If the semis is all EMEA. This could very well happen.
EMEA fans/talent would be hyped, and of course we would all understand why, but it would be a bad sign for the future health of the esport.
I think a lot of us want to believe VAL can be a truly global esport in that any region can have a team capable of being World Champions.
(And no, I wouldn't be happy if all 3 NA teams had made semis. That would be pretty bad as well)
Not really. If champions has shown anything, it's that the next International tournament will be even harder to call.
The skill gap in Valorant is tiny and rapidly shrinking as u can see by recent results.
So if EMEA wins the first title and gets top4, cool. But who gives a fuck, the next even could see us in NAs shoes.
It's not even like NA got thrashed, all maps they've lost were by 2 or 3 rounds max.
Other regions are playing well and looking strong. So by next year, this whole thing could look very different.
Fair points, all.
I hope you're right, at least in that EMEA dominance doesn't become the norm. I don't dislike EMEA at all (I actually really enjoy the 4 EMEA playoff teams, all for different reasons) but it's more that so many esports become dominated by one region, and it'd be great if VAL can avoid that.
TBF it would be more encouraging if one of the EMEA playoff teams were a Turkish squad. I loved watching SMB in the last Masters.
It's not a bad thing to have these four, not bad at all - to have them dominate would be a different story though.
And true, with how little CIS representation there is, it's good to see Gambit do well. Especially because they are very wholesome in how they engage with their competitors.
I agree with everything you said except for the part where you claim that Val can only be a global esport if any region can win the title. I only really follow CS, LOL, and Val so I don't really know about the other esports, but in CS and LOL, those games are dominated by one or two regions. In the league worlds playoffs, there were 2 teams that weren't from China or Korea and both of them got knocked out. Historically any team from EU or NA has very little chance of getting out of groups let alone hold the title. In summary, you make very good points, but having one or two regions dominate may seem boring, but can be quite profitable in the future.
I see your points.
Those esports you mentioned are the exact examples I was thinking of when I was explaining the issue of esports that are dominated by one region.
True, they are 'global' in that there are pro teams across the globe - but there is very little competitive balance between the regions, as you identified. Sure, that model is lucrative to an extent, we see these esports make money - but we lack developed esports that have competitive balance across the globe, and while it might be idealistic on my part, I'd like to see VAL accomplish that as much as possible since it seems to be the best esport candidate yet to do so.
Tl;dr we could be more ambitious in how we conceptualize what a global esport is, and how balanced the competition between regions can be.
Discord