Yes

LOUD beat Fnatic on the final 2 maps by 4/5 rounds. They weren't losing those to fnatic. LOUD literally needed to win 2 rounds out 9 to win and choked.

1. Mickey Mouse tournament that only existed to kick off franchising (won't exist next year).
2. Played in weakest region, and as a result never got tested.
3. Apparently #2 in weakest region is good?
4. Only in your dreams.

Fnatic got a lucky run. SEN, Furia, and 100t finished with losing records in NA, NAVI turned out to be mediocre, and LOUD blew an 11-3 lead. Not saying that fnatic is bad or doesn't deserve the trophy, but that's not a good comparison.

Worry about getting through lcq first

I think it's because Liquid before their playoff run had an OK season at best.
We're just waiting to see if they're peaking, or if it was a fluke run.
I don't think they'll win the event, but wouldn't be surprised to see them crack the top 3. Should be a menace come Champs.

When T1 qualifies in the lower bracket, we basically have our 4th NA team.

EDG gonna make Angel's brain melt. Still, I expect NAVI to win 2-1. Hoping I'm wrong though.

LAN jitters? DRX can probably continue this experiment through to Champs and see if it works. But if they don't they'll need to make changes.

Let's not forget LOUD bombed out of groups in Copenhagen, only to win Champs. Blowing up a roster because of one tourney is pretty dumb, especially if they still end up making playoffs.

DRX definitely need to invest in less readable strats and figure this out though because it's only gonna get harder at Champs.

Nah, BCJ is a good kid. He has continued to support this team even though he was benched.
They needed that punch of an elite duelist. Jawgemo was good, but he's not no Aspas or Ardiis.

1. Core of the team has been together forever. Chemistry goes a long way in creating championship runs.
2. Demon1 added the top tier duelist that EG has been missing since this squad was formed.
3. Strats for this team has always been solid, and even in the early part of this season you could see the potential, but the firepower was too lackluster. As they got more time they created a very strong and hard to beat formula that they knew how to execute on.
4. Boostio and c0m finally making the jump into excellent Tier 1 players rather than borderline Tier 2 players. Boostio especially. Literally putting on a Nats like performance on sentinel so far.
5. Confidence, the underdog, and nothing to lose. Halfway through the season they had almost no chance to make it to playoffs let alone Tokyo. They took the opportunity to play with nothing to lose. Everyone was already clowning on EG anyways, even if they didn't make the NA playoffs because 100T won, they still would've earned some respect. Now that they have proved themselves, their confidence is through the roof.

134-12. That's impressive.

It can be really hard to escape depression, it often feels like there is only one option to do so.
RIP Twisten. You will be dearly missed.

Well I had them 3rd best, so it's not like I don't think they'll be able to do that lmao.

Player quality I agree, I just don't trust them to not throw games.

Could be. But you can't throw games and not get knocked down a peg for it. Especially when FPX got 1st and 2nd domestically last year with the same excuse.

I don't mean that as a disservice to T1 or FUT. Both teams could beat any team on a good day. I just think even a weakened prx is better.
I am willing to be wrong though. T1 is my favorite Pacific team and FUT is my favorite EMEA team.

They still clear FUT and T1 without him imo. Anything beyond that I have no idea.

Fnatic has one loss all season. Would honestly prefer for them to bomb out, but can't pick against them. They too good.

Thank you for your insight, Pee Drinker.

EDG needs a more competitive league to help them get over that bump imo. Maybe if they go crazy on the scrims, we'll finally see them be able to go the distance.

S Tier - FNATIC, LOUD
A Tier - DRX, PRX, NRG, Liquid
B Tier - NAVI, FUT, T1
C Tier - EG, EDG
D Tier - ASE

FNATIC still looks like a tournament favorite despite losing the EMEA Grand Final. Liquid seems to have their number though, having either played them close or straight up beating them rather convincingly. This does mean FNATIC isn't unstoppable, but with them having to lose twice to get eliminated, it's hard for me to pick them to not make top 3.

LOUD is hot and is only getting hotter. The loss to NRG seems like a distant memory, and this team could not be stopped in playoffs.

DRX is a borderline S Tier team. However they have lost 3 out of their last 6 games which clearly puts them below LOUD and FNATIC.

PRX is S Tier with something. They might not be fnatic or loud level, but they would beat any team that isn't the aforementioned imo. However no something means PRX will likely be weaker, the question is by how much? I still have faith in PRX, especially with not being in groups, to make a deep run.

NRG is really good. Given the chance they could win the tourney, but having to play in groups, as well as their performance against loud in the Grand Finals makes me believe they will be no higher that top 3.

Team Liquid looks like they're peaking at the right time. I want to put them higher, but I think this event is their real chance to prove that they are truly elite. I give them a solid chance to win the whole thing. They could've also peaked at the worst time and come crashing down when it matters most (think of G2 last year).

NAVI is my biggest question mark. Even if they are saving strats, there is no way they should've finished 4th in EMEA . However, I think they'll likely make me eat shit for this and finish in the top 6 of this event (at least). I can't in good conscience put them in A Tier with how mediocre they have looked though.

FUT is pretty good. They're also pretty inconsistent. However I think the cards are in their favor. They just got to beat a demonless EG and ASE to make playoffs. However if they make playoffs (and they should) they'd clearly be the worst playoff team and I'd pick them to g0 0-2 in playoffs.

T1 is peaking at the right time too. However they haven't really beat a top tier team yet. They did look great against DRX, but I still think they need more time.

EG without demon could be decent, they do have the advantage of playing with nothing to lose. They already made Champs, and everyone expects them to lose. I actually think they will beat FUT in their first match, but I would bet my house that DRX would beat EG, and FUT would win the rematch imo.

EDG is a good Chinese team. But the Chinese valorant scene is still far behind the other 3 regions and EDG being the best Chinese team probably isn't the best sign since they just end up playing like fnatic if they all were on crack. (Elite aim, completely nonsensical strats)

ASE is not very good imo. They lose both games 2-0 imo and likely get dumpstered.

Less so imo. Leaf is definitely good across many agents. The roster probably could've worked out too if you just look at skill, but the amount of money a team like that costs demands LOUD or FNATIC level of dominance.
Putting Leaf on anything but duelist though is a shame albeit. He would definitely be a top tier flex, but is just so talented at duelist.

Realistically, Guard is at least a .500 team in franchising if not better. Their preparation and chemistry easily makes them outshine many T1 teams.

The Guard and M80 already basically locked in playoffs in Split 1 so they could coast in Split 2 without showing too much.
Not really sure what G2 is doing, but Oxygen has been improving throughout the whole season.

All teams in Tokyo minus the Chinese teams and EG are capable of winning it imo. Shame Demon1 won't be there, but I will severely underestimate them in hope they will prove me wrong again.

Honestly though, I think this is Pacific's best chance to win.

It's OK, seeding is fucked anyways for Tokyo.

For all season EMEA looked like a 1 team league. Even when teams got a map on them, fnatic would dominate the rest. For Liquid to show up like this in a BO5 is incredible. Especially when how shaky their season has been.
Just a couple thoughts:

1. Liquid is a contender, not a pretender. They will likely need to be more consistent to win Tokyo, but they seem to be gelling at the right time and it's time to stop doubting them.
2. 2/3 of the domestic favorites place runner-up (maybe 3 if NRG wins). Seeding for Tokyo is gonna be strange.
3. Even as dominant as fnatic has been, valorant continues to have incredible parity. There's a good chance we're gonna get our 8th international event without a repeat winner.

FPX couldn't be there either. Team Liquid got their spot despite definitely not deserving it.

He will be when he gives up trying to play yoru in fracture lol.

Great igl, mid-rounding is average at best.
Fnatic is the team that either rolls you before the game even starts, or that gets destroyed in the midround and chokes.

I wish. Acend was the one EMEA team I liked back in the day. Shame 2022 was such a disastrous year for them.

FUT quickly taking their spot as my favorite though.

Old liquid always did great against non-emea teams.

Don't outaim Derke imo. However, even if they're slightly worse than Derke, there's 3 Derke level players on PRX, so yeah that's scary.

I think PRX's style is what would make fnatic crumble though. Boaster would absolutely get flustered.

I mean, there's a lot of teams that can beat Fnatic.
Being the best team in the world doesn't mean you won't ever lose a game.
Also seems like FUT is peaking at the right time.

Nah, demon1 is cracked out of his mind. EG is terrible without him though

Furia could, but their mental has to be pretty bad right now. If they stomp leviatan, then maybe they can get some momentum, but LOUD probably wins against Furia by at least +10, so not sure they can maintain any momentum gained.

Brazil can keep an NA team out if they win ascension.
Just be glad G2 had an Andrew Tate moment or it'd be 6/4 rather than 5/5.

3 NA teams and 3 SA teams are in the playoffs now.
At least 1 of each is now guaranteed to make Masters.
I think it'll be LOUD, NRG, C9.

Goated

Because since moving to coach she's only had one good Split. She came into this year 5-9 in main events and currently sits at 10-14.
However I don't blame her too much. EG has never had top level talent.

This is what happens when teams don't get time to practice. Sen using comps that were meta back at lock in.

Mibr in their current form is much worse than kru.

Furia is on fraud watch as they've beaten EG without demon1, Leviatan, mibr, and Kru. I still think they're good, but they've definitely won against weak teams.

NRG was trying new things early on, and now since playing comfort picks look closer to LOUD and C9 than they do to 100t and Furia.

Leviatan is still better than sentinels. Even if they're a fraud.

The amount of Sen copium in this chat is insane.
Furia wins comfortably 2-0

Good thing they clear NAVI too

As long as Gank qualifies for Champs I won't care. Need to see all former gambit players at Champs.

Reyna did over 1k more damage than you, and had 3 more FKs than you did. ACS cares about how much impact per round you had, not so much if you died alot

Why do people hate on Lev so much? Both losses they had were extremely close, and they embarrased mibr way more than Sen with Marved did.

C9 should absolutely be above them because record, but 100t, and especially Sen should be at most equals with them.

I think it's a fine edge. On one hand Tenz fans have been insufferable saying that tenz was just having a bad game for almost 2 years now. He's no where near as good as his fans claim he is.
However the amount of hate he gets after every loss is absurd, especially considering everything going on with him right now is crazy.

There's 3 problems that led to this whole thing.

1. Tenz being the most clouted player in the whole game, making him basically untouchable for sentinels.
2. Tenz is obviously has a mental block right now. The amount of pressure from expectations as well as life is making him wildly inconsistent.
3. The downfall of Sick as well as the old double duelist meta. I think people don't realize how much Sick played a factor in early sentinels success. I found just as many games where he carried the game as tenz did, and this made it so much easier for him. As soon as sick had to start playing support roles more though, Sentinels level of play dropped off, and the pressure on Tenz went up drastically.

Br/Latam lol. I don't think many NA fans hate their counterparts down south, even if we're hated by them. Been rooting for LATAM to win it all since Kru's run though. Would love to see Leviatan lift the trophy.