Right now, there is zero incentive to think those are the most likely teams.

From your list, the ones I have more confidence in are:

• DRX
• ZETA
• IG
• EDG

DRX and ZETA would be enough for the token representative from their respective region. There are rumors of Chinese orgs like Invictus Gaming and Edward Gaming potentially picking up some players from the HK/TW region to be able to participate in APAC.

Sandbox have been linked to a team for a long time now but they've been silent at all. KT I don't think they have interest at all.

PSG Talon is exclusively for League of Legends. Talon already has a Filipino roster and PSG doesn't have interest at all as well, I think.

In August. At Champions. When does V1 play?

I'm Silver.

Gold?

It's Paper "Rex"! I love the wordplay this time.

Being a realist is one thing. Being objective is also one thing. But being an asshole about it won't get you far. Sometimes, a little bit of copium, hopium, and spirit will make things a lot more fun.

Reading comprehension 0

The curse of regional consistency.

Because people like you set them up to fail. Nth had no expectations being first timers, and since people only apparently know ZETA as the Japanese team, they kinda gravitated towards the idea that Nth will suck anyway.

You lots, who think like that, aren't wrong.

But you lots, are assholes.

They struggled, yes.

But they:
A. Beat a LAN proven team in Xerxia
B. Go toe to toe with an EMEA team

Well until they released the game- plus, China has honestly the infrastructure, economy, and fanbase to stand on its own once the game is popular enough

I mean fair enough but like being an asshole is still an asshole.

@Azzlack didn't you brandish a Japanese flag on your profile just yesterday

Nope, I'm just curbing your ego. I'm happy that:

a. Nth showed that Japan isn't only ZETA.
b. FPX full power.

Chill. You're being an asshole either way.

Let's hope the goddamn government stop the freeze then

Not yet

Well... that's not how Riot's regional designation work. Even in League, each three countries are in their own regional circuit. We've now the opportunity to see all three in action with the East Asia LCQ on the horizon.

At the same time, I imagine that besides Korea and Japan being grouped up in APAC Franchising, China's potential as an independent market on their own means that they have the potential to be classified on a separate league.

Fair, but I'm still going to stand my second half of the statement.

I think the closest comparison across games is TYLOO when BnTeT and xccurate is still part of the team. The rest comm'd in Chinese, xccurate occassionally comm'd in Indonesian with BnTeT and BnTeT translates it + some English

Yeah, Japan is rising RAPIDLY and I hope Riot notices that

I'm not implying KR is less competitive. I'm just implying that from Riot's point of view, they see KR's fanbase and playerbase isn't as big as APAC (and considering APAC has 3 subregions, with SEA having 6 subregions on their own)

I will say this: APAC is still a region with talented, but unproven teams that has struggles in certain mental situations in stages of a match. XERXIA and PRX have been regionally consistent, but PRX was the only one able to adapt further.

I'm making excuses because they've implied it themselves, I'm just paraphrasing.

TNL wasn't never really taking off in the Korean scene because honestly, their individial skills in several times watching theme hot dwarfed by the other team playing together. The team needed a new breath of fresh air.

It's more about player and fanbase rather than competitiveness, iirc. East Asia needs to prove thay the fanbase and playerbase numbers are going to dwarf APAC to be able to have more slots.

I mean that was a PRX reeling after a Berlin loss with a roster that was completely depowered and unenthusiastic soooooo

My butt is ready for franchising

Bruh

I believed. I wrote that XERXIA needs to show their regional consistency needs to be translated internationally. Seems like they're just one step away.

Guild and FPX having more flight time than Northeption. At this point, it's us finally seeing their true potential. Northeption has no expectations from outside Japan, to those who barely have any knowledge of the scene.

Yall do know he's a vlr staff too right he has nothing better to do kekw

Eh I mean I binge watch every now and then, but look into VODs every now and then. I'm not as knowledgeable as others haha

It does paint a picture, but it helps to look at the details.

Doesn't suck. They're improving.

International LAN. Where stakes are a lot higher. Different events, different pressure. Remember, they're also under the pressure of going for a deep run if they want to go for Champions. In the end, they want to learn from the experience and have fun.

Please, I'll let you embarass yourself even further.

Will that stop me? Hell nah.

Shut up. What do you know with Japan as a region?

It's Nth's first LAN as a roster. They've been on the precipice for so long, only for CR and ZETA to stop them in their tracks. Now, they've beaten their regional demons, and faced new ones. They're learning from the experience. Stop downplaying Japan as soon as ZETA is out of the picturr.

Hey look. It's a Thai vs Japanese match again. Time to uhh... run it back.

CRWS CLUTCH MODE ACTIVATED

Sushi turret kill gotta be a tradition

Welcome to controlled chaos. Enjoy your stay.

ACTIVATE CRWS CLUTCH MODE

Mhm, one of their better maps

Xerxia potentially winning FPX's map pifk? Truly the APAC playstyle.

There's empathy, then there's competition. In the end, you're going for the win. Nothing more, nothing less.

We're going to use everything at our disposal. The APAC way.

Ranked demon for a reason

Just wait. It's coming. We didn't forget about them.

Tough but considering I have a soft spot for Old Nth, old Nth has a slight advantage. They were rather unassuming (being the 3rd-4th best team behind ZETA, CR, maybe Reject) for the entirety of 2021, and they weren't even supposed to make it to LCQ. They made it in because ZETA decided to pull out, and the China slots were reallocated to KR and JP. And you know what? They got hot at the right fucking time. Nobody expected Northeption to go forward the way they did. It was magical. Then the magic was stopped by FS who were also running a path of redemption, getting reverse sweeped. Tough.

Although, new Nth shows that the Nth spirit that existed during last year's LCQ passed on to the new Nth, and they were still the 3rd best team behind ZETA and CR. They're capable in their own rights.