Note: This is based purely on Closed Qualifiers with no previous or outside tournaments taken into consideration.
Note 2: I am not a reporter or analyst. This list is purely something I'm doing for the fun of it and is based off my judgement. Feel free to disagree or critique.
↑8 | 1. TSM - I mean what's there to say. They absolutely read 100T and put on an absolute clinic. Clearly they are the best team in the... ya never mind I'm not insane. On to the actual list~~
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↑2 | 1. LG - This is gonna be extremely controversial but I'm putting LG in the number 1 spot after this week. While they did play a weaker team in Faze and had a much closer score line than other teams, they are the only team not to be blown out and have a 2-0 record so far. Is that justifiable for moving them up to rank 1? Probably not for most of you but I think so. They are a strong consistent team that has the ability to make upsets throughout the next 3 weeks. However, they will face the 3 hardest teams in the group in the next 3 weeks. Will this ranking be proven correct or will I be clowned on for putting them up so high? Find out next week on Dragon... ok ya no let's just see in the next few weeks. They will likely not be in this spot next week but definitely do not sleep on them.
↓1 | 2. Optic - Honestly not sure what even happened this series. A 4-13 blowout loss to C9 followed by a 13-5 blowout win followed by a 13-10 nail biter win to close out the series. I mean it's content I guess? Optic played really sloppily on Icebox, only winning 4 rounds on defense before losing the map with 0 offensive wins. They flipped the script in Map 2 with a 9-3 half and winning 13-5 after conceding just 2 rounds to C9's attacking half. In Map 3, Optic lost the first 4 rounds of both halves before pushing back. Tied 6-6 at the half, Optic went down 6-10 before pushing back with 7 in a row on their defensive half to win the map and series 13-10. Are they running out of ideas, getting counterstrated, or just trying something new? Maybe all of the above. Loving the Victor Yoru though.
↑2 | 3. C9 - Again, what in the world happened this series. There really isn't much else to say about this series to refer to comments on Optic. All I'll add is they need to be able to close things out and not let opposing momentum ruin their tempo.
↑1 | 4. XSET - Another strong showing by the squad, they showed this series they have the ability to bounce back after a series of round losses. All of their players have the ability to pop off and are consistent. They have a pretty deep strat book and have cleaned up a lot of their weaknesses from week 1. This would probably be my favorite for winning the group after this map. The upcoming matches are definitely not easy ones but XSET will for sure be coming in as the favorites to win.
↑4 | 5. TSM - An absolute clinic of a series vs 100T. After shutting down a red hot 100T team, they are 3-0 vs 100T since Open Qualifiers. Arguably the underdogs coming into the match after 100T's series vs Guard, TSM came out swinging. Switching up roles to put Subroza back on Skye and gmd back on controllers seems to have paid off as they both looked much more comfortable on their respective agents. Corey and Seven have also swapped roles with Corey on Chamber and Seven on duelist flex. Despite the relatively convincing series win, I am not sold on the Corey/Seven role swap. Seven looked quite uncomfortable on Raze with his movement; on the other hand, Corey seemed comfortable on Chamber due to his history of OPing. Is the trade off worth it or would it be better to put them both on agents they are decently comfortable with? We shall see in the next few weeks. TSM definitely have what it takes to make the playoffs; however, it'll require performances like this if they wish to make it farther. Also, yes, I'll admit this is just a bit bias sue me.
= | 6. NRG - Two tough losses to XSET, both of which NRG's defense fell apart. A 6-6 half on Map 1, NRG only managed to win 2 rounds on the defense, losing 8-13. They started off strong Map 2 going 4-1 defensively before falling apart and losing 6 consecutive rounds and winning out the last going 5-7 at the half. Winning pistol and anti eco, they only won 2 more rounds before falling 9-13. After being undefeated since Open Qualifiers, they now drop the series 0-2. Good news is they got the other top team in the group out of the way.
↓5 | 7. 100T - After putting on a clinic against Guard in week 1, they struggled in week 2 vs TSM. After consistently beating TSM on Split, 100T went down 4-8 at the half. Going on the defense side, they managed to win some rounds but were never able to string together more than 2. Going back and forth, 100T weren't able to push past the 4 round deficit, losing 10-13. Map 2 was just a steamroll by TSM. They had no answer for Corey's Chamber or Seven's Neon. Site's weren't able to be held, retakes not succeeding, and flanks not providing much value. A 6-13 defeat, this scoreline would've been much worse had Derrek not come in clutch multiple times to try to keep the team alive. With this loss, Group A is up in the air on who will qualify. Are 100T good or did they just get lucky and play Guard at their worst? The next few weeks will provide that answer.
↓1 | 8. EG - They won their series vs Sentinels but in no way was it convincing. In fact, they put up a much better fight against Cloud 9 than they did Sentinels. Jawgemo, Boostio, and C0M all played well this series with Apoth being their anchor. Reformed on the other hand really struggled this series, going 24/35 and having the lowest ACS through the two maps with a 103. There's a lot this team needs to clean up if they're barely keeping up with a degrading Sentinels team. Though currently in the 4th seed, EG could easily lose their spot if they don't pull it together.
↑1 | 9. Faze - While Faze did lose their series this week, they made a convincing run at it. An 11-13 loss in map 1 and 12-14 loss in map 2 were both good showings of what Faze is capable of. They made a roster swap mid tournament and maybe it's paying off or maybe it's not. It's too early to tell but flyuh played pretty well in the series overall as well as coming clutch in Map 1 multiple times. They also played one of the, arguably, better teams in the group in LG. It's going to be a rough next few weeks; however, if they play well and win the next 3, they have a chance at making playoffs. Though difficult, it's definitely not impossible as they play Sentinels, EG, and C9. Their roughest match will be against C9 but they have the potential to pull off an upset.
↓2 | 10. Ghost - This is a risky take but hear me out. While they did win their series vs Guard this week, one map being a 13-1 stomp, I don't think they are better than other teams in the tournament at the moment. They played a team in a slump and still dropped a map in an 8-13 loss. Not to discredit Guard but if Ghost want to be serious contenders, they will need to continue to clean up some of these rounds. I will say it was hard to decide where to put Ghost this week but I had to put them down here, even after the 13-1 win. Again, this is a risky take that I know many will disagree with, probably the riskiest this week, but I have to put them here personally.
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