redlight's VCL Japan Power Rankings Guide- Split 1

Disclaimer: This is a very in-depth guide, so there is a TON of information on each team, therefore a LOT of writing—literal walls of text.

After five days of qualifiers of groups of 8, featuring eight teams each (so 64 teams), the eight teams for VCT Japan Challengers Split 1. These teams have fought long and hard and have ambitions to go to the Challengers playoffs in late March.

The format will be as follows:
Eight teams in a round-robin system play each “week.” The top six will move on to playoffs, while the bottom two try their luck in open qualifiers for split two. During playoffs, the winner and the finalist will move on to Split 2, while the other four play in the “Advance Stage”-- an LCQ-type tournament where they and the eight winners of Split 2 open qualifiers battle out for the final six spots for Split 2.

Power Rankings (with explanation) for every eight teams:

1. Crazy Raccoon (CR): Good old Chad Raccoon – missing out on partnerships because their legal team forgot to submit papers on time and was being investigated by the Japanese government then. Despite that, they re-signed Medusa, which is a significant boost in firepower, given Rion went back to content creation, and Astell became head coach. The signing of Makiba is a little questionable because he has not played in a year and was streaming – much like Seoldam. Makiba has to prove that he can hang with his teammates and fill Rion’s shoes. Crazy Raccoon has been struggling lately, like losing to OQA in the ESL KR/JP Qualifiers and conceding more than eight rounds in both matches against FAV Gaming. They are a fairly balanced team, but each must catch up when the other falters. But I mean, it’s Crazy Raccoon – a top 3 team. The demon coach will whip CR back into form and make a run for Split 2.

Duelist: Meiy ; Flex: neth ; Controller: makiba ; Sentinel: Medusa ; Initiator: popogachi

2. FENNEL (FL): After a lacklustre year, FL opted for a complete revamp, only keeping their smokes player CLZ, who recently transitioned to duelist. Lead by former NTH IGL JoXJo, the roster also signed ex-SCARZ player Xdll, SyouTa – who was impressive at Crest Gaming – and ZETA Academy player Hironnn, an unknown quantity given that he didn’t play in VCT last year – only having his performances going off of the UTAGE showmatch against DRX Academy and this qualifier. FL went HAM in Group A – excluding JoXJo; all four were in the top 10 in terms of KD throughout the tournament. Granted, FENNEL had possibly the EASIEST group and won every map in less than seven rounds, but only time will tell if they can hang on. I see this team going to playoffs and possibly making a deep run to Split 2. This team is underrated. Do not sleep on FENNEL.

Duelist: CLZ ; Flex: JoXJo ; Controller: SyouTa ; Sentinel: Hironnn ; Initiator: Xdll

3. Sengoku Gaming (SG): First of all, what an awful logo change. Second of all; they are the Russian Ranked Demon team. Something and Vici are solid pieces for the roster, with Misaya the only member remaining from the original core – the roster seems to be built around setting Something up for success. Sengoku dropped their IGL Art and moved Zerost to content creation; in their place came NOBITA and Npoint: two players that haven’t played in a professional circuit in AGES, and the latter looks like he’s benched already. The organization also signed the recently polarizing Fisker as secondary duelist. Aside from one VOD, it is somewhat easy to tell that this team is literally “Something and Fisker go kill” because every match involved them fragging out of control. Vici seems comfortable on smokes after playing flex last year. Misaya is strangely inconsistent, so I hope he won’t be a liability for them despite remaining the only veteran. Sengoku has the potential to make it to Split 2, but I think Advance Stage won’t be shabby either.

Duelist: Something ; Flex: Fisker ; Controller: Vici, Npoint ; Sentinel: Misaya ; Initiator: NOBITA

4. REJECT (RC): This team… they have a lot of potential. This might sound crazy, but they remind me of The Guard, a rag-tag team of hidden gems with one known player – in this case, Flax. After a poor season, the organization let go of the entire roster, so when the new lineup got signed, I wondered, “why in God’s name is this team signing so many unknowns?” But after the show match, I was pleasantly surprised that they hung on and did it decently. And after this qualifier, I am in awe of how they speedran their bracket and dismantled Reignite, their toughest contender. REJECT’s comps are wild, running Omen-Astra-YORU on Icebox and Omen-Viper-New Chamber on Ascent. Keep your eye out for Allen and BRIAN; these two pack a punch statistically, as the former had the ninth-highest KPR and the latter had the third-highest ACS. They are a great midtable team with high potential to make it deep in playoffs.

Duelist: BRIAN ; Flex: Flax ; Controller: Allen ; Sentinel: RIA ; Initiator: Skyfull

don't mind me

5. NORTHEPTION (NTH): A shadow of what they once were. Their core players are gone and all that remains are BlackWiz and Derialy, two of the weaker parts of last year’s roster. In terms of rebuilding, NTH signed KR veteran Moothie as initiator and TenTen, filling his brother’s shoes on Jett entry. Interestingly, the team signed Maufin, who has not played a game of professional Valorant at all, having switched over from Fortnite, so it’s unknown how he will perform – however, based on recent stats, he hasn’t fit in as of yet. I do have hope in Jaemin's coaching because he set up ONS to success, all the way to 2nd at LCQ. This roster doesn’t seem TOO bad but they will be Advance quality.

Duelist: TenTen ; Flex: Maufin ; Controller: BlackWiz ; Sentinel: Derialy ; Initiator: Moothie

6. Crest Gaming Zest (CGZ): Crest Gaming did not have a good season as they did not make playoffs at either Stage. This season, they signed Marin, who is a really underrated and flexible player – switching from duelist to sentinel with ease. Former Dplus member Hate is on initiator, and he has looked alright. GON has not played in VCT since 2021, but his aim is good, as per the Japanese community. TenzouEz (yes, it’s pronounced tenzo-ee-zee) has been a surprise factor as a flex, so I believe he can do well. Crest Gaming was arguably in the group of death because there was a lot of competition, specifically the new Blue Bees roster with Ssun and BC Swell with PUBG demon kAyle. CGZ BARELY made it out in map 3, double OT in the grand finals, but they did. Does CGZ stand a chance? Somewhat, because they can be considered decent enough to cause some damage and make it to Advance Stage.

Duelist: kobra ; Flex: TenzouEz ; Controller: GON ; Sentinel: Marin ; Initiator: Hate

7. SCARZ (SZ): The old Blue Bees core of Zenakukin, TORANECO, Kr1stal, and Jemkin, topped off with signing Yoshii, a Filipino sentinel main. The roster recently made a splash as they beat the new Dplus KIA roster in a showmatch and were the only Japanese roster to qualify for the ESL JP/KR tournament – however, they went 0-2 after losing to the now cores of WGS X and On Sla2ers. In the Split 1 Qualifier, the roster struggled both times against Jadeite as they went to all three maps in the upper and grand finals, so much so that they BARELY won GF on MAP 3, which went to double OT – literally by the skin of their teeth. Despite that, SCARZ can be competitive and qualify for Advance Stage. However, it will be a struggle because if they struggled against Jadeite, they have tougher opponents in their way, even if Jemkin and Yoshii have insane performances. It hurts to put SCARZ that low but oh well.

Duelist: Jemkin ; Flex: Kr1stal ; Controller: TORANECO ; Sentinel: Yoshii ; Initiator: Zenakukin

8. IGZIST (IGZ): This team… they just exist. I don’t necessarily see anything exciting about this team except that GangPin can finally play duelist; even Thiefy, who I was singing the praises of, has gotten a little rusty. This team has remnants of Blackbird Ignis, which dominated the scene in 2021: RIPablo and oitaN. They also signed Norisen, who, IMO, was not good on REJECT, and is a massive downgrade to Lakia or even Pepper, for that matter. Honestly speaking, this team is washed up. They can get by the Advance Stage just by experience, but they could also be bottom two. I hope IGZIST prove me wrong, but with the current level of talent, I don’t think they can.

Duelist: GangPin ; Flex: Thiefy ; Controller: RIPablo ; Sentinel: oitaN ; Initiator: Norisen

Considering Challengers League Japan: Split 1 start in less than 12 hours, great info. W