QUALIFIED TEAMS
PRX
SEN
EDG
FNC

TH
RRQ
DRX
LOUD

TOP FOUR
1st: PRX MASTERCLASS
2nd: LOUD ARE STILL GOOD AFTER 3 WHOLE YEARS
3rd: SEN PROVE THE HATERS WRONG
4th: FNC FUCK UP AT THE END ONCE AGAIN

Both years these teams looked like "superteams on paper", and it's safe to say that they didn't live up to that expectation - but this year there are a few key differences

• The whole team can actually play their preferred roles as opposed to godforsaken Sacy on controller
• JohnQT was actually trailed as opposed to just creating the team like last year
• Every player on this team can probably be argued into a top 3 ranking for their role in Americas

what do yall think

he was one of the best duelists in challengers all year, makes sense for mid-level team to poach him

https://twitter.com/jasonsusantoo/status/1701155196871778636

forsaken duos with monyet on stream, obviously could be bait from the two but with everything announced it's prob the final confirmation you need

EG will no doubt be the best NA team next year, unless something stupid happens
The rest of NA will be fighting for second place, will probably be either SEN or NRG with their rumoured changes but C9 also looks good
If 100T build around Cryo and / or Asuna with competent players who can play with each other than they might have a chance to do something other than be remembered for losing 2-1 to MIBR allowing EG to win champions

johnqt is way better than your average T2 igl.

bringing him in allows zekken on duelist, sacy on initator, pancada back on controller, tenz probably plays a duellist / initiator flex role while johnqt is on the KJ, if you look up his KJ stats they arent bad at all. while he also has experience on breach

johnqt is way better than your average T2 igl.

bringing him in allows zekken on duelist, sacy on initator, pancada back on controller, tenz probably plays a duellist / initiator flex role while johnqt is on the KJ, if you look up his KJ stats they arent bad at all. while he also has experience on breach

what did that bring you? you squandered playoffs qualification against bottom of the table MIBR

boostio with all the excuses after their loss against PRX, Jingg, something, mindfreak, davai and forsaken about to run rampant against EG and send them home with nothing once more

everyone will sadly be forced to come to australia

they aren't gonna do it but they should have partnered with an OCE team of some kind, even if it's just 1, increase the global reach of VAL for the upcoming future

"awarding those who are great at the moment and those who have been consistent throughout the season"

Well it'll be based on most recent performance AND championship points, meaning that doing good in split 2 will likely increase your chances at a champions slot tenfold

they stated qualification from consistency and best at the moment, so im guessing a direct invite to champions from split 2 is going to be announced.
Top 3 championship points
1st at split 2

with both BLG and EDG advancing out of their groups, there is going to be some sort of expansion for china in 2024. the fact that one of the masters event is being held in shanghai hints even more to some sort of new chinese system, either being introduced as the 4th league or a more expansive open qualification system like last year challengers or FGC this year (but on a much larger scale)

1st - PRX
2nd - EG
3rd - EDG
4th - LOUD

Fnatic and FUT crashing out in the first round
do i care they are on the same side of the bracket?
no - they will find a way to do it

tl:dr - Fnatic is your only hope and the rest of EU and EMEA as a whole suck

two 1 team regions although NA reigns supreme and here's why
Pure retrospect and on paper, Fnatic is easily the better team making EU a better "1 team region" but thats only on paper, looking at the rest of the region

FUT made it out of a group with FPX and T1.... going head to head with both, they aint winning shit in playoffs
oh and they are from turkey which isn't in EU

How does a region with 4 teams (TL, NAVI, FNC, Giants) only have fnatic dominate their group and everyone else eliminated for a 25% success rate
NA with 2 teams (EG, NRG) had EG make it out going 2-0 and NRG going 1-2 for a 50% success rate.

• EU just needed 1 more team to advance to tie things up it wouldnt have been hard considering EU had half of the teams in group D and none of them made it

Lets be real when I say EMEA as a whole including FUT is the weakest region, Fnatic gonna win a few games and maybe the tournament but the rest of the teams are not doing anything.

Pacific have a genuine chance to make it to the grand finals with PRX and top 4 with DRX picking up the pace.
China with EDG can easily make top 4 as well with BLG maybe picking up a win or two
Americas with LOUD and EG can easily make a statement with BOTH teams making it top 4
EMEA having fnatic roll over everyone and FUT go out in two games

can't be saying anything when DRX advanced 1st out of a group with 2 EMEA teams and PRX advances in 1st seed as well

being real giants aint making it out either

Paper Rex vs. KRU Esports
2-0 PRX win // PRX made it top 3 at masters with a content creator sub. With the practice they would have had by now I don't see KRU making it hard for PRX. A map or two may go to overtime but KRU ain't bringing it home.

EDward Gaming vs. Giants
2-1 EDG win // EDG have looked stronger and stronger at each international event, Giants may take a map off with good set plays and ideas but EDG will have the firepower to outlast them. KangKang gonna jett diff them and the rest of EDG will have their own moments. Although Giants aren't looking terrible.

Bilibili Gaming vs. Fnatic
2-1 FNC win // This has all the potential to be a blowout but I beleive in BLG to take 1 map off in a overtime battle - but the other two are gonna be fnatic showing why they are 2 time champions

evil geniuses not making it out of group b

gonna get china'ed by fpx and doesn't matter if it's FUT or T1, they gonna get 2-1'ed with eg choking map 1 and letting them comeback

with champions ending late august and the 2024 season not starting until at least mid January that leaves 4 months for an off-season. If riot mess this up then it's gonna fuel the death of t2 valorant, no org is going to be paying a third a year of wages for their players to play 2 tournaments. I think it'll be nice for each month to have a "monthly circuit" supported by riot and 1 or 2 invitations for t1 and t2 teams.

the monthly circuits could be 3 opens once a week and concluded by a small scale playoff tournament with the top 8 teams from the 3 opens, kind of like the 2021 challengers system but on a much smaller scale.

The invitations should be hosted like the ludwig x tarik invitaitonal with a mix of t1 and t2 teams - all of these monthly and invitational tournaments will give these orgs something to do while sustaining viewerships of around 10,000

I'm not even kidding when I say it's gonna be a PRX, EDG, Fnatic and ZETA top 4 with a PRX win over FNC in the grand final

which ascension team do you think will perform the best in 2024?

tl:dr - adding a 4th chinese (or east asian league) due to the success of chinese valorant so far in esports // Will make qualification easier.

• Top 3 qualify to masters with 1st with an automatic quali to playoffs.
• Top 3 qualify to champions via circuit points with 8 in the LCQ and 1st from there qualifying

Anyways, I think it would be quite smart to add a 4th league involving China. Either a full 10 (or 11) league made out of Chinese teams or a mix between East Asian countries like we saw in the East Asian LCQ in 2022.

Leagues
Americas // Stays the same
EMEA // Stays the same
Pacific // Possible mix-up with Korean / Japanese teams transferred to East Asia League with an addition of an OCE team, extra SA team or more APAC teams
East Asia // Either a 10 (11) team league with Chinese orgs like the LPL in league or the 5 KR / JP teams from Pacific + 5 chinese teams (or some more KR / JP teams with 2-3 chinese teams)

Qualification
Masters

• Top 3 teams from each international leagues
• 1st place qualifies to playoffs
• 2nd and 3rd qualify to groups
• Same format as currents masters used this year and for 2022

Champions

• Top 3 teams from each region's circuit points
• 1st team from a 8 team LCQ
• Regular 4 groups of 4, double-elim format
• Same as 2022 and this year

Possible Teams
EDG (easily most successful chinese team)
FPX (successful throughout EMEA in 2022 and associated with the LPL)
BLG (associated with the LPL and qualified to Champs this year)
WBG (associated with the LPL and alr have a VAL team)
RNG (associated with the LPL and alr have a VAL team)
[Following transferred from Pacific]
DRX
T1
Gen.G
ZETA
DFM
(if riot want add a 2-year ascension team)

well it's either people wanting to see them fail OR huge sen stans.... and like 10% are just casual viewers or 100T fans

Im very confident EMEA and Pacific arent gonna have every single team just decide to stick to valorant after a mediocre season

SEN were literally scrimming EG and LOUD are probably in brazil

and guess what TGRD and M80 are in Brazil as we speak (omg a revalation) Most T2 teams have either disbanded or are on off-season considering their next matches are gonna be until at least after Champions.

That is quite literally how scrims work
Who else do you expect to practice against?
EDG?? KOI?? BONKERS??

whether or not it's 10 of us here, it'll be the most hype matches in the oceanic season

gonna be 10 there anyways, map 2 / 3 will tank faster than the titan sub imploded

this assuming map 3 of xerxia - one will be relativity fast with the naos - fancy match being a 2-0

gonna be so delayed smh, no shot the bonkers match will be before 11pm AEST at this point,
viewership gonna tank

Does anyone know what patch LCQ will be played on?

I'm guessing it'll still be on Episode 6 at least until the end of LCQ but I would love to see ep7 roll out for the lcq
I do hope that it will make its way here for champs tho

tl;dr
Americas - SEN 3 - 1 C9

EMEA - Navi 3 - 0 Giants

Pacific - ZETA 3 - 1 Secret
tl;dr

AME // Both Sentinels and C9 are probably top 2 favourites from what I've seen. Both have huge firepower and with the time given I beleive they can structure up and turn into something great. Both FURIA and LEV have been together for a decent amount of time, both attending champs in '22 and giving decent results but I don't beleive they can reach the potential of the NA teams. KRU prob a dark horse ngl. Even though they went 0-9, it could have easily been 2- 4 wins if they played their cards right. 100T aren't looking too hot and I don't think they're gonna find their form by the time LCQ rolls around. MIBR.... nah

EMEA // Navi, even though they went 1 - 4 at masters, they're still the best team here. With the 2-3 weeks they now have to prepare I do see them reaching the heights of the FPX days. Giants are def a very good team and their roster is extremely talented. Easy wins to the final. Every other team HAS potential. Not counting anyone out BUT navi and giants are my picks

Pacific // Any team here has the potential to win except for maybe DFM. Secret, Gen.G and ZETA will be the favourites but don't count out GE but especially Talon.

havent watched much emea or pacific so opinions are def accepted (unless your IQ is below 32)

if you open your eyes you will only see Fnatic at the top and the rest of your beloved region weeping in the shadows of Lord KangKang and Demon1 - The Saviour From Hell

Actual, if anything give each position in the competition "points" and whichever region gets the most points in total gets the extra slot.

Cause he played 5 maps.... against a not very strong looking NRG team and goddamnit KangKang

"Gutssz" i'm sorry to break it to you but top 4 at masters didn't consist of Liquid OR navi

So unless you're from an alternate dimension I don't know what your on.... and your "second best team in the world" lost to two NA teams

Your idol went out at Masters winning 1 map in total in a 14-12 match against NRG :(

tl:dr - the only challenger for EMEA in LA will be fnatic and a glimmer of hope for liquid

I'm sorry to all the EMEA viewers and fans out there but I can not respect the 5 slots being given to EMEA.
Fnatic and unchallenged at the top, not even the most diehard NA fan will deny that at this point but FUT and Navi both considered "very strong dark horses" and a "top 4 contender" then being knocked out in the groups is highly disappointing.

Liquid almost lost to EDG, who looked very strong coming in from china but then going on to lose to EG in dominant fashion and then fumbling the bag against NRG is just sad. Losing to 2 NA and the only 2 NA teams at tokyo is not a good showing.

And realistically, who from the LCQ will be looking strong? Navi... last place, Giants... Sure but they got humbled by FUT and Navi. BBL.... sure but their THREE wins were against bottom of the table Heretics and KOI and a vitality squad who (very sadly) won't be in the LCQ. and TH, KOI and KC all went 2-7

emea once again showing why they are dumb :o

can't seem to comprehend it's japan vs international

apac and oceania viewers celebrating, 1PM for a grand final on Sunday is finally reasonable. No more waking up at 5am to watch VCT Americas matches and the goddamn Champions Grand Final

sad for everyone else tho, it is your turn to fuck up your sleep schedule or miss the matches altogether

that's true but imo Dephh has what it takes. Just look what he did with XSET, now he has his hands on a much stronger team, he has a much higher peak.

SEN would def benefit from a stronger IGL at this moment who can mold a team from the start but given time Dephh can mold this team into a championship contending team.

I think everybody had high expectations for this team. And it's def warranted. But SEN need time to adjust, by 2024 the rest of americas is doomed (except for LOUD)

the point still stands that Dephh was the main IGL

Is Dephh really a "terrible IGL" tho. We saw how good he was on XSET, obv he wasn't the sole IGL (I imagine maybe BcJ could share some responsibilities but yk). All Sentinels need is time and I can see them qualifying to Champs from the LCQ. Although Dephh prob isn't the best option, I can't say he isn't good enough for the team.

Yes, this was a problem and concern since the start. Sacy and Pancada both coming from LOUD where they'll (especially pancada) will be speaking their native language to Sentinels where it's def a big change in methodology and playstyle nobody would have expected SEN to just "be good from the start"

tl:dr: sen is not done..... (or I hope for the sake of Sentinels fans and the careers of these players)

Yes, SEN are certainly looking like a bottom-half team at the moment with 5 insta-lock ascendent controllers, not a team with THREE world champions, a on the rise prodigy and a esports veteran.

I CAN NOT say that SEN is doing good right now (at all). But in the long-term I think SEN have a very strong roster and coaching staff. Even as early as the LCQ I can see SEN on the uprise and once we get into 2024 and 2025 (assuming they keep the core of their roster) I beleive they are not done. Once Sacy and pANcada transition into the new environment and team and chemistry improves, Kaplan improves as the coach then I see SEN becoming a genuine top 6 threat.

The only way SEN qualifies i'm pretty sure is if 100T and FURIA lose ALL of their games and SEN win against FURIA and all their other games. SEN qualifies 6th on H2H against 100T FURIA, but this means that other teams like EG, NRG need to get certain results as well. And even if this happens I'm pretty sure SEN have a chance to lose on round diff or map diff

i may be wrong but

Sentinels (2-4) vs Evil Geniuses (2-4)
SEN 2 - 1 EG // EG looked good on certain maps against both LOUD and LEV but SEN in terms of firepower and just current form look more impressive, but I do see EG take a map

Cloud9 (5-1) vs MIBR (2-4)
C9 2 - 0 MIBR // MIBR look TERRIBLE. Got destroyed by LEV and SEN in superweek plus barely played some close maps against FURIA. By logic C9 beat SEN and FURIA as well so based on that and current form and firepower it should be an easy C9 win. GG

LOUD (6-0) vs 100T (3-3)
LOUD 2 - 0 100T // 100T look good and could prob win against other teams such as LEV, SEN and FURIA in their current form but against LOUD, I don't even see this being THAT close but 100T could get 1 map.

LEV (3-3) vs KRU (0-6)
LEV 2 - 1 KRU // LEV look so much better than KRU but I feel KRU have the chance of getting 1 close map but get blown out of the water on the other 2

NRG (3-3) vs FURIA (4-2)
NRG 2 - 1 FURIA // Will def be close but I beleive in NRG to want it more and take it over the line. FURIA look good and def have the chance to win 2-1 .

if they win their next 3 games they have a pretty good chance at 5-4, (EG, KRU, FURIA are next) But 100T or LEV could knock them out on H2H