DISCLAIMER: This is a super subjective post; obviously it does not account for every player and makes large generalizations. It also only considers franchise players because I'm too ignorant about APAC and EMEA ascension teams. I'm going to put results first because I know everyone loves that, but I'll put my methods below. Enjoy!!
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The Best of Each League:
Best of Americas: Controllers
Even though they're missing the arguably greatest controller player right now (Mako) a surplus of insane controllers saturates the Americas franchising league, with more undoubtedly incoming after Ascension.
WORLDCLASS Controllers in Americas include:
- kiNgg of Leviatán
- s0m of NRG
- Marved of Sentinels
leading the way with upcomers,
- jakee of Clould9
- Khalil of Furia
- Mazino of Leviatán
having a bit more to prove.
Honorable mentions in this category, consisting of WORLDCLASS players who have been shafted this season by less inspired teams or role switches, are:
- pANcada of Sentinels
- bang of 100Thieves.
Best of EMEA: Sentinels
In the wake of the chamber meta, EMEA's lethargic adaptation of the agent proved to be in their advantage as they currently hold a monopoly on top sentinels.
WORLDCLASS Sentinels in EMEA include:
- Alfajer of Fnatic
- SUYGETSU of NaVi
- nAts of Team Liquid
with,
- ceNder of Vitality
also appearing on the top 25 players in EMEA franchising.
Best of Pacific: Duelists
Pacific's top 25 list is much more rounded than EMEA or Americas, and their WORLDCLASS player list doesn't indicate any major numerical strength or weakness. However, typical of some of the Pacific league's fondness for ultrafast pace, high intensity playstyles, the duelist roles stand proud here, counting more primary duelists than any other region. And yes, the three current top proven duelists in Pacific are all on the same team. Take a guess which one.
WORLDCLASS Duelists in Pacific include:
- something of Paper Rex
- f0rsakeN of Paper Rex
- Jinggg of Paper Rex
with,
- Sayaplayer of T1
- Foxy9 of DRX
- SkRossi of Global Esports
- Dep of ZETA Division
- T3xture of Global Esports
capable of becoming WORLDCLASS players in the near future.
Honorable mentions here include:
- Meteor of Gen.G
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Now of course, we must do the flipside.
The Worst of Each League:
Worst of Americas: Duelists
The end of the chamber meta hit the Americas hard, and these days only one pure duelist can be considered WORLDCLASS, that duelist of course being Aspas of Loud, an absolute demon. Zekken of Sentinels and Leaf of Cloud9 are WORLDCLASS players as well, but fulfil a flex duelist function. Moreover, in the top 25 players ranked by VLR rating in the Americas, only 5 of them are pure duelists and 3 are flex duelists compared to 7 duelists and 2 flex duelists in EMEA, and 7 duelists and 1 flex duelist in the Pacific. The Americas lacks in pure duelists.
Worst of EMEA: Controllers
EMEA suffers from a massive drought of top tier controllers. In their top 25, the highest rated controller is Boaster, mainly due to Fnatic's dominance over the League. They have 0 WORLDCLASS controllers compared to 1 for Pacific, and 3 for the Americas. Part of this is due to EMEA IGLs, usually the bottom fraggers, preferring the controller position while Americas and Pacific IGLs have recently taken over the flex/initiator positions most prominently. Hopefully, ascension brings new life into the EMEA controller scene.
Worst of Pacific: Initiators
The Pacific league has 9 initiators in their top 25, more than any other region with Americas possessing 8 and EMEA possessing 6. Despite this statistic, only one of those initiators can be considered WORLDCLASS: xeta of T1. None of the others except perhaps stax of DRX approach the same tier. On the other hand, Americas has one initiator in WORLDCLASS with two being snubbed by their team's performances and another five within spitting reach of that mark. EMEA has two WORLDCLASS initiators, Leo of Fnatic, and Shao of Navi, with another three close behind. Many of Pacific's initiators might be deserving of the WORLDCLASS title, but until they prove it on LAN, we'll never know.
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That concludes the essay! I gathered this data by taking the top 25 players from each region ranked by VLR rating, then color coded them based on role (Duelist, Initiator, Sentinel, Controller, or Flex), and then took the top 7 or 8 players I thought were deserving of the WORLDCLASS label. I then italicized the other players I thought approached that label but needed to prove themselves a bit more to earn it.
If you would like my color coded Excel sheet that I gathered this data on, feel free to dm me. If you're insane and read this whole thing, thank you for reading :)
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