SIN PRISA GAMING
I'm really high on SPG. I've never been particularly high on KR tier 2 teams - only players.
SPG really look different though, the way they play is so different compared to every other tier 2 KR team I've seen in the last few years. A lot of KR tier 2 teams like Dplus looked disjointed/seemed to lack strategic depth, but SPG seem to have a great read on the game state and the mechanics to brawl things out. I think a lot of their micro plays and setups are pretty well-thought out and smart, and they appear to be able to adapt on the fly.
They also seriously cook with their agent comps - I mean, what asian tier 2 youngster team can say FNATIC copied their comp and playstyle?
Persia is obviously the star of the team but I think Ivy is a really solid player who gets slept on a bit statswise. He's clutch, has good aim, and I don't think he makes too many mistakes.
My only worry is how well they'll be able to fix their weaknesses on certain maps, and whether their inexperience may fuck them over.
They've been dominant in Korea, but I don't know what their scrim results are like or if they've scrimmed SEA teams and can handle the aggression/contact heavy plays some teams like FS have. Somewhat cautiously optimistic for their performance - but they look at least macro wise like the best Asian tier 2 team rn.
RIDDLE ORDER
Dominant JP team that also came out of nowhere. This team has 4 good shooters, maybe 5 if JoxJo is on his day. Yatsuka and Seoldam I feel are the most impressive - Seoldam's Jett is very explosive and aggressive, and at least in Japan, he finds first picks/kills out of nowhere. Yatsuka is an incredible anchor and some of the shots this guy hits are unbelievable man.
Only problem is, I feel like that's really all they have. I saw some horrible blunders from this team on a fundamental level, like staggered peeks and inexperienced pre-planning. Some of their setplays seem under/overcooked.
Seoldam's play is a huge X factor, he really finds great timings and his confident aggression often leads to early reads from Riddle. And sometimes the players just shoot their way out of situations - strategically they seem to have less depth than some other teams. I think Scarz during Split 2 kind of exposed these weaknesses - especially on Icebox.
If Seoldam isn't busting out his superstar Jett performance I think they're a weaker team than Fennel actually, at least from a macro standpoint.
FULL SENSE
This team actually looks quite good. I like the way they play - they show they can switch tempo from fast to slow at any point, are comfortable with contacting, and their utility usage is great.
JohnOlsen has been in Thai tier 2 for a long time, and he seems to be as good as he used to be all the way back in LCQ 2021. He got heavily exposed at Champs though, and I wonder if he's able to continue his performance against tougher and better-drilled teams. Foxz and Sushiboys are also familiar names - Foxz imo has always been a decent IGL with above-average mechanics, and iirc the only reason he's not on current Talon was because of attitude issues. JitboyS, garnetS, and Primmie have shown the potential of Thai tier 2 players, and Full Sense do look just as good as they did in LCQ 2021. I don't think they have a specific? weakness to be honest - more like they're a well-rounded team. But I haven't been particularly impressed or wowed by their approach to the game or maps with regards to their set plays, setups, or micro/macro understanding. Seems more like they do well on somewhat known comps that have been tweaked to the current meta (they've run pretty bog-standard meta comps like the typical Icebox comp we saw way back in 2022 started by DRX(?) Or the typical DRX/VS haven comp, but Neon instead of Jett.)
I haven't watched enough of BOOM/NAOS/LOFI/RVNT/JFT/OF/DSG to speak to their performance, and I think OCE is actually a slept on region considering how good their players like Autumn are in other regions as well.
As I understand it though, I was never particularly impressed by BME Famouz or BerserX because they've been called chokers at international/higher level competitions tbh. BerserX especially, but it's possible they've grown as players. No idea how good Rapid LoFi is - only that FCY were a surprising team at last year's Ascension, so they'll probably be able to upset.
DSG are a team I've heard a lot of chatter about, and their players are definitely good. I understand that Vera is quite good, and obviously Juicy has been class for a long time. But my biggest question is how good they really are, because I feel like MY/SG has always been a top-heavy region, honestly arguably even more so than KR I feel. A LOT of these teams are kinda mid imo, but seeing as DSG kinda appeared to have rolled their way through Split 2 they could be like BLEED last year.
Let me know your thoughts on the teams in Ascension!
inb4 "allat"
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