FUT i feel like is taking a step back to make 2 steps forward. Trying different comps & playstyles they will be fine. Expect them to be one of the major contenders for 3rd-4th champs spots. They could have easily went 2-0 vs KC since they went 20-18 OT the first map and 13-4 the second btw. They were in the group of death with KC, Heretics and Giants too. Will never be a favourite for LAN wins this year but they can make some deeper runs if they start to click.
Giants have fallen behind due to the average level in the league massively improving. They just havent made that same step forward. TBF their group was the hardest tho. They lost 2-1 to KC and FUT. I think Giants is gonna be the gatekeeper this year. If you beat them you are good. If you dont you probably aint gonna qual to LANs this year.
FNC is still gonna be a contender for every event. I think its great that KC and Heretics were already ahead of schedule so they could beat them now. This is gonna force them to start innovating again and force them to really push themselves. They cant just cruise to free wins anymore. This hopefully turns them from the FNC at champs which was declining back into the FNC at Tokyo. Ahead of everyone.
KCorp is just gonna keep improving imo. They are still not respected enough since people only respect big names that have alraedy won LANs or have players that have done so. They will be major contenders for every LAN. This team is soo soo young and they have already learned so much. They are only gonna keep growing over the year. KC is gonna elevate themselves to the status of teams like NAVI and FNC permanently. They are fucking legit.
Heretics are gonna be another contender for the champs spots 3&4 similar to FUT imo. Patitek has been great but i expect the addition of Wo0t to further raise their mechanical skill level which in my eyes ended up being one of the difference makers vs KCorp during their series. With wo0t this team could be nuts. Dont be shocked if they win a LAN this year. Maybe they wont ever be favourites for it but they for sure have the pieces.
Gentlemates are a solid gatekeeper team with good players and solid strats. Not contenders for LAN wins and will have a hard time to qual but last year they would have been at least 3rd or 4th seed in EU imo. They help raising the average level of the league and thats probably it this year.
Vitality are a really big fucking Darkhorse once Trexx comes in. He has the potential to be one of the best in the world and they already have Sayf doing crazy things... Kicks and Runner had a really good debut event too. Individually their big hole at kickoff was Destrian sadly but he is luckily only the stand-in. What they need to do now is simply thicken that strat book of theirs. Some more cleanly drilled protocols. More cool ideas. They could be the team that improves the most out of all teams from their kickoff performance. A potential LAN winner for sure. What they need the most is time.
Team Liquid have been super disappointing as a team sadly. Their individuals like Nats, Keiko and Jamppi have been doing really really well but as a team kickoff was terrible. Just a huge disappointment. Their strats are too safe and predictable. Their cohesion is very lacking. A lot of their round wins can be attributed to individual skill dif. They have the players to at least qual to champs but they are very very far behind right now. A lot of catching up to do. Pred: not qualing to LANs this year.
Navi has players that could easily win LANs we know that. But their strats and sometimes weirdly enough their team cohesion were very off. Its quite confusing. All i can say is you can never count NAVI out and the increasing competition hopefully gives them the opportunity to learn from their opponents. Navi would likely make it out of groups at champs but would struggle to make it much further than that in their current form. They gotta start scrimming heavy rn and learn. But once again. This team always has the potential to suddenly click and win events. You would be a fool to count them out.
KOI has some great pieces with kamo and Sheydos but this team is very noticably been put together very late. They seem like a month behind which is why they do some things really well but have gigantic holes in other places. I feel like they can stabilize and become a solid gatekeeper team like Giants and Gentlemates but thats probably gonna be it. They had quite some luck with their group draw at kickoff as well. Dont expect them to qual for LANs.
BBL are unfortunately gonna be the 11th placed team in my eyes. They have some bad patterns in their play and can be very uncoordinated and readable at times. I think elite is really good, qutioner can frag out hard at times but overally they arent a mega talented team. They are the most likely to make some changes over the year. Still better than they were last year at
least.
Conclusion/TLDR: The average level is much much higher and although we are not at the level of peak FNC last year yet (Tokyo) we have insane potential and far greater depth. Maybe we wont win Madrid (allthough KC is a favourite with LOUD and SEN imo) but these new young and cracked rookie teams are only gonna get better and better over the year and likely peak at champs. The old guard (FNC, Navi) is finally getting forced to adapt and improve. No more coasting or trolling. Adapt or die. I am very very glad at the development this year.
KEEP HIRING CRACKED ROOKIES INSTEAD OF OLD WASHED FUCKS. ENGH IS MY KING
Discord