its gonna be hard for them to win the champs looking at how fnatic play rn
Sure they nearly lost, but you could easily argue that the way they come back mentally and win a map that they were initially losing - especially with how terribly they started Icebox against NAVI (6-0 with 4 kills between the whole FNC team) - is impressive and probably a sign of their capacity to win even with the odds against them. Not many teams could find themselves winning that map so FNC do have quite a strong chance to outstamina opponents in a Bo3 or Bo5.
TH did well in all honesty to come back against FNATIC in the EWC Grand Finals. That was a proper showing of grit and determination. However, whenever I see some of the replays of TH, it looks like the little mistakes really weigh on the boys especially MiniBoo. They have done really well this stage so if they can keep the momentum up, I think they can relive that Champs 2024 peak.
PRX definitely have improved their mental game a lot and Panda has been really impactful for the players and for Alecks. PRX can close a series, but they definitely need to keep polishing their game as FNATIC looks to improve their performance. The map pool is definitely one of the toughest for PRX even after 2 wins on Haven and some confidence to play Corrode. I would argue that PRX's Haven has some flaws on attack and they haven't been fully tested by a team who are great on that map like GENG. Abyss will come in for Icebox so that is another map they need to develop a stable comp for whilst losing a map they're fairly strong on.
DFM definitely has dark horse energy but they still lost 13-7 twice to PRX. If they beat T1, it will be a statement for sure. Scoring any wins against T1, DRX or RRQ which are within range for this DFM would be amazing - they already beat a monstrous, aim-dominant Talon so anything can go if DFM refine their strategies and some of their micro decision making.
ik what ur saying man. but we need to look at what was going on in amer at that time. look at sen, c9, nrg. the only team playing well was eg and even then people were clowning on them before LA. also we don't need to talk abt china region as it was literally just a 3 region game b4. not really a question of making grand finals there... acend won champs too but nobody thought of them as as serious threats before that. same story as eg. came out of nowhere, won champs and then went to being irrelevent (except the players obv)
PRX and Fnatic are definitely hard favorites, I'm acc leaning towards FNC.
FNC looked very shaky stage 1 too in the group stage - barely sneaked out a win against vitality, got (absolutely) demolished vs heretics (I think it was like -15 rounds 2-0), then they go to playoffs and just absolutely roll.