With the start of the second phase of NA Challengers I wanted to write a "stock guide" for how well teams look for the remainder of the seasons and whether you should "buy" (The phase 2 ecosystem looks BETTER than it did in phase 1 for the team) or "sell" (The phase 2 ecosystem looks WORSE than it did in phase 1 for the team)
GROUP A
M80: Sell. Dont get me wrong they are still undoubtedly a top threat for challengers. but they do look slightly worse and less cohesive than they did at the end of MSI. Their close call with TTR only further shows that the improvements other teams are making are shrinking the skill gap M80 had at the start of the season.
Oxygen: BUY. Reduxx is predicted to become the new god-king of valorant trust me. The last time people were this excited for someone to come of age, Millie Bobby Brown was 17. Replacing by far their weakest link in randy with reduxx is gonna make these guys serious threats for the future and they might even surpass the Guard or M80 if they continue improving at the rate they did in phase 1
TSM: Sell. Similarly to M80, TSM don't look bad at all, and in fact they look a little better than they did in phase 1, but they dropped from 4th place expectations to around 7th in most people's rankings simply due to how good teams like MxM and Oxg look. They're gonna need a serious rebound to get top 2
DSG: SELL. Look, I love yay and want to see him thrive. Hell I don't even think he's an issue for the team. The big problems I see are dropping Xiff and the roles for steel and clear. Xiff was potentially the most flexible player in challengers (between him and jonahP) and he was damn good at what he played too. that's not to say clear and steel arent good, its just that both of them looked SUPER uncomfortable on their roles week 1 and that's an issue ESPECIALLY when they're facing way tougher competition than phase 1.
TTR: Buy. DazzLE is the TRUTH. Wedid is also the TRUTH. New IGL and super underrated talent is a winning combination in my book. They scared M80 in their first game, so imagine what they could accomplish with a few more weeks of practice. This team is the sleeper pick. The dark horse. Keep an eye on them, because they're fighting SR and DSG for playoffs
SR: Sell. Vanity is cool and all, but all the other teams look so much better. If they cant beat TSM its gonna be hard to believe they'll beat M80 or OXG ALONG with TTR and DSG (They need a winning season to make playoffs)
GROUP B
Guard: Buy. While some people might get upset with this, I think they look the best in the league currently. They definitely had some sort of hiccup during the MSI against G2 (They looked HORRIBLE in that game) they've always been good at rebounding and didn't even break a sweat against Faze. On top of being in the easier bracket I have no doubt they'll dominate phase 2
G2: SELL. LMAOOOOOOOOOO anyone who tells you Oxy is the best duelist NA or in challengers either trolling or doesn't actually watch the matches (he's not bad but he's severely overhyped. They did NOT look good in the opening match, and if it wasn't for 2 other teams in this group looking like the worst teams NA ever created since babyJ 100T I would genuinely worry about their playoff chances. (G2shazam can suck my nonexistent balls)
MxM: Buy. Theyve been on a huge upwards trend ever since they've gotten an org and I see no reason why that might stop. Theif, aproto, and brawk have been great players for years and sym is what people claim oxy is. He is what people have set reduux's expectations as. Super solid roster that has been on the rise since week 1 of phase 1.
Faze: Sell. Are TiGG and mummay good players? Yes. Are they better than rossy and diceyxz? Yeah I think so. Are they gonna make playoffs? almost certainly not. This is just another case of all the other teams have been improving around them so they're just left in the dust
Mad: Sell. I would be surprised if someone could name a single thing going in this teams favor. I feel so bad for ange. He was a top 5 controller phase 1 yet somehow the team has gotten WORSE after changes. obviously the team has internal problems and teams are now boycotting scrimming them. id bet money they win less than 40 rounds total
OR: UBER BUY. God i love pancakes so much.
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