I'm curious what people think, can DRX pop off and get a high placement in Reykjavik?
If you've watched a couple of their last matches, they look much better than they did in Berlin and in the opening stages of qualifiers.
They are much more coordinated, disciplined and have refined their plays around their main duelist Rb. They rely less on strict set-piece strategies and they have improved their mid-round adaptations.
P.S. Mako is still one of the more underrated controllers
I think they improved during the VCT. Rb now feels more comfortable on Jett and is showing why he was called the best player in Korea back in 2021. However I do not like losing K1ng and Lakia for Zest. Firepower wise thats a clear downgrade.
However what's scary is that their competition improved as well. Particularly the EMEA teams. But I do believe they will go far since one of the FPX players thought DRX were gonna win masters after scrimming them, and as we all know FPX won the EMEA VCT.
One thing that gives me hope is that there were no new maps like Fracture where DRX just pulls up and realize that their entire region was playing it wrong. I'm worried how Mako will adapt to new controllers.
Worst case group stage exit. Best case 2nd place. It's up for grabs.
Easily one of the EMEA teams, either G2 or FPX.
Guard I think are in for a early exit, everytime they faced a top team like C9, Xset, Optic, they had to adapt after losing in order to beat them. I think at masters ALL the caliber of teams are around that level and you don't get second chances.
Optic I think are just a solid team but I could say the same for both APAC teams and DRX. I give them the same chances as DRX to win aka not high at all.
Fnatic are good, if Derke is on fire this team will be a scary opponent to face.
Loud are too unknown for me to judge. I'll give them solid chances and assume they're about as strong as the APAC teams.
Zeta are about Xset level. A team that's good to be good domestically but can't beat other top dog teams.
Zest is currently, at least in my eyes, reliable. He fits this team comfortably, and I say that as a big fan of Lakia and K1ng, who I really want to see on the same roster consistently (not like they used to play on VS). Zest is better fit for this team, when we take into consideration how this team plays. Take Doma vs Braveaf analogy, Doma is a ridiculous fragger and awesome flex player, yet FNC performs better with inexperienced Braveaf.
Yes, EMEA got better, but so did NA. Loud could make some noise too... I mean, the game evolves, many teams & regions got better.
Mako proved himself in many instances and on many agents, however, I do think that the current meta could prove to be challenging for him. If he cannot be a "site-locking" presence he can be, due to jump in explosive attacks recently, DRX as a whole could suffer.
W take btw
Here's what I dont understand. I understand cutting k1ng if you want Rb to go dedicated Jett, Buzz swap to sentinel because he can't play initiator.
That leaves me wondering. Why the fuck aren't they keeping Lakia and make him dedicated sova? Dude has good comms, plays unselfish, good utility, and most importantly can frag with the best.
Having lan inexperienced zest as their sova and igl (?) is freaking me out. But luckily zest personality is very confident I just hope he doesnt lose it for masters. Also not sure if zest is completely dedicated igl as during the in game comms sometimes I heard Rb give midround callouts. Could be a freeflow thing but I could be wrong.
Too many shit could go sour this masters. Rb could start magically choking as he has a tendency to go invisible in important games when the whole team is getting bamboozled. Zest could just not be fit for international play and drag the team down. Mako could just not be as good of an omen/brimstone as he is on astra/viper. Buzz and stax μΈμ , they are consistent performers in tournaments.
Classic example of what I'm talking about is WGS almost upsetting DRX. When you're down that deep against a strong team like the Guard you won't be given a full comeback.
50% top 8
30% top 4
the gap between top 8 and top 4 is just 1 bo3 it doesn't make sense there's a 60% discrepancy
also I believe the teams in groups are lowkey stronger than the teams that will be seeded in top 8, there's a bigger chance DRX dont make it out of groups
Loud will prob go to groups if NIP loses to Leviathan/KRU
G2 and Fnatic will be in groups
Optic will be in groups
Meanwhile you have PRX, KRU, and Guard seeded, teams I can EASILY see DRX beating handedly.
Discord