I feel like the teams that have no aura, are the teams that, even if they are out of form, are very hard to eliminate, DRX, Trace, EDG, (Lev too IMO, but Aspas helps alleviate that a lot), it all feels like if they aren't unbeatable titans, the teams that when they are off, are extremely off, Trace in past tournaments and through out the regular seasons, didn't look like or feel like world beaters, same with DRX and EDG, they all seem very beatable because they don't have proven track records of even when out of form, they find ways to win anyway. Teams like Sentinels, G2, Heretics. Even when their players don't seem to be in form, when it seems like they are getting diffed on the day, they find ways to win rounds anyway. That's just my opinion and I could be very wrong, but I think about teams like Optic(2022), Gambit(2021), Loud(2022-2023), Fnatic(2023), teams that, even if certain players aren't performing, or even the team as a whole, they will just will themselves to victory.

I didn't name GenG because I felt like compared to their group, I wouldn't be mad if they got grouped, surprised for sure, but seeing how hard their group is, I wouldn't be that disappointed. I have them predicted to make it out, and potentially all the way to back to back trophies, but I can see a world where they get grouped

What team, if they get grouped, would be the most disappointing? This isn't about which teams will get grouped, but which teams you don't expect to get grouped, and would be disappointed if they do.

My teams are Fnatic and Lev, I think they are the 2 teams that compared to who are in their group, should have nearly free tickets to the playoffs, assuming they play up to their standards that they have shown.

W prediction, you got it on the head

VAMOS KRU
VAMOS KEZNIT
VAMOS SHYY
VAMOS MTA
VAMOS HEAT
VAMOS MELSER

The M80 core is still out there and they have been together since 2021 when they were known as ghost, so maybe poaching them may work but that's an iffy fix

If you think about the teams that have been successful this year, it's all teams that kept (at least) 3 man cores together
Fnatic: Derke, Boaster, Alfajer
Loud: Aspas, Less, Saadhak
EG: Boostio, Jawgemo, C0m(Demon1 helped a lot but these 3 have been together for a long time)
NRG: FNS, Victor, Crashies
Paper Rex: kept original roster(Forsaken, Jingg, Davai, Mindfreak, and Benkai and added Something)
DRX(to a lesser extent): kept whole roster and added Foxy9
Even EDG(to a lesser extent): have been together ever since China first had pro teams(only the replacement of life)

All the best teams are teams that have stayed together mostly to keep chemistry and coordination strong
Even some Duo teams like Liquid(who kept Jamppi and Soulcas and added another duo:NAts and Redgar) have seen success because their structures were super strong

o7

Honestly, not terrible from a team that was formed like a month ago.

have we gotten confirmation that Acend is making franchising? If so then I agree this team needs more time and now has it but with the future of pro valorant as a whole in question I can't put trust in teams not ready to win right now especially since the big organizations are gonna poach the hell out of the "smaller" teams

Probably, Link was properly benched on June 3rd, wasn't officially signed to Acend on July 29th, worse case scenario He has about 8 days of practice with the team(only practicing with the team when he was properly signed) but this is highly unlikely, best case he has over a month to practice which is I would assume would be enough to gel properly. Something in between is the most likely out come and is enough to have set plays but cohesion is shaky.

Dropping Zeek and picking up L1nk is a desperation move out of acend that was made way too late. this move was made a few weeks before the LCQ and that's simply not enough time to get used to your new team, especially for L1nk as a player coming from Team Liquid(the team without a stable IGL and no clear structure). side note: I don't hate the pick up, I just feel like it was just made too late.