https://tiermaker.com/create/asian-regions-1228666
[S TIER]
Thailand - In my own opinion, they're equally the best sub-region in Asia. You could argue that South Korea (which I am putting in S Tier as well) might have a say about it, but just look at Thailand's throughout last season:
- Winning the first-ever Masters
- Dominate Stage 2 SEA Challengers: Playoffs and make it an all-Thai finals
- Becoming SEA's first representative to the first-ever interregional LAN
- Managed to beat what was considered Korea's 2nd best team handily and beat Japan's rising star in a close match in order to qualify for Champions
- Took a former Masters champion and eventual finalist to three maps without a clear-cut winner between the two teams
All the while maintaining stability amongst rosters and teams within the local ecosystem. X10C might lose Patiphan and left their org, but under Xerxia and with the addition of Surf, I think they'll still have something to do with regional dominance. FULL SENSE kept their 5 and still performed well regionally, especially now looking at ZOTAC Cup and FPSTH Tournament. Not to mention the rest of the group like Sharper, MiTH, AAA, and others.
South Korea - Oh dear, you could have so much going on with your region. Internationally, you had something with NUTURN in Reykjavik, but VS was just disappointed in both Berlin LANs. I was a bit iffy on adding KR to S Tier due to the fact that at the end of the season: NUTURN, F4Q, and some other notable grassroots teams (TNL, etc.) imploded. But from the ashes, rise one of the amazing roster fiestas I've seen for the new season. New DWG, ESC, and others rising up to form superteams might bring new life to the region. DRX (then VS) is still around, yknow. I think if they can keep their region stable internationally in the long run, they might catch up with the rest of the competition.
[A TIER]
Indonesia - Bias aside, they've been relatively silent. BOOM was defeated unceremoniously in the LCQ, but even before that during the SEA Challengers Playoffs, you see the potential of the Indonesian teams amongst the more favoured groups such as MY/SG, Thailand, and the Philippines. They rocked. Now with the refreshing of the current rosters in full force, we see results showing like Alter Ego's win in the TEC Challengers Series, and BOOM's win in the TEC Showdown. New and returning teams like Morph Impact, Bigetron Astro, Ethereal, and the likes slowly moving over the horizon, I think Indonesia might have a shot at an international appearance. And don't forget ONIC. They just won SEAC. They're so good.
Malaysia/Singapore - Yeah, I put them here. Yeah, it's just Paper Rex and Kingsmen. Well, maybe Bleed too. Imagine bringing Pyth, Maxie, and LEGIJA to the team. Jesus, what doesn't this team do? Regardless, Malaysia/Singapore was just Paper Rex slaying over the region for the majority of the 3 stages. Add UwU on the side and you have the entire MY/SG year in a nutshell. PRX did well in Berlin, but you can see how much stronger other teams were. Forsaken might do Forsaken things, but it wasn't enough. Added on top of that PRX fell in the lower bracket to NORTHEPTION and Damwon, it was a disappointing year. However, if pre-VCT 2022 is any signs of improvement, is that someone told Kingsmen they were forgotten and decided to remind the rest of the region why they should be feared. They were just behind PRX and UwU for most of the 2021 season, and they've been slowly improving. Now, they're waiting on the Grand Finals of the ZOTAC Cup. The region has promise. Time to remind the rest of APAC how you'd do.
Japan - Same with Korea. You had so much potential. However, a running theme for some of these regions is that it's going to be only 2-4 teams that remain stable, while the rest of the scene shifts around and crumbles. We thought ZETA would rule over us all. Then it was Crazy Raccoon. Both were fine, but they weren't amazing internationally. They were the top teams in Japan, but the rest just lagged behind. NORTHEPTION managed to put the foot on the gas pedal at the LCQ, but FULL SENSE had to stop them from overspeeding. But with 2022 coming around, KR's roster fiesta affected JP as well, and it is glorious. Lakia's in Japan with IGZIST! ZETA, CR, and some other teams murdered NORTHEPTION! Superteams are rising up just across the Eastern Sea! Like Korea, if they can keep the stability of these new rosters in regards to the region, I can see them improve massively. Now please, let Lakia play.
The Philippines - What do you mean? Why'd I put PH here when TS managed to go to the quarterfinals of Champions? And only lost to the eventual finalists and World Champions? Yeah, I know, put me on a stake. However, it was clear that last season, it was the all-Bren (now Team Secret) show. Sure, put some Hashira, 6045Pirates (now Zeal Esports), Galaxy Racer (now Nigma Galaxy), SV Empire, SR Kadiliman in there, but by far it was Bren that only managed to break through to the upper echelons. However, like Korea and Japan, PH had a little bit of a roster fiesta, and with the 2022 season starting, someone please take a look at Action PH. Seriously, where did they come from?! Also, who managed to predict that Crazyguy and ZeesbeW would move over to the Philippines and join Nigma Galaxy? Aside from that, teams once again refreshed their roster, but I wouldn't be surprised if Team Secret is the one who would rule PH again. Well, maybe SBE, Action PH, Nigma, SV Empire, NAOS, etc. have something to say about it. Now I'll wait for some stern words from my new imported region.
[B TIER]
South Asia/India - They are such an enigma, pun intended. They'll show flashes of brilliance like GE did against F4Q, but my god they'll make some of the dumbest mistakes when it comes to interregional competition, shown in TEC Showdown, Challengers Series, and Zotac Cup. Don't get me wrong: South Asia has a lot of potential. But internet infrastructure aside, there are just these fundamental mistakes that either make them caught off guard by other teams or have them lagged behind the competition overall. GE can't carry the region forever. I need to see performances from Velocity, Enigma, Team Exploit, etc. if they want to have proper stability and competitive advantage with the APAC Playoffs coming soon. Please, fellas, I know you can do it.
Australia - They were robbed. Thankfully, it seems now that OCE is now packaged with APAC, they might have a chance to prove themselves interregionally. They're good. One might point to Soniqs (ex-EXO CLAN) being a poster team of an OCE team failing to perform internationally, but I will say this: It was during the early stages of competitive Valorant. I think at that point, the scene wasn't maturing enough for a team to go there and compete. Now we have seen a full year of development, I want to see teams like ORDER, Chiefs (or ex-Chiefs), Crimas Disciples, or any of the teams in the OCE Tour: Stage 1 groups perform well. They have a level of refined play that might give a good fight to the rest of the APAC region and considering to most that they're an unknown quantity, I think OCE will catch some teams off guard.
[C TIER]
Hong Kong/Taiwan - Arguably the weakest existing region within APAC, HK/TW needs to prove that they can have regional stability. Teams like Five Ace e-Sports, Griffin, former KPC, were honestly good teams that could've gone far, but the rest of the region had to perform better than them. Added on top of the fact that I swear a roster fiesta happens every Stage break, I don't see proof of a regional stability. Prove me wrong.
Vietnam - Same with you, Vietnam. Team Big BAAM had potential. Cerberus had potential. And honestly, after them, there's a decent-sized canyon between them and the rest of Vietnam. They need to improve.
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