Think about it. Primmie, N4RRATE, Karon, and I think I'm forgetting 1 all came from ranked straight to T1 and looked very very good. Now we see the Rankers team in challengers looking good and they have 2 ranked demons canezerra and nightz. You don't even have to be #1 for 10 acts in a row like primmie. Karons best placement was #2 like 1.5 years ago.
I'm not saying it's 100% better I'm saying it's not that bad of an option. You can grow your brand, much more possibilities than T2 but you do have to deal with ranked.