It's a lot easier to seed NA than EU, since team who places 4th in Challengers 2 instantly plays against top seed from Challengers 1, etc. In EMEA there are many different regions so naturally it'll take longer

Maybe, but I think TSM looks better atm, of course I will be cheering for NV but if TSM can win the first map in good fashion, I don't think NV will be able to stop the momentum. TSM currently plays somewhat like FaZe in Masters 1, with decent team play and a lot of star power, we'll see if NV can adapt

As an NV fan I have to say TSM 2-0, their form right now reminds me a lot of FaZe during Stage 1 where they rolled everyone except SEN, and NV traditionally struggles against TSM, although both teams have changed their rosters.

funny but slightly delusional

But they had a chance to compete against NA teams, and couldn't even beat V1 with a sub? I think they'd be in the top 4-5 conversation in NA but no shot you think they can beat SEN.

I could definitely see them qualify for Berlin if they go on a Faze-type run in Masters 1, but it's pretty ridiculous to say they could win Berlin when they haven't even played any of the top 4 NA teams yet, much less EU teams like Acend.

TSM win this matchup even though I think Gen.G look more solid atm, Gen.G always seem to struggle against TSM.

So right now, VCT basically lasts the whole year with a ton of qualifiers, and only 4 LANs, while CS:GO has LANs basically every month. Obviously this ensures that the most qualified teams get the most points, but is a really long process, and discourages third-party TOs to organize events or maybe even LANs because VCT goes on the whole year, beyond Tier-2 tournaments. Tier 1 teams like NV, XSET, 100T, or others that barely miss the LAN have nothing to do but wait for 2 months, and Tier 1.5 teams like ABX have it even worse at the end of the year because they don't have enough circuit points to try for the Last Chance Qualifier, so they really have nothing to do for the rest of the year except maybe the two NSG Summer and Winter Championships. How big of an issue is this, and what are some fixes/additions to encourage third-party TO Tier 1 tournaments and maybe third-party TO LAN events?

TenZ has shot more bullets into the wall with the op than dapr has shooting bodies this game.

When Asuna pops off, he probably has higher peaks than TenZ, and Asuna is definitely the better Reyna on Icebox, but outside of that TenZ is so much more consistent than Asuna or most duelists on top teams. Every time TenZ does not play well or has a bad day, it is so much more noticeable than if Asuna has a bad day, even if TenZ still ends up top fragging the series.

NV vs SEN

NV are going to place 4th in another tournament, aren't they?

Somehow I had a good feeling on who the poster was before clicking on the thread...

I'll happily be wrong. 100T have incredible firepower and Asuna is as always cracked, but on a macro-game and fundamentally they played a lot better than their previous showings. I'm excited for the prospects of Tier 1 NA valorant because now there are so many good teams, and maybe if 100T keep performances like these up we might finally see another team that can rival SEN.

All of you are underrating V1. They rolled through everyone except SEN in Challengers Finals, then went to Iceland with a sub and beat Liquid. They absolutely are the second best team in NA right now, especially since C9 don't look too good. 100T has a lot of fans hyping them up, but they have not looked particularly good in a while now. In 2021 they haven't even beaten a top 4-5 team once, apart from one game against NV where Victor team flashed as Skye. I'll go with V1 2-0; maybe 100T can take a map, but I just can't see how they win this.

SEN vs NV. V1 might be the favorites to make the finals right now, but I'll always be cheering for the boys at NV, and NV always dominate the qualifiers as long as they don't run Victor Skye again or some shit. As for the score, I think it is impossible to predict since mummAy has been pretty inconsistent on Jett but when he's on one, no one can shut down his op.

Easy for Victor NV 2-0

I understand that after so many months of doing basically nothing in Valorant, maybe some changes are needed, but I don't think TSM needs more firepower-with players like Wardell, Subroza, and Drone on the team, individual skill should be TSM's greatest strength. I think the main issue with TSM is that the players seemingly don't care or want to improve at all, or learn new agents. My faith in TSM will be restored when TSM decides to sign up for an NSG Tier 2 tournament, not when they perpetually keep making roster moves without a vision for the team.

when you lose in ranked do you also blame it on your teammates matchfixing?

Soniqs 2-0 SEN, TenZ already has an excuse for losing lined up on Twitter before the match starts https://twitter.com/TenZOfficial/status/1411097387771170820

In all seriousness, SEN should be heavily favored but Soniqs are grinding hard in Tier 2 tournaments while apparently SEN haven't been scrimming, I really hope they don't get complacent.

shh gen.g are one of my favorite teams just let me cope :(

Not a specific round, but NUTURN's play on Ascent defense in Masters was pretty cool, if you focus on their traps.

0. Brimstone Gaming
1. SEN
2. V1
3. C9 (I would personally favor C9's new lineup with Xeppa over V1 in Stage 3, especially since V1 need to find a new fifth, but if we only take into account old rosters I think V1 is slightly better).
4. NV (Somehow this team manages to place exactly 4th in every major tournament)
5. 100T
6. XSET
7. NRG
8. GenG (Unlike LG, FaZe, etc I don't think they looked too bad during their losses, it just felt like they had a bad tournament).
9. ABX
10. FaZe
11. IMT
12. TSM

This isn't happening for certain obvious reasons, but I'll spell it out for you. NV's problem, at least from what was shown in Challengers Finals, is that their agents make no sense. Victor and Kaboose both play duelist, and no one on NV plays smokes, so mummaY is kind of just thrown on the Astra role. However, mummaY also ops, and how the hell is an oper going to spend around 20 seconds per round not holding the angle he needs to hold and play Starcraft? If you look at mummaY's ACS, his jett play is over 100 ACS higher than his astra/omen play, so there is no reason mummaY should continue to be playing smokes. This means that someone else should be playing smokes on the team, so obviously if kaboose is going to be replaced it will be with an astra/viper player, not another duelist.

I think the best chance for any team to upset SEN is Fnatic. NUTURN is almost guaranteed to lose on Bind, Icebox, and Haven, while Liquid is almost guaranteed to lose on Haven, Icebox, and Split.

Wait does anyone know how FNS is involved in this?

SEN vs FNC

SEN ban Ascent
FNC ban Split
SEN picks Haven
FNC picks Bind
Icebox is the decider

SEN wins Haven (honestly I think FNC might win Haven as well if TenZ doesn't perform)
FNC wins Bind
FNC wins Icebox

FNC 2-1

(I think the map picks/bans actually work out a lot for FNC, since Split is one of SEN's best maps at the moment, and Ascent seems to be one of FNC's weaker ones, at least compared to their Icebox, Haven, and Bind)