I did this with Americas and thought it looked pretty well so I figured I would do the same for Pacific. For context I definitely do NOT watch nearly as much Pacific due to living in the U.S. and the time zone difference, but I have watched enough to make what I believe to be a decent list.
- PRX
Yeah this one was pretty obvious coming into kickoff, I caught both of their matches and thought they looked incredible. Needless to say they'll be a top competitor at Madrid. I won't elaborate too much since this is pretty obvious. - Gen.G
Definitely my somewhat sleeper pick. I know that expectations for this team weren't super low, but they also weren't very high, and I think Gen.G has thoroughly outperformed themselves at kickoff. They were 4-4 during League play last year and didn't make a single international event. save for Lock In of course. But this year I'm all in on them. From the very start of their kickoff play to now I've been impressed, and they are absolutely my favorite Pacific team in VCT at the moment. t3xture might also be THE BEST duelist in Pacific this year. - DRX
Now putting this DRX this high isn't exactly a scolding hot take or anything, but putting them below Gen.G might ruffle some feathers, and I understand that, especially when both these Korean power houses are about to play each other in their biggest matchup of the year so far, but I don't think it's ridiculous to put them here. In my opinion MaKo is the best controller in Pacific this year without debate, and between t3xture and Sayaplayer, BuZz might be the best duelist. HOWEVER I simply haven't seen enough out of the rookies. Don't get me wrong, I think Foxy9 is a phenomenal talent, but it's also hard to replicate what make DRX so incredible in the first place, and that was team chemistry. I think keeping stax at IGL was the right move though, and I'd love to see where this team goes. - TS
This could be a burning hot take for some. I truthfully have only watched one match from TS, but that one match was a masterclass. I'm of course talking about their second matchup against Talon, where they proved that they wouldn't let a prior loss deteriorate their mental, and if anything used that to their advantage. I like this team, and want to see them get better, and in all honesty think they will. I think there is a better chance that the top 4 teams listed here will qualify for champions than any other Pacific teams. - T1
Admittedly they got a pretty lucky hand by playing Bleed and then Zeta, but T1 has definitely performed up to the hype. I honestly can't say I have any stock in them beating PRX, probably not even taking a map off of them, but in these cases I'd be happy to be surprised. xccurate surpassed every single one of my expectations against Zeta, and Sayaplayer proved once again why he is in that top Pacific duelist discussion. Carpe is also one of my favorite IGL's in all of VCT. I've always enjoyed his crafty calls in tight situations that allow T1 to walk away with the round. Truthfully it was harder putting this team here than you may think, and I can see a world where they are at the 4 spot on my list. It's a tight gap between them and TS. - Talon
Here is the part of the list where we begin to exit the great teams category, and descend into the alright teams category. They're a great team, and a great org, and I had my hopes up following their victory over TS in round one, but they completely and utterly dropped the ball promptly after they were delivered a whooping from DRX, where after they couldn't even save themselves against TS. But I think it'd been unfair to put them any lower than 6 or 7. I have them roughly at the same pedigree as RRQ. - RRQ
It's unfortunate they got placed into a bracket with the two best teams in all of Pacific. Truthfully I couldn't even see enough of them to decide whether I thought they were good or not. Truly hoping they can have a great regular season and turn this around. - Zeta Division
This will definitely be a hot take but I actually got the opportunity to watch play-ins for Pacific since I was pulling an all-nighter for school, so having their games on in the background and watching as they got massacred wasn't something I'd wish on my worst enemy who happens to be a Zeta fan. In all seriousness they are a talented squad and were able to qualify for the play-ins, which is more than most can say. - GLOBAL
Now we descend into the category of teams that performed subpar, they definitely proved that India as a region has a lot more work to do before it can contend for a title, but be that as it may, they are the sole representatives of that region, and their improvement overtime has been a great indicator of the progress their region has made. I will say I believe they can definitely improve upon their three win season last year, and I wholly expect them to. - BLEED
Oh boy. Oh... boy... How the mighty have fallen. - DFM
Need I say anymore?
Always open to some feedback and open discussion!
Discord