SS - FPX, Paper Rex,
S+ - OpTic Gaming, FNATIC
S - Team Liquid, Edward Gaming, Leviatán, KRÜ, LOUD
A - DRX, ZETA DIVISION, 100 Thieves
??? - FURIA, BOOM
F- = XERXIA, LSET
??? - FURIA, BOOM
My reasoning for each category and what each category means:
SS = Top contenders to win the entire event.
FPX and Paper Rex are both justifiable by their performances in the last Copenhagen major. If we take into account regional performances, like how FPX have been playing in EMEA Challengers events, (Top 1 Stage 1 Top 2 Stage 2) considering EMEA isn't a 1 team region like APAC is, their position is even more solidified, and they reinvent themselves all the time. Each Major, you will get a new FPX. Same with PRX, though I'm more worried that teams will be prepared for PRX (and to a lesser extent), Edward Gaming's aggressive style.
S+ = Top contenders as well, I just expect them to lose out to the SS teams.
OpTic and FNATIC have always been strong teams, and they've just been getting better as of recent. Both lack vital things, however, which is why they're lower than FPX and PRX. Fnatic chokes at international lans always, just look at Champions and Masters 2 last year. Lost to KRU and SEN. OpTic's weakness is that they cannot beat EMEA and APAC teams, which they are working on with their reported bootcamp in Poland. I hope either of these teams makes top 3, they're both a treat to watch.
S = Could make a deep run.
Liquid is automatically here because of their victory against M3C, (arguably STILL a global top 10 contender) while also having mouthed them on their best maps, Breeze and Ascent. If ScreaM and dimasick keep performing like they did in LCQ, they are arguably a SS team. d00mbr0s's brother buff. EDG, well, they're the "Pandora's Box" that ZETA was in Reykjavik. They can either flop out of the tourney because of antistrats or they'll guaranteed make top 3. This team is insane, ZmjjKK and Life are the Shao and Suygetsu of the east. (For the record, I do not expect lower than a playoffs exit for EDG, they're insane).
Leviatán had a shaky showing in Copenhagen, but granted it was their initial showing at a LAN, and they were matched up early vs both FNATIC and DRX. Favorites to win that tournament at the time. And yet, they pushed FNATIC to the limit. It took numerous clutches to beat them, and they have the clutch gene themselves as well. I expect them to play much better now that they have a lot of time to prepare and that they now have some LAN experience themselves. As for KRÜ, they've always been a wildcard insane team. Just look at Champions. Yes, they've looked shaky recently, and Keznit has not been the best recently, but I believe that they've got the chops to make it big. They looked pretty good in LCQ, so I have my hopes. LOUD in this category has the same justification as KRÜ, but I will say that I'm not sure whether they're S or A. Depends on how Aspas plays, I'd guess.
A = Borderline benchmark for if you deserve to be in Champions or not.
DRX are nice. Their strats are insane, they have some real talent in the form of MaKo, RB and Stax. Yet, they always choke after 1 loss. They're very much like Liquid, a momentum team. Expect their mental is exceptionally weaker than Liquid's. This is the last straw for DRX. If they don't make it out of groups here, then that shows that Korea as a whole needs a higher dose of competition. I think that if DRX got Meteor on loan from Northeption and got themselves a mental coach that they could really have a deep run, maybe even win it all. Until then, they're stuck here. On the borderline of deserving to be here or not.
ZETA DIVISION? They proved themselves in Masters 1. Making Top 3 on your first LAN event is no small feat, friends. They have insane mental, some REALLY nice players and are a treat to watch. However much I WANT ZETA to win, they have a tough time ahead of them. Though, I guess not being in Masters 2 due to not winning vs NTH has given them the advantage of nobody knowing what strats they've cooked up. I expect a LOT from ZETA, though I wouldn't hold it against them if they dropped out. They're like, my 3rd favorite team after M3C and FPX.
For anyone asking, we do not talk about 100T. All I have to say is that if Bang is as clutch as he usually is, and Will doesn't play like a silver, they should hopefully be making it out of groups.
F- = Literally why are you here you all suck massive dick should've given ur spots to good teams (exclusive spots to LSERXIA and LSET)
XERXIA have continuously disappointed me since Champions. I expected massive from them in Reykjavik ever since they almost took down Gambit, the world's best team hands down no argument about it ACEND Fluke W Sheydos Always wins these at the time. What did they do? They lost in groups twice, specifically to OpTic after taking them down when they were ENVY in Champs. As Sonya Blade from MK11 would say: Seriously? I don't blame them for their loss in M1, but they should've antistratted Optic WAYY better in Masters 2 than what they actually did. Now, I expect them to go out in groups, and they seriously deserve it. Specifically, the coaching staff does, because their players really aren't that bad. Sscary deserves a new home, though.
LSET are such a fluke team. There's a reason they held the role of Gatekeeping top 3 for as long as they did. Other teams were better. Other teams were better this year too. I honestly think that 100T or FaZe should've taken their spot in Copenhagen, because they just embarrassed themselves in Copenhagen. Mr 4'3 BCJ Back Home Chicken Joint and the ensemble of throwing continuously should be going out in groups. Yes, they were vs OpTic and Leviatan, the former is a top 5 in the world team easily and the latter just cannot be beat in OT's unless your name is specifically Enzo, but still! They should've done way better vs OpTic considering how well they played back home. I hope that they do get better, but as it stands, they will be going out in groups.
?? = No information, I didn't really watch any of the APAC LCQ or SA LCQ (apart from a few VK matches because I heard things about mwzera being a goat and KRU Games because I wanted to see if they had fallen off). Expect these teams to be massive wildcards, though.
All in all, as many teams from A and above should be making playoffs. That's how I've ranked this. This is also chronological, so the teams in each tier go from left to right. in A tier for example, I have DRX before ZETA, which means I consider them better than ZETA.
Discord