I like this breakdown heavily.

Watching some of these games and seeing a circle of results, team A beats team B, team B beats team C, and team C beats team A, whether it be in Pacific, EMEA, or even some strange shenanigans of Americas leads me to believe we're heading into a tournament of unpredictability. The slots for Toronto are vast, but still limited at the same time it feels. Although some teams need to only win one game, I am genuinely seeing it become closer and closer with every matchup we see.

Take Pacific for example where we just had RRQ play T1. A team I feel many were confident in, with T1, could potentially now be amongst the fray in terms of guaranteeing themselves a spot into Toronto. Americas has seen a mixed bag of results from both groups with only G2 and potentially Kru being mainstays towards the top. EMEA has seen Vitality slip a bit to Heretics and Fnatic, a team many had towards the top after Kickoff. China is ever confusing week to week, in an era where TEC has risen and FPX has fallen.

It seems like middle of the pack is no longer just a "middle-ground" gatekeeper zone, but rather a dangerous zone for any result to become a reality. It is not always pretty valorant but it seems that the bottom dwellers have truly fallen down, and the middle has risen to the occasion to compete. The qualifications into Toronto could lend us some amazing matchups and results with a story to tell for each team, I truly hope this continues as it provides fresh narratives moving towards an international tournament where anybody could take it.

How have you been feeling about Stage 1 so far?

Watching this Boom Esports team is truly like reliving the rise of The Guard (the now core of G2 Esports).
The way in which this team is playing with discipline, counter-strats, and individual firepower is reminiscent of The Guard with their rise from Ascension onwards.

At any given moment they have a list of players that can rise to the occasion to help propel them to a map win, but their fundamentals continue to shine through. The coaching staff has done a brilliant job in developing the talent on this team, and although their entry into Pacific was due to a negative, having them in the scene has been a major positive. From kickoff to now the improvement is clear, and I truly believe this team can make it a permanent position in VCT Pacific.

Week to week it feels like the games can highlight different players, Dos9 at the start of Stage 1, Famouz and BerserX, this team is trading and firing on all cylinders.

I am very impressed with them, and as someone that truly loved the journey of the players from The Guard, Boom Esports is fitting that narrative in a different region and I absolutely love it.

What do you think of this team, and do you seem similar plots in the story comparison?