Bro just be happy we got to watch an incredible series. LOUD looked good and have a shot to make a lower bracket run, and SEN being at a high level is good for the scene in general

Yeah i think LOUD were definitely better than I thought they would be, I like what I saw from SEN in terms of potential, but there are definitely things to clean up. In a way makes me feel better cause they have a lot of room to grow.

Peak valorant happening rn

Yeah i think so

There is no world where liquid are on the same tier as FNC surely.

Idk about firepower, but TH would roll on team chem and better roles

Imo whoever wins is the favorite out of the Pacific teams. I feel like its pretty close but who even knows at this point

I hate G2 so much, but they're just so dang good it pisses me off. Respectfully of course

I'm just interested to see how good each of the teams actually are. LOUD has already exceeded my expectations, but seem like a team that's gonna rely on a lot of momentum. I think that SEN should be really good this year, but idk if they are there yet. But heavy agree with ur take that LOUD likely needs to snowball a great start to win this one.

Not in order:
VIT
EDG
G2/SEN (One of them is top 3 maybe even wins the other crashes out early)

they've had one dominant game lol lets take a step back

the level of disrespect on aspas and zekken is insane. Both top 3 no question

MELONS

RANKERS are already qualified no?

True, we can both watch the other teams play while our teams are in Cancun :)

Fr M8's deserve more of a challenge, unlucky they have to wait till next game to test their skills

Wdym texture was the best at Madrid? Zekken tied the kill record at 101 for a series in the grand finals and was measurably better in almost every single statistic. Texture is incredible, but Zekken was probably the best player, let alone duelist, at that tournament.

I think it's too hard to say until we have international play and the top teams from the regions have more than one game under their belt, but I think that a lot of teams from every region look very sloppy, which is to be expected at the beginning of the year.

no hate but how are they "still looking" good? they've had one game and they were terrible in it. not that they don't have the potential to do good and I'd like them to, but it only time will tell

its always so hard to tell this early but yeah seems about right

only team that beat geng in an elimination game*

zekken and KK for sure

ange1 in general is a rough watch

Tbf the only time I've really felt like the tejo was being used well was by Johnqt. Still broken asf but I think he's the only one I've seen actually use the agent mostly correctly

Yeah, I'm really interested to see where the level is at this year. EDG broke through last champs, but they've always been the only CN team that has been capable of anything that is much more than a fluke win or two, so I'm interested to see if any other teams can show out on the international stage. It is all very interesting

Rope play on split goes crazy

Level wise i's rlly hard to tell tbh. I think the only teams that have looked like they are capable of a decent level (I haven't watched China at all) have been SEN, 100T, KC, and VIT. Even then it is just so difficult to tell how good a team is based off of one or two games against other unproven teams. Like is BBL good for beating the new FNC roster? Idk time will tell ig

In terms of the form they've shown so far, 100T have looked astronomically better. Respectfully, NRG looked lost against c9, which is never a good place to be. That being said I rlly want NRG to win so I'll be cheering for them

100T is supposed to be a pretty decent team this year and I'd say SEN was def the better team on Bind and Pearl, and idk how much to read into the Split game yet cause of the snowball

Had a good gameplan on split, plus I hated the Yoru from SEN. 100T just had so much momentum in that map, cryo was him, and they won every round that could have gone either way. On bind they had their moments, but were too readable and lost their ability to dictate the pace of the match (one of the reasons they did so well on split). Peral felt the same as Bind, as 100T had their moments, but SEN was just the better team.

top 4 plays in a larger venue from what I've heard

If anything SEN threw Sunset so hard. Haven was DRX's pick and SEN was just in control the whole time from what I saw. DRX made some great plays in the first half but the entire map just felt like SEN was the better team

Why is SEN happy about 2-0ing the pre-tournament favorites?

literally felt like they just kept making unnessecary bad decisions. seems like they got flustered tbh but managed to win so either way it works lol

bother calm down

Wasnt even scared lmaoo. I hate everything SEN did to close out both halves but just exp diff ig?

I think that either way, this is a super interesting matchup, and whoever wins this has a great chance to secure top three. I think if both teams play at their ceiling, SEN wins, and if both play at their floor, DRX wins. Honestly, any scoreline is possible, but I think and hope that it will be a good game no matter what.

But they didn't and that's kind of my point. Beating GENG in Stage One with nothing on the line doesn't negate the fact that they weren't able to get past them when it mattered. I never said that GENG completely outmatched them or that they were far worse than them, just that they weren't able to put them away and move past them. I think DRX is a good team, and it would be so cool to see them finally get an international trophy, but as of now I just don't see it. Plus the point of this list is to nitpick at teams weaknesses and give what is at this point a hypothetical reason why they won't win. That's all :)

Definitely could have been, but idk why I just don't associate them with choking despite the TH 3-0. I chose choking for LEV and basically choking for TH so wanted to include something else if I could find it. I don't think G2 not having a superstar is usually fine, it's more of a "What happens when you're losing to a top 5 team ITW and you need someone to carry you to the finish line" sort of thing. G2 is a very solid team and this was definitely one of the ones where I'm nitpicking.

First off, I think most teams have a shot to win it this year (a bit of a stretch for the CN teams but anything could happen) and this list will be nitpicky for some of the better teams.
BUT ANYWAYS.

TH: Closing out. In Madrid, they got knocked out in two games to SEN and PRX. In Shanghai, they made a lower bracket run all the way to the Grand Finals, where they couldn't close out GENG and got a combined 7 rounds through the final 2 maps while being one map away from lifting the trophy. In the EMEA playoffs, they couldn't beat Vitality in two separate matchups and genuinely looked awful in the Bo5 they played. Teams will have those VODs to look through and try to replicate, and with the level of teams here, multiple teams will be able to attack the weaknesses that TH showed.

FNC: Left behind. On paper, this team should be incredible. They were the best team of 2023, and returned the same roster heading into this year. But something has just gone wrong with this team. Their only international wins this year are against BLG and a 2-1 win over KRU. This, coming from the team that won 2 tournaments last year is just unacceptable. The whole Hiro/Leo situation hasn't strongly changed my opinion on the team(Except why is Alfa on breach on Sunset ik he's flexible but that seems odd and that KRU game did not inspire confidence), but FNC just doesn't seem to be able to make it happen, whatever the block is I just do not see them winning Champs.

DRX: Lack of experience. This is a relatively young roster, and their veterans are just experienced losers. (Sorry maKo my goat). They are a good team regionally, and looked lights out against FNC, but could never get past GENG, and now have to play the team that just steamrolled GENG in the first round. Is GENG just a bad matchup, or are they outmatched? I lean towards the former, but either way, I just don't see them beating the better teams in this tournament. (This makes little sense after the FNC game but it's just a gut feeling)

SEN: Inconsistency. This team has looked like one of the best teams in the world during around 70% of what we've seen of them from the offseason until now. But that other 30% has been pretty awful. Since Masters Madrid, this team has been unable to maintain any level of success. If they are able to maintain the form they showed in the second GENG game, then they are a team to be feared, but given how the regular season went for this team, that is a massive "if".

G2: Lack of a superstar. G2 has great team play and discipline, and none of their players can be considered a large liability. However, you need a guy to help push you through games when that team play or calling isn't at 100%, and I'm not convinced that G2 has that guy. Leaf is a very solid player, but can he or anyone on the rest of the team lift them up when things go wrong against the best teams in the world?

LEV: Choking/IGL'ing. Kingg can frag, but his IGL skills will have to be better against this level of competition. LEV doesn't have the benefit of being on the same side of the bracket as the CN teams, and will need to win 2 matches against FNC, G2, or TH in order to get anywhere in this tournament. All this for a team that has looked anything but impressive on the international stage, even getting upset by Trace in the group stages of this very tournament. I don't think that a team with superstar power but a weakness in teamwork and discipline will be able to make a deep run and I wouldn't be shocked if LEV goes out with 1 or 0 wins.

EDG: Lack of macro-play. EDG is very strong individually, and has the firepower to make some upsets, as has been shown in previous tournaments. But nothing I've seen from them gives me confidence that they can win matches against teams with similar levels of firepower who also have strong calling and mid-rounding. I don't see the CN teams winning any games against the teams from other regions, but it would be awesome to be proven wrong.

TE: Worse than the rest. Trace shocked everyone by upsetting LEV and VIT to make it to playoffs, but I don't know if they have the stuff to compete with the top teams. Admittedly I don't watch a lot of CN val, but could the team that is 0-9 in maps against EDG this year first beat them, and then make a run against the rest of the field? I don't believe it yet.

Should just be a really good game. If both teams come with the same form of their last wins (DRX 2-0 FNC and SEN 2-0 GENG), then it should be really interesting. I think that SEN has the higher ceiling of the two teams, and they should win if they are in their top form, but they've also shown an incredible ability to underperform throughout the regular season, so it could really go either way. As a Sen fan fingers crossed they can maintain their top form for all of champs.

this team would unironically suck

yeah mada needs to turn up he's been silent which sucks cause he's so good

Theres no way TSM is about to go to ascension right??

verno would be cool too, but N4RRATE plays fade and gekko so it lines up decently. Only thing idk about would be sova but maybe he could play jett and zekken on sova idk just brainstorming? Back to Xset days lol

I think they can keep Zellsis if they get a higher firepower initiator assuming Sacy leaves. Great leadership and has shown he can play even if he's had several rough games this regular season.

N4RRATE would be insane

EMEA bias is insane. Cloud?? No aspas?????

Probably won't unless its a good final. Even then idk timing just sucks I remember watching the AfricaTV final and it was crazy late

Don't love the format either but there is no world in which Furia should be at an international tournament