Grouping in 4's, doing it from the bottem 4 up.
I'll explain a bit below, but here is the basic tiers
EG, ASE, T1, EDG
Fut, Navi, The other NA team, Liquid
DRX, PRX, Fnatic, Loud
9 - 12:
- EG: No demon1, simple as that. Jokes aside, demon1 being gone fucks literally all except their fracture comps. It's the same situation as how Fnatic went to Masters without Derke. They can just do their best. It's just that their whole system and vibes are shook without Demon1 there. Could they do well? Maybe, we've seen more wild shit than that out of EG.
- ASE: Does Life pop the fuck off? If yes, then maybe they can win a series. They did win the invitational prior to tokyo, so they might be first seed? They just lost the second invitational in 3rd, so I don't know if that will allow EDG (who got 2nd and 1st) to go over them in seeding? I have no clue. Regardless, it's if Life pops off.
- T1: Lucky ass team that goddead had a bad game. I'm in cripling pain daily as a Gen.G fan, help me. Legit though, I think they are probably the weakest team here except for a ASE where life plays well.
- EDG: I hate to put EDG here. I hate to. But, they have YET to win a series against an international team, and all 3 who they have lost to are sunsetting teams. PRX and Liquid in champs, both of which still brutally underperformed and Liquid imploded, and 100T in Lockin where they looked bad. I think they'd be the strongest of the bottem 4 if everyone plays as I'd expect.
5 - 8:
- Fut: Logically, they're gonna have some hard matches. I think they could do some shit and mess up some brackets, but (I'm going to use this for each team going forward) they just don't look good enough to beat the top 4.
- Liquid: They rely too much on Sayf playing well to be a consistent team. If sayf can just drop 30 every map then they could do well, but that is unlikely. They are just too inconsistent of a team.
- C9/NRG: I probably would have swapped this spot with EG if C9 makes it, and would have swapped Navi (changed from Fut, them turks insane) and EG if NRG makes it, in the event Demon1 could come to tokyo. But allas. I believe in the NA teams more than I do EDG and the rest of the lower of the bottem tier. Just not good enough for the top tier.
- Navi: They don't look like prime FPX and Cned doesn't look like 2021 Cned. Great team historically, good team now. Maybe if they figure out a set comp and suygetsu plays more to his 2022 ability, then Navi could challenge the top 4.
1-4:
- Fnatic: They have lost 2 maps. They have lost 0 series. As much as the bottem of EMEA looks like 3 of the 5 worst franchising teams, Fnatic still crushed them. When they lost a map vs Fut, they lost 3 more rounds. When they lost a map to BBL, it was when their statistically best player was replaced by a sub (if you stat check it, make sure to make it regular season only. I'm keeping it for dramatic effect). Fnatic are a force to be reckoned with, and are easily the favorite heading into Tokyo. They really have no weak ends. Here is the other thing, from my knowledge of Japan and Valorant, Fnatic are also the likely crowd favorites. What Loud had pushing them in Brazil, Fnatic will probably have in Tokyo.
- Loud: They look like greek gods out there. They and Fnatic should have a lasting rivalry through the next few years as the leaders of their respective regions. If i was to guess, them and Fnatic would get a rematch in the Tokyo grand finals.
- DRX: They are DRX, literally the top 4 team. They just look better than every team plced below them.
- PRX: These men bullied DRX. These men will bully you. If they have a good day, then just FF the match. There is no point. PRX is a top 4 team and still the wildcard of the tournament. They aren't the favorites, but they are my favorites. They could also be a crowd favourite, due to being a pacific team and how Something used to play in the Japanese league. Idk. This is W gaming, but with a 3rd fully busted aimer. One of them will pop off on a map. The question is: Can Fnatic or Loud stop the fire before it spreads to the others? DRX couldn't. Let's just wait and see.
That's the essay for the week.