I think SEN should be better than LEV and will put up more of a fight, but I don't know if I see them beating G2 in Upper Finals. Maybe in the GF or at Bangkok, but seems like G2 is at such a high level rn and SEN are still working towards their peak.

I need the unhinged energy from their streams lolll

Live stream had LOUD playing MIBRxEG winner VLR has them play NRGxKRU?

LOUD x NRG would be so good

I get that for sure, and thats why they're above KRU and C9, but until they take a map off of a team besides Furia, it's hard to put a roster that hasn't shown potential for a high level above any of the teams in the top 7. The closest would be MIBR, so if they can beat them tomorrow I'd likely move them up

As a G2 hater, I would love this to be true, but they've been too good for too long to put them any lower than 1 rn.

UPDATED as of 2/1

1.) G2 (-)
--gap--
2.) SEN (-)
--gap--
3.) LOUD (up 1)
--gap--
4.) 100T (up 1)
5.) MIBR (up 2)
--gap--
6.) LEV (-)
7.) KRU (up 2)
8.) NRG (down 5)
--gap--
9.) EG (down 1)
10.) C9 (-)
--oh my gap--
11.) Furia (-)
12.) Quite possibly the worst team I've watched this kickoff (-)

Lots of teams on a tier of their own now I hate that but can't be helped

Yeah valid take. My point was to be unhelpful and useless :) I'd probably put johnqt up there partially cause I'm biased and partially cause I think that as SEN clean up their teamplay his util level will be better utilized but who knows

I have no idea haven't watched enough matches

Everyone can shoot at smokes, its a part of the game. It can be annoying, but both teams got lucky spam kills that influenced rounds. At the end of the day, both teams looked good, but unpolished, which means both teams have room to get much better

idk this zekken guy is good or smth

It's still early to tell, but I'd say G2, SEN, and then LOUD/NRG is close for third. If LEV and MIBR play to the level they can given their rosters, and 100T doesn't do something dumb, the top 7 of Americas could all be pretty good.

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 :)