Let me know if there is anyone i missed or should mention
Team Secret: DubsteP
Let’s be honest, no one has high expectations for this team at the moment, however if the man who rivaled f0rsaken in sea can come up big on LAN, this team has the chance to make it out of groups
Furia: Khalil
Furia surprised some with a meteoric rise to the top during the SA LCQ, and a large part of it was thanks to this man. He is a great sentinel, clutching our rounds and consistently getting 2 or 3 kills when locking down a site. If he can shut down opposing teams entries, Furia will flourish this tournament
SEN: ShahzaM
His leadership and importance to the team is unquestioned. However he had up and down performances individually during the last Masters event. If he can return to the fragging consistency we’re used to seeing, SEN will also return to their consistent ways of winning
VKS: basically anyone except Sacy
The best brazilian Sova was playing jett last time we saw him in VCT, evidence of how VKS feel they lack firepower. In order for them to avoid a quick exit, they need someone else to step up and help him out
TL: Jamppi
This man has been playing out of his mind lately. After an underwhelming stage 3, he proved both his talent and flexibility during the red bull home ground tournament. With nivera providing great support in the absence of kryptix, and Scream being as scary as ever, Jamppi’s hot streak may be what puts TL over the top
NV: Victor
FNS is a great igl. Yay is their star player. crashies and marved provide both excellent support and plenty of kills. Victor is question mark for me here, as he had some great showings last tournament and other matches were he left something to be desired. If he can consistently play to his potential, NV have a great chance to run it back (get the phoniex pun?)
VS: Lakia
The star of Nuturn during stage 2, Lakia joined an already stacked VS team in stage 3. The sova master however was only seen once in Berlin, playing skye on a map which VS were destroyed by Gambit. His talent is unquestionable, and if VS can find a way to put him in a position to succeed they will certainly exit Group D as the strongest team
X10: foxz
He may have flown under the radar, but foxz was one of the bright spots for X10 in their showing at reykjavik. He has recently been playing nearly all the duelist agents in SEA tournaments, and that flexibility along with his mechanics could provide patiphan with a budding star in Champions
Acend: starxo
It’s easy to just call this team cNed and friends, but in reality everyone on this team has their moments. An example of this is starxo’s stage 3 EMEA playoffs run, where he dazzled with multi kill rounds on the support role. It feels like this man is the heart of the team, which made it even more disappointing when he had an average performance on LAN. If he can start getting his mojo back, the sky’s the ceiling for this team
Gambit: d3ffo
I had a hard time picking between the finals mvp, chronicle, and Gambits jett player, d3ffo, but i decided to go with the latter. D3ffo did not have the best showing in EMEA playoffs, and as a result was not considered near the top of jett players by many. However once this guy got on LAN, he showed us his full potential, displaying flashes of brilliance and, most importantly, holding his own against opposing jetts like yay and keloqz. If he can continue his upward trajectory, it will make Gambits title defense that much easier
KRU: NagZ
NagZ is the teams primary jett player/awper, but if we look at his stats in his first two masters appearances so far he does not put up the stats expected of one. To be fair KRU as a team have had up and down performances on LAN, but NagZ has seemed to struggle especially. However this is not to say he has only done bad, as he has performed great in his own region and is especially good at seeking out first bloods. If KRU want to make it into the top four this time around, NagZ will need to take a leap forward for his team
Full Sense: PTC
JohnOlsen gets the spotlight most of the time, but don’t sleep on this man PTC. Full Sense have always been one of the top SEA teams, but this mans evolution is a big part of how they were able to take APAC by storm. His flexibility is something to be admired, as he seems to have an affinity with every agent. This was displayed when he gave us a show with KAY/O on Ascent vs Nuturn. His deep agent pool makes planning against him and Full Sense very difficult for other teams
C9B: Xeppa
As was shown in the article written recently about him, Xeppa reached a new peak during the NA LCQ. The former csgo pro was able to utilize the agent most similar to his former game, KAY/O, in order to wreak havoc among the other teams. It was because of him that C9B were able to take down 100T, who had just made it to semis in masters 3, and Rise, who looked to be the Cinderella story of NA. If he performs as good on LAN as he did online, which seems likely given past experience in csgo, C9B have a good chance to make it out of the Group of Death
Crazy Racoon: Munchkin
Ever since Masters 2 when Crazy Raccoon made themselves known to the scene in their match against V1, Munchkin has always been considered one of if not the best player on the team. He was the bright spot for the team even in games when he lost badly. One could make the argument that if he had played better in his most recent game against Gambit, they could have taken a map off of the eventual champs. When he pops off, he gives his team a chance to win
Keyd Stars: mwerza
This player may be the biggest question mark coming into the tournament. Regarded as one of the best talents in Brazil (and in the world, if you are a certain brazilian fan), he terrorized his region on GLB for a long time. Now that he is teaming up with the best BR team, he is expected to be the one to take Keyd Stars to the next level. If he is able to adapt to his new role and provide a one two punch along with heat, this team will be a dark horse in the playoffs
Fnatic: Derke
The Masters 2 runner ups have had a bit of a rough streak, dropping matches in lower tier tournaments and missing out on masters 3 entirely. One player who exemplified these struggles was Derke, as he struggled to return to the form we saw during their 2nd place finish in Iceland. A particular area he is seeing decreased productivity in is FKPR, which means his entries have not been as effective. He certainly is not being held back by a lack of talent, and if he can return to form perhaps Fnatic can return to the finals
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