Also I factored in if they are IGLing.

1. Marved
2. Zander
3. Valyn
4. dephh
5. vanity
6. skuba
7. ec1s
8. supamen
9. zombs
10. hazed
11. TiGG
12. pho

Someone like jzz, RND, or Tisora might be available if Sharks want to spend, but that probably won't happen until at least stage 2. There isn't really a clear upgrade, so continued development of their players is more likely. Gaabxx and Prozin have the potential to match pretty much anyone not signed to a good team.

I thought Sharks would be one of the better teams in Brazil this split. It was the two best players from the old Sharks, plus a mechanically skilled player in Frz, plus the best player and igl from Saw. They played Keyd Stars close in their opener but got rolled by NIP. I still think this team can become better than NIP and Furia, but there are several issues that I see from just casually watching them.

1) The BR players don't fit the playstyle of the EU players particularly Gaabxx.
Frz has been very good on the sentinel role but he does a lot of work on lurks or individual plays. Prozin has struggled with the initiators and generally plays off of the other BR players. The bigger problem is Gaabxx who plays a completely different style to the rest of his team. Addicted has introduced a more measured and information based style than most of BR, but Gaabxx still has an extremely risky approach. He is incredibly aggressive, but rarely opens space for his team such as the standard dash into smoke on site to open it up. His positioning and awareness has been really awkward, and against NIP, he was caught dashing, running, jumping, or with his back turned an absurd number of times. For instance when you watch Cauanzin's 4k clutch, Gaabxx is just bhoping into the open for the final kill.

2) Slow starts.
Sharks have won 3/10 pistols so far and are 0/7 in finding any value if they lose the pistol. In the 5 maps they have played so far they have been at -8, -6, -5, -4, and -4 round differential at some point in the first half. Despite being 1/5 in maps so far, they have a positive round differential in the second halfs. Frz and Killdream have been pretty good with sheriffs, but Sharks need to figure out how to win without guns.

My rating for each player so far:
Frz: 8/10: As I suspected, sentinel fits his playstyle much better since he lacked the aggression for duelists and struggled with his aim while juggling lots of utility on initiators. He has quietly put up the best sentinel stats in BR with some nutty aim. His utility isn't always in sync with his team, but it has been pretty good overall.
Killdream 7/10: The most valuable player on Sharks, he has had a couple of really rough halfs so far, but his aim and astra utility is on par with the best in BR. If he can eliminate those dry spells, his controller stats would be the best by far.
Gaabxx 6/10: His opening stats against heat are great, but he threw so many rounds against NIP and has provided very little value other than the rounds where he pops off.
Prozin 5/10: He has been one of the weakest initiators so far which should change, but his utility has not been combined with killdream and addicted as much as I would like to see. His aim has also been slow to arrive.
Addicted 4/10: Sharks have looked good when they get the information plays or aggressive combos, but the lack of value from non-gun rounds combined with the lack of control over the individual plays the BR players are making makes me grade him low. Additionally, his individual form has been pretty bad so far.

I think this team will rebound, but it might be too late in this group of death. They really need Ingaming to upset Furia. I don't understand why there is only single round robin when the schedule could easily fit having each team play twice per week. If you spread your group stage out over so many weeks, this format is not optimal. Normally I blame BR VCT for bad bracket decisions however NA and EMEA have the same problem.

Gaabxx has died while dashing, running, jumping and being caught out of position so many times this series. It was a really nice shot by cauanzin though.

I believe in the puleule paladins power.

Sharks 2-0 NIP

I have been saying Sharks are legitimate. VK aren't invulnerable in this group. Map 2 should be fun.

I would argue Sharks, Furia, and NIP have a shot at tier 1. I might be way to high on Sharks but I think they are the third best team.

Quick on duelist is looking a lot more scary than the sage/skye.

I should have put him in the trembolonaRage tier.

Yeah, Loud vs GLB was a banger. Liberty looked really good, but they always roll bad teams and I don't know how bad Vks are.

lol

If anyone has watched the VKS, ING, or TBK rosters and wants to explain their perspective feel free to in this thread.

Oops lol I knew I missed someone.

I really want heat to play chamber and mwzera to pop off on raze, but I have no intel on KS's roles. I am hyped for their match against Sharks.

Yeah he is on the border of B- for me, but I kept him there because his stats dipped against higher level competition. Its difficult to judge supportive players that could bring things like leadership. I wasn't particularly impressed by the teamplay, utility, or strategy of Gamelanders, so I didn't give him the benefit of the doubt.

I would put gtn in b/b+ if he was in this event.

I thought I would make a tierlist of players that are qualified for the group stage of VCT 2022 stage 1 BR. I am not a Brazilian, and I have not watched a number of the smaller teams so my rankings will probably miss a couple good players getting their first shot at the tier 1 level. As you go further down the tierlist, I put less effort into exact numerical rankings.

I did not rank the players from Vikings, Ingaming, or TBK, since I have not watched their games and would only be basing my opinions on the stats you all can see.

TLDR
S: heat, Sacy, mwzera, aspas
A+: xand, saadhak, Jonn
A: dgzin, KILLDREAM, murizzz, krain, Nozwerr
A-: pancada, cauanzin, prozin, Quick
B+: gaabxx, frz, bnj, shion, Khalil, Addicted
B:glym, chase, liazzi, v1xen, Less
B-: bezn1, ablej, Myssen, fuzari
C+: Jhow, Nyang v1nny

S: Elite players that can carry a team on their back.

1. heat (KS): The most consistent Jett. He has proven himself against the best in the world and on LAN. His lack of flexibility does limit KS especially if teams find a good counter play for Jett.
2. Sacy (LOUD): The fact that he puts up these numbers without being an aggressive or duelist player is insane. He doesn't have the instantly win round by himself potential of the other S tier players but his team play and utility cement his spot.
3. mwzera (KS): He would be higher, but his form has slid during his transition to initiator. Now that he has practice with KS, he could easily take the number 1 spot.
4. aspas (LOUD): Great mechanical skill and his stats have not dropped off at all against better opposition in his career. He has yet to meet the true test of tier 1 competition so I can't rank him higher.

A+: Either inconsistent carries or the highest level of consistent teamplay

5. xand (NIP): He got better and better towards the end of 2021/start of 2022 and stepped up in the big games. Potential issues role wise in NIP with his lack of flexibility and he has not consistently dueled the S tier players.
6. saadhak (LOUD): One of the best sentinels in the game and arguably best IGL in BR. As a secondary aggressive initiator he is putting a lot of weight on his shoulders now. His attempts to force aggressive plays do worry me, but he can play pretty much any role.
7. Jonn (NIP): A high level duelist, but his attempts to flex have been wildly inconsistent. His pairing with xand has so far been mediocre, and NIP need him to frag in group B.

A: Strong players who can't carry a team but can be a central building piece.

8. dgzin (GLB): He has been the best tier two BR Jett for a long time now, but has never really had the team level to shine. He does struggle in the highest level of matchups.
9. KILLDREAM (SHK): The best player from SAW, he was one of the best astras in EU tier 2. A great supportive player who consistently frags.
10. murizzz (KS): One of the better flex players in BR, he does struggle with consistency. I think he best fits on the aggressive initiator role, but we will have to see how KS resolve their role issues.
11. krain (LIB): An excellent initiator and arguably the best player for the star-less Liberty roster.
12. Nozwerr (FUR): Another non-Brazilian who has proven himself on the tier one BR stage. Extremely consistent fragging and utility usage.

A-: Great supportive pieces or unproven youngsters.

13. pancada (LOUD): Arguably the best BR astra, he won't put up the stats on this LOUD roster but will certainly provide great anchoring and some pop off aim duels.
14. cauanzin (NIP): He has some nuts stats, but it is only a few games against the tier 2 of BR. He could range from C tier to S tier depending on how NIP can use him.
15. prozin (SHK): His stats don't look amazing, but he can flex to any role and more importantly has kept his production against the better opponents.
16. Quick (FUR): His time on support was not particularly impressive, but he has the potential to put up big numbers with the new FUR roster.

No more numbers from here on. There are too many players to adjust that many numbers when I am assembling the list. The order inside the tier isn't important

B+: Good fraggers or solid support players.
gaabxx (SHK): A high risk/reward playstyle makes his fragging very inconsistent, but he has put up great stats more recently. With his better supportive elements now, he could really shine.
frz (SHK): Highest prize winnings in BR so far, he has struggled to find his role, and fell flat internationally. He has great mechanical skill, so sentinel might just be his place.
bnj (NIP): He is mostly forgotten for his time on KRU, but his stats are pretty good.
shion (LIB): Another excellent initiator from Liberty, he forms the core of their great utility and teamplay.
Khalil (FUR): He has filled the gaps in Furia very well and has a lot of potential to grow into a top support.
Addicted (SHK): He brings a lot to the table as an IGL and quality supportive plays.

B: Solid but inconsistent or unspectacular players.
glym (LIB): He has put up good numbers but has mostly faced poor opposition. He could easily rise up this list.
chase (GLB): An interesting flex player, he has faded a bit against the best teams.
liazzi (LIB): He has struggled to be Liberty's star, and doesn't quite put up the numbers on supportive roles. He is a young player and as I am writing this, dominated VKS so there is a chance for him.
v1xen (KS): He has been a consistent force at tier two, putting up solid if unspectacular numbers on controller. His play at tier 1 has not yielded the same results, but he is not a liability.
Less (LOUD): He has impressed with LOUD so far and is a young player that could also shoot up this list.
mazin (FUR): I have not been super impressed by his performance since joining Furia, but this could be due to their mixed up roles he could provide solid anchoring for them.

B-: Players with potential that hasnt been shown yet or that struggle at tier 1.
bezn1 (NIP): His numbers are good, but he has mostly played at the tier 2/3 level.
ablej (FUR): He is here mostly for his CS experience. He has put up pretty poor numbers on duelists against tier 2 so far and is a big question mark.
Myssen (LIB): He has typically been one of Liberty's lower performers, but brings a lot of utility and teamplay.
fuzari (GLB): Unspectacular numbers on the sentinel role, but he does provide solid anchoring.

C+: Players that struggle individually.
Jhow (KS): He has consistently been one of the worst performers stats wise, but brings good intangibles.
Nyang (GLB): He has pretty terrible numbers on the smokes, but like Jhow has been a staple of gamelanders.
v1nny (GLB): He has been around a while providing consistent supportive plays, but his numbers are pretty low at the mostly tier 2 level.

trembolonaRage and disastrously laughable takes on VLR? Pretty iconic in their own right.
I'm new to banter but it is pretty fun.

Yes, but if we agree it makes that statement false again.

I remember watching Saadhak and frz put the world champion Navi and NV lineups to the test. Tbh, frzgod's playstyle in valorant caught me off guard. I was expecting him to be a hyperactive awper but he was pretty passive. Maybe sentinel will be his role with that mechanical skill. Tenner on the other hand was the most hyperactive awper I have ever seen. His aim was like a shaky woxic the short time I saw him on the awp.

I definitely agree that Sharks is underrated. I do have Loud above KS since I think KS have the weaker weak links and they have yet to show that their roles can work, but they could easily be number 1. I am not as high on Liberty as I see them as having limited upside although they will clean up on any teams that stumble.
Group B is going to be really interesting and I could see any one of the top four teams not making it to playoffs.

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Fantasy Team
MVP: TenZ
Duelist: Cryocells
Initiator: ShahzaM
Sentinel: neT
Controller: valyn

Team Placements
1st Place: SEN
2nd Place: XSET
3rd Place: 100T
4th Place: C9
5th-6th Place: NV, GRD
7th-8th Place: V1, NRG
9th-10th Place: LG, EG
11th-12th Place: RISE, PK

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