This is a personal opinion on the teams that qualified for masters 3 Berlin and how I expect them to do. Maybe it might be realistic, maybe it might be stupid as hell, who knows, this is just for fun. Reasoning down below.
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SEN: Sentinels (NA)
Obviously it's SEN, the current world beaters. Whether you love them or hate them, think that they are gods or overrated as hell, you can't deny; they are currently the best team in the world and everyone is vying for their crown. TSM fans are on their last amounts of HOPIUM right now, and are praying that SEN wins Berlin. -
Can give SEN a challenge and/or possibly win Berlin: SuperMassive Blaze (EMEA), Gambit Esports (EMEA), ACEND CLUB (EMEA)
These three, in my opinion, have the greatest chance of beating SEN. All three of these teams have star-studded rosters, great strategies, and incredible mental resilience. nAts and Gambit showed their worth and proved that they aren't just scrimgods thus getting EMEA #1 seed . ACEND's tactically astute gameplans and cNed's insane Jett gameplay shone bright. SMB surprised everyone by finishing EMEA #2 seed and beating our favourite COPIUM team FPX, predicted EMEA #2 seed G2, and predicted EMEA #1 seed Acend. People will probably say NA > EU/CIS/TR (EMEA) OMEGALUL, but these three teams also have the greatest chance of winning Berlin and securing their spot in VCT Champions. -
Expected to reach top 8: Vision Strikers (KR), Envy (NA), 100 Thieves (NA)
Big name brand teams making it to Berlin. VCT KR fan favourites VS made it to Berlin after a disappointing masters 2 qualifier run. Envy finally broke their 4th place curse, and looks revitalized with El Diablo. 100 Thieves finally getting back in form since First Strike, and fan favourite players at the helm. Can they be better than SMB, Acend or Gambit? Perhaps, we just have to find out, but on paper, they look slightly weaker than the tier above, but that does not mean that they aren't bad whatsoever. They are expected to reach top 8, and if either fail to do so, then it would be a disappointing showing from them. -
Upset Potential: G2 Esports (EMEA), Havan Liberty (BR), Vivo Keyd (BR), F4Q (KR)
If we've noticed, I have 7 teams so far, so one of these teams will take lucky #8. G2 looked strong in EMEA but got ousted by the EMEA representatives pretty convincingly. HL and VK rising to the occasion and beating the Brazilian top 4. F4Q were surprise representatives after NUTURN failed to make it. However, that's not to say that any 4 of these teams might upset a top contender, and get into top 8, thus sending that aforementioned team either home or down to the lower bracket. A miracle is on the rise for any of these 4 teams, but my pick in this tier is G2. -
Decent Showing: ZETA Division (JP), KRU Esports (LATAM)
These are the teams that can potentially get eliminated in group stages but will have a good showing or two in Berlin, either taking a map off a team they are expected to lose to, or even beating that team. ZETA Division, formerly known as Absolute Jupiter, is looking to make their mark after dominating the JP scene, as they are representing Berlin as a full Japanese roster. KRU Esports also dominated the LATAM scene, single handedly being the best team there ever since adding the ever explosive keznit. I personally hope that ZETA shows up in the matches and actually make people go "hey maybe Japan isn't weak after all, and can actually have potential to be good." -
Potentially the weakest teams: Crazy Raccoon (JP), BREN Esports (SEA), Paper Rex (SEA)
Well here we are, the 3 remaining teams in Berlin. Now look, them making Berlin is impressive, after all; they had to go against teams in their respective regions to make it here. But are they gonna hang with the best? Probably not. Crazy Raccoon (along with SEN and KRU) made it back to masters again, but they have been looking shaky ever since adding Fisker, Minty, Ade, and Bazzi, Munchkin is on a supportive role for whatever reason, and neth switching over to smokes, also not to mention that they are a 7-man team. SEA has been spicy lately; BREN and Paper Rex are undoubtedly the best teams in the region currently, but they are too reliant on their star Jetts: f0rsaken (not mr. word.exe) on Paper Rex, and DubsteP on BREN. When either has a bad game, their respective team suffers, and that's not enough to keep up with the best of the best. -
Well those are my personal takes on the teams on masters berlin. this might be dumb in retrospect, like CR will take a map off of SEN, or ZETA Div beats SMB, or something, like anything can happen fr, but i'm VERY excited for Berlin and I hope it'll be a banger like Iceland or even better than Iceland.
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