Note: Could easily be wrong if upsets happen in EMEA/Americas and certain teams don’t qualify to Shanghai.

EMEA:
FUT is looking SCARY. These guys are so good that they can play shit comps and outduel everyone. The mid rounding and defaults are on point too. Probably the most mechanically skilled team individually outside of PRX and potentially some of China.

When Navi show up, they win. That’s it. They consistently win bonuses to an insane degree, enabling strong snowballs. When Angel is fragging out, they just can’t lose. That being said, they’re not the most consistent. There is a decent chance they lose to heretics (another great team) and don’t make it.

Emea is strong overall, and has a ton of competitive top teams, but the viper nerf is gonna hit them hard.

Americas:
Lev are on top. They have the aimers, they have the midrounding, and recently their microplays and comps have been on point as well. Expect the viper nerf to hurt them slightly, but with Kingg and Aspas on the team, and Mazino, C0m, and Tex taking turns stepping up, they’re set in terms of firepower. Seeing all 5 of these guys perform at their peak level is terrifying. Worldbeaters for sure.

Kru are only slightly behind. In this unprecedented run of South American dominance, Keznit and Heat have shit on nearly every team they faced. These guys are genuinely good, and their proactive rapid space clearing style is potent in the current meta, especially with Klaus and Melser making the most perfect calls round after round. These guys are scary.

Pacific:
PRX PRX PRX PRX. This is their chance more than ever before. Individually they look better than their champs run last year. Davai and mindfreak have stepped up their games and are capable of carrying just as hard as the vaunted Jingg/Forsaken pair. The viper nerf favors them as they’ve already switched over to breach on a few maps. Their cohesion, mechanics, and game plans are on point. W gaming deserves to take it all at Shanghai.

GenG still cannot be counted out. These guys got second last event for a reason. Texture is possibly the greatest duelist in the game right now, and when Meteor, Karon, or Munchkin take over, this team dominates. Lakia has stepped up his fragging as well this split, we’ll see if he carries that over to Shanghai.

China:
Yeah you already know it’s EDG and FPX. These teams are good, but they’re not at the level of the best of the other regions yet. With time though, they can definitely punch upward. We’ll just have to see how far these teams can go.

Lev and fut are the best teams in Americas and emea rn. They would both obliterate T1 like PRX did. That being said I have hopes for a PRX trophy at Shanghai

Nah PRX, Lev, and FUT are looking the strongest rn

It’s all good, sen will be back stronger for champs!

Yes I phrased it wrong: loud cannot allow g2 to get 13 rounds

Loud cannot get 13 rounds against G2, sooooo SEN aren’t qualifying

Yeah he’s pretty inflexible when it come to fragging out in other roles

Bait or you weren’t watching the game back then. Yay was the only guy who could reliably diff Aspas and Less in duels, and FNS was the only IGL who could outcall Saadhak (think the 10-2 side on Ascent in masters 1 2022, back when NOBODY beat Loud on Ascent).

There’s a reason El Classico was so frequent.

I remember Sacy being an insane fragging initiator wayyy back on Vikings and then Loud ofc. Comparable to how D4v41 or N4RRATE are playing now. I feel like we haven’t seen that side of him so much since he left Loud. That being said, I think he was pretty much a perma sova bc that was the astra meta, so developing flexibility has been important for him. These days, he’s still a world class player but the fragging is definitely less consistent.

Who would've guessed going into the year that Lev would have better comms and synergy then the NRG guys lmaoooo. They seem to be vibing really well.

Also now I understand why c0m was kept on EG throughout his underperforming era; that dude is way more personable, hype, and vocal than I thought. Props to him.

That's fucked lowk

jay zee zee

something is actually kinda goated. whimp and B3ASTM0D3 are awful tho lmfaooo

amazon prime bukko

Pansy is actually the goat, almost anyone is good with her. Steel is great rn, but kaquka was also insanely good.

If Fnatic regain a fraction of their last year form, and NAVI troll a little (which happens somewhat frequently), Fnatic win easily

I hope fnatic win tbh, it'd suck to see them miss another international

Zest hated igling and specifically requested to never do it again. It also hurt his individual performance. Having great game sense and a stacked roster doesn't transfer to good midrounds or strats (COUGH COUGH NRG.....)

Nah fr he's just a chill dude. The fnatic hate is insane.

EG? They're good fs, but not that good yet imo. Honestly anyone from G2, EG, 100T, or Loud (if they make playoffs) should go. NRG I have no confidence in, and SEN aren't making playoffs.

IGL?

He's just not an entry player tho, he's like cryo. Great on Jett, awful on raze. Put that guy on brim, sentinels, jett, and chamber, and he'll be golden.

Termi is on a redemption arc

Yeah I mean their attack arounds are objectively terrible. They look so clueless. Even a ranked team would midround better. That being said, I'm hopeful; there's no way these guys look this bad for so long....right?

Aspas? Not yet. Hopefully he develops into a fully fledged superstar tho

Nah fr poor dude has gotten fucked by everything.

I am sick of literally every map in this pool. Idgaf I have a 1.6 kd on icebox and breeze I HATE those maps. Lotus is dogshit too. And why is ascent still around in pro play?? It’s so boringggggg

LEV
NAVI
DRX
EDG

Lowkey based except Americas I like all, and Pacific, I want DFM to fail until they finally sign good players

Mel is also amazing when she reacts

Then he should lie; no reason to have an org owner of one of the 5 NA franchised teams mad at you over dumb comments

It just doesn't make sense from a career perspective

FNS was just pressing him about random questions and Nade felt like he was trying to set him up to look stupid

Ya, I mean I think he just misread the situation and was fucking around while nadeshot felt he was being attacked. Lowkey I get both sides but it's such a stupid beef. FNS just needed to go "yo dude I'm joking around, I appreciate what you've done as an owner" and things would've been fine. Nade feels disrespected and FNS is somehow too proud or ignorant to fix this rn. Hope they go to DMs and resolve this bc it would be stupid to have long term disagreements otherwise.

It's lowkey wild rn lmfaoo

Good pics

bro aspas has a 1.88 kd rn with 230 rounds played. Nobody else is even close

Jk it’s probably the homophobia chicken sauce

Wendy’s baconator duh

Also shanks is funny asf

https://clips.twitch.tv/BashfulTenderTriangleCharlieBitMe-v4xUbMPPolmkIdoS

NRG will win 2 pistols, and only 4 rounds this map. It's unbelievably cooked. To think I had hopes for this 'superteam' too. I never would've predicted Lev to be the strongest out of the superteams made this year.

WHEN they win bro, I'm sorry this is unbelievably over. Disappointed in NRG tbh

Cause loud played super well last match???

I'd trust, Kru, Lev, Loud, EG, 100T, Sen over C9 rn

Nah they dont look good midround wise rn

C9 are in playoffs meaning we get the streakiest team in the world representing NA again. I wish them the worst tbh because I cannot trust those guys to be consistent, much less perform on an international level.

diresepctful to Nismo, that guy is a tier 1 initiatior (but yea he's not the GOAT aspas)

bro you're british

Boring, just learn to write bro

Invy, JitBoys, Jremy, monyet, sScary

Or replace sScary with JessieVash if you want a real igl

Get these two on superteams so they can win internationals pls