I want to make this a long thread throughout Champions and will update after every match. Also this is based on personal opinions and enjoyibility, so don't come at me if you disagree with me.
The matches will be rated on how long they went for, the storyline, how good the competition on both sides were as well as how exciting they were. Individual Stats don't take into account.
August 1
Match 1 : GenG vs Sentinels
Map Score : 2-0
Round Score : 26-15
Not really much to say about this match other than that it was really one sided. GenG stomped Sentinels with their plays and plannings and there were decisions from Sentinels that didn't really make sense to me or anyone really. Overall a bad match. Shows how dominant GenG are and the flaws and gaps in Sen's game. Really a disappointing game for all it could be.
Rating: 47/100Match 2 : Heretics vs Fun Plus Phoenix
Map Score : 2-1
Round Score : 38-38
Actual instant classic. No one expected this to go that far. Everyone was waiting for the Geng vs Sentinels match but this was the one that came out of syllabus. Miniboo had an off day but FPX played phenomenal for a team which is often looked over due to their region. This match showcased the resilience and discipline of China as a region. Heretics were finding it hard to keep up with FPX and this match is a true definition of how competitive this group is.
Rating : 93/100
August 2
Match 3 : DRX vs KRU
Map Score : 2-1
Round Score : 28-25
This match began with Kru absolutely dominating DRX on Haven which made everyone think this was going to be a poor showing from Pacific's second seeded team however that soon changed as DRX and Flashback locked in Abyss. Flashback opened his international record with a 50 kill classic. Some great heroplays from him. Overall, this had the chance to be a really good match but in all honesty KRU didn't show up to the last two maps and it was complete dominance from DRX on said maps. Still a fun game.
Rating : 71/100Match 4 : Fnatic vs Bilibili Gaming
Map Score : 2-0
Round Score : 26-13
BLG entered this matchup as heavy underdogs and rightfully so. This is Fnatic who have looked like a top 3 team in the world since signing Hiro. But everyone remembers last year and Simp4S0m was dawning a FNC flair. But Fnatic turned out to be too strong. Despite a few heroic rounds from Whzy on Bind, Fnatic were too strong and closed Lotus with a 2-0. Started off fine but ended with Fnatic simply overpowering their opponents.
Rating : 40/100
August 3
Match 5 : Leviatan vs Talon
Map Score: 2-0
Round Score : 26:19
Primmie's international debut once again proved how insane he truly is. His reaction time is great and his agent pool is very strong probably from playing ranked. Lev opened the day as heavy favourites but everyone was excited about the Aspas vs Primmie match up. The match began with Talon's map pick in Bind which they were up by 9-11 but Lev closed it off quickly by winning consecutive rounds. Kingg showed how truly underrated he is on this map as he ended with a +10 on Bind. Good map. Map 2 Talon began with a weird composition with Primmie on Sage. Primmie was the mvp on this map but despite that, his teammates didn't show up and Lev ended it with a 13-8. There were times when the game was in truly Talon's hand but they let it go everytime. Map 2 Primmie needed a bit support and that wasn't there which resulted in them getting 2-0 and falling to the lower brackets. Not a phenomenal showing from Leviatan either. They are capable of doing way better than this but I suppose they will eventually warm up as the tournament goes on.
Rating : 55/100Match 6 : Trace vs Vitality
Map Score : 2-1
Round Score : 35-33
Oh what an upset. The stage of Champions is brutal. EMEA are the victims of the first upset of this edition and it's them boys from China who have done it again. What an absolute beautiful discipline. No one expected them to do this. China is up. It's the same memories that haunt NRG to this day. Truly a tough fought first map which went to OT after Vitality made a comeback but Trace eventually pulled through 15-13. Map 2 saw Vitality dominate Trace on their map pick with a score of 13-7 and in map 3 things were starting to look bad for Trace in the beginning. Maybe China were meant for disappointment. But they didn't lose hope and remained resilient to eventually thrash Vitality 13-7 with 7 consecutive attack rounds to close it off. What a match. China is here and they are here to compete.
Rating : 85/100
August 4
Match 7 : G2 vs Paper Rex
Map Score : 2-0
Round Score : 26-17
Boring. That's what the usual consensus was about G2. "They don't have enough fire power", "Fundamentals will only take you so far". But G2 today proved how important fundamentals are. They did what you are taught in your day 1 of FPS games. Take team fights, be together, trade back and stay calm. And stay calm they did. Icebox was the map they picked. In the beginning the stakes looked pretty even. But soon enough, G2 took charge and ended the game with a 13-8. PRX looked lost. Heroics from Mindfreak couldn't save them. But it was G2 map. So maybe there was still hope. That turned to be a misconception as G2 thrashed the first half of PRX's map pick and ended their defense on 9-3. The double duelist comp was not being able to keep up with G2's gameplan. Jinggg looked lost, constantly botching the Neon movement. For an agent that is supposed to be fast and movement based, he just looked stiff. The second half saw PRX do some form of a comeback but it was too late as despite winning 6 rounds, G2 closed the game off 13-9. This has been a generational perfomance from G2 and just as bad of a performance from the third seed of Pacific. With China improving as much as it has and FUT still in the group, the question arises, is PRX getting grouped? Overall very one sided.
Rating : 60/100Match 8 : Edward Gaming vs FUT
Map Score : 2-0
Round Score : 26-19
China is here and they are here to dominate as EDG made easy work of the EMEA fourth seed. There was this stigma about Edward Gaming not performing in internationals even with the other Chinese teams playing their hearts out in the previous match days and today EDG proved all of them wrong. They showed why they are the best team of this ever so growing region. It's not KangKang and friends anymore. They played like a team. KangKang wasn't even the best player on the team as Smoggy dismantled FUT with his Clove and Brim. They made it seem easy. FUT also have continued to look bad since EMEA playoffs and with them losing to EDG, it sets them up for a date with Paper Rex in a lower bracket elimination. EDG will look forward to represent China even better as their next opponents are one of the contenders of this whole tournament in G2. We can expect great things from this team and who knows, maybe the underdogs go on to upset a lot of people and teams.
Rating : 65/100
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