Yoru, ESPECIALLY if you're factoring in cost. Good in basically any situation. The FLOOR of it is being a 12 second unbreakable drone that moves faster than running speed.

Chichoo fanboy before it was cool

Assuming this happens, really hope he gets picked up after toronto or gets into a good situation next season. He's an incredible smokes player and if he's able to go back to that role I think he'll be a very positive force for whoever signs him.

G2/VIT
-----------
EDG (SEN is either here or alone in mini tier below)
-----------
DRX

Could see any of those teams winning the event
Then TL/TE both have had pretty impressive moments, but have a sample size issue which makes them feel unreliable to believe in them.
T1 a slight step down from that imo cause they've been pretty uninspiring outside of the GF against DRX, but they have talent so could still step up.

It slightly extends the duration of the shield after coming out of ult compared to shooting it the moment he wins the fight.

Jemkin Lotus ace against NS

I can manage the CN times without destroying my sleep, but any later and I'm cooked. Hoping it's just the same as them.

I know we don't have the game schedule yet, but do we know what the times will be for Bangkok? I'd guess like, 2-3 hours later than the usual Pacific start times just based off timezones, but curious if it's been announced?

EDG started off terrible, but they were damn near champs fork in their final 2 series. To say otherwise kinda shows that you didn't watch the lower or grand finals.

And Trace looked good too, they put up a great fight in grands. Both teams (and everyone lol) looked way better than T1 have, so it's kinda crazy to slot T1 into the top 4 while talking about EDG slow start

Don't think so

G2 and (probably) VIT are just so absurdly good right now that they're putting the other top teams who are in early season form to shame

Not on the level of the others. The same quality as SEN/TH, sure.

If longevity is factored in, it's far and away Mako

If it's just kinda general "sustained peak", Marved at least has an argument, but I'd still go with Mako. Don't think anyone else is really in the same tier for this discussion.

Respectfully, how are you going to give T1 props for barely scraping by PRX when PRX proceeded to continue looking terrible the rest of the tournament and be probably the biggest disappointment of the season so far?

Calling GENG shaky is completely fair and I agree, but it's pretty laughable to say that while completely neglecting to mention that PRX looked genuinely awful against T1.

FNC above the 2 teams that beat them at kickoff while simultaneously not even having a particularly impressive win seems kinda crazy to me, even as a serial FNC coper

Assuming the expected teams come out:

1. G2
2. VIT
   ---------
3. EDG
4. TH
5. SEN/NRG
   -----------
6. Trace
   ----------
   7/8. Whoever comes out of Pacific

I interpreted this more about the players supporting their duelist directly than people who are best know for their fragging that just don't play duelist.

Real and based take

Zellsis is another that belongs in that group too I think. It's not as frequent as it used to be, but I'm always impressed by his supportive util when he's playing flash ini.

Considering they were hyped up as a super team and a fairly popular pick to win Masters, I think it's a fair characterization

TLN legit looked like they played that Haven map without coms. T1 keep putting up close games against teams who look absolutely horrendous. It's good that they're winning, cause it's buying them time to get it together, but it's extremely uninspiring that they keep playing these close games considering the form their opponents are in.

I was very on board with GENG remaining the top team in the region throughout the offseason. Hard to really judge off just 1 official match, but their performance against RRQ just felt really uninspiring to me and kinda made me feel like I was coping to expect them to still be an international contender.

Idk, need more sample size from GENG and DRX especially, but I'm pretty worried about both Pacific teams getting insta bounced or only mustering 1 win at Masters. The good news at least, is that it looks like it may end up at the region with the most solid teams, or at least the biggest cluster of teams who can provide close matchups.

Fully agree

Feels like this next game desperately needs to impress or Pacific will have 1 team (if even that) that stands any chance at all at Bangkok

No hate, but this team's performance has been so far below expectation so far. They need to get it together fast if they wanna avoid getting bounced instantly at Bangkok (if they get there, which isn't even a given). A round away from losing to a giga trolling PRX team and then Talon plays ranked against them and the series is that close. What I've seen from these guys has not inspired much faith for their short term success.

and they control the flow of the game effortlessly

They can control my flow

I almost included DRX when I mentioned RRQ, just felt like RRQ were the ones who were being thought of slightly higher rn. DRX and them are basically neck and neck for likelihood to make imo.

Pacific is awful (top teams)

The average level of the region has been very impressive, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the region go 0-4 at Bangkok. Granted, the sample size is small, but all 3 of GENG, T1, PRX have left a ton to be desired imo and despite impressive, I don't see a team like RRQ hitting the level required to be a real threat internationally either. I'm not concerned long term, but I'm seriously pessimistic about the top end of Pacific going into Bangkok

Champs 2021
White Gaia (other variants fall off drastically)
Prelude

Ignoring the (likely) rage bait here - Calling Less washed is crazy when he was putting the entire team in the backpack early last season until they benched him for non performance reasons.

If we're talking about champs, it think we're playing that Leo is healthy enough to return. I think there's other teams that'd be better pure entertainment wise if Crashies is still playing at this level for them.

Yeah, I still think the process is valid if the goal was to maximize win probability. Have a tough time seeing the expected win % lower on Fracture.

It's just hilarious that a 6-0 immidiately started going the other way the second I spike LMAO

Well well well
OP is an idiot kekw

Yeah, that's what I meant when I said that, more about not showing stuff even if it cost them seeding. Started typing something along the lines of leaving Pearl map 5 since they haven't shown it yet and then Fracture which they've only shown once as map 4 for that reason, but it felt to speculative.

I think it's fair if they feel that way, but I disagree with picking your opponent's (possibly best, at least top 2) map even if you feel you've got a decent grasp on it. Obviously don't know what's going on internally, but based on everything we know, Fracture pretty clearly seems like the map they'd have the highest expected win % on in this series with Haven/Split gone.

Edit - I suppose it's also possible they don't care about seeding much and would wanna avoid showing stuff if possible. Don't know how likely, but could be on the table.

Why did bros pick Bind?
I know TE has tape they could presumably anti, but this is their 4th straight day of playing. Can't imagine they would've got much quality prep for it.

Surely Fracture, which has been a very good map for them historically, was the obvious 1st pick for them when Trace have a fantastic Bind.

I simply cannot put T1 at the top after they barely squeaked out a series against bad form, trolling PRX.

However, GENG haven't played, so it'd be heavy speculation to put them at the top I guess. I haven't been particularly impressed by the region (outside of some of the expected mid teams looking quite impressive), but we still haven't had many games yet. Too early to make a real take of it, but I'm worried that if GENG look meh, the top of this region will disappoint early in the year.

Unbreakable passive info
2 charges of grade A stall that has a ton of uses (including being possibly the best anti flood util in the game)

I'm personally not super big on her, but I can see the logic behind it and it has merit

It's already the fastest recharging piece of util in the game. It'd be ridiculously broken if they lowered the cooldown (presumably to 5 sec since signatures always go in increments of 5 sec)

Karon in 1vX
Chichoo when it's a pivotal fight in the round

This is a great shout. It felt like it was a miracle if a team too more than 1-2 rounds off their defense time at times.

What are some of the best maps of all time in VCT?

Meaning - Peak form (not all time) by a team on a given map. If you had to bet your life on a certain team to win a certain map, what wouks it be? Examples - FNC Lotus around Tokyo time, EG Fracture

Am I wrong remembering that Sayf is very much not down to play non duelist after the shit that happened don Liquid in '23? Roster cooks talent wise, but idk how roles work if that's an issue.

This is awesome!

I'm a big fan of systems that are intended to weigh things objectively in sports in general, so naturally I really like the idea for VCT. I think the numbers you have in mind appear to make a lot of sense on paper.

Only slight change I'd personally make is probably upping Champs a bit. I view the event as about 1.5x as important as a Masters, and then numbers you have are roughly more like 1.2-1.25x. In my experience, it almost seems like the average viewer has Champs as closer to 2x a Masters event, which feels way too high for me. The ratio you've got is very reasonable, but a bit on the low side for me personally. Just depends what you think about comparing the 2 events. Everything else looks fantastic and pretty fairly divided up!

Internally, I've always weighted Champs as about 1.5x as much as Masters. The just feels correct to me. I do think that it's maybe worth reevaluating for the 8 team Masters and making it slightly less, now that they seem to be sticking with that, but not too sure.

I'd like the idea of Champs being upped to 1200, Masters 2 being 800, and Masters 1 either remaining at 800, or dropping slightly to 700.

I'd probably have to scrub my brain for the "real" answer, but 1st thought (among non obvious popular answers):

EDG / NAVI Tokyo 2023
First EDG international win, 2 absolute banger OT maps, Chichoo's kinda, 1st flash at being an insanely impactful player when they really need him

Cook

100% agree

It's totally possible to have a rotating map pool for pro play if they are set on the pool of 7 for pick/ban, while still having all 11 in ranked. Pros getting Fracture or Split as they mindlessly queue ranked isn't going to impact pro play when they're only scrimming and prepping the ones in the pool.

Provided they make it a bit more obvious what the timeline is in the future, I don't really see any downside for continuing to do this.

Helps pro teams prepare -> Better product for viewers
Premier/Team play has more prep time
Even for ranked it's convenient to have more for anyone that cares to prep the returning maps

Only bad thing I can think of is people will have longer to complain about the changes, but considering the map pool is ALWAYS a huge complaint, that doesn't really matter.

Patch 9.08

Prob gonna be mid-late October based on the typical patch history timeline. They just announced this one with like, 2 months earlier notice than they have in the past. Which I think is a good change and hope it's the new norm, but they weren't clear enough about it, considering there's so much confusion.

Can't see it as remotely realistic, but I love the idea of a theoretical G2 team with Derke. They can keep rolling with the Yoru comps on Abyss and Haven, and probably Pearl as well when it's back.

Not at all realistic

But the fit is actually really nice in theory. G2 really liked Yoru and Derke is probably? the best Yoru in tier 1. Team focused enough that it wouldn't force the rest of the team to abandon its identity, but still give a massive firepower increase.

I think Icy's been a bit over criticized and honestly don't think it'd be a bad idea for them to run it back with him, but I mean, top 5 duelist in the world lol (Obviously not happening tho)

Bold?

Bangkok - TH
Toronto - FPX
Champs - Loud

Is this meant to be for the year or just champs?

Including Texture for duelist makes me assume for the year? If that's the case, Karon is far and away the best smokes player. Arguably a top 3 player in the world for like 70% of the year. Smoggy also wasn't consistently playing smokes until the start of Split 2, so he's a good bit down for me I'm this conversation. Duelist would also be Texture for the year.

Everyone else works well for the year, at least to the point that you can make a reasonable argument. Everything else you've got would prob be my personal pick, apart from Boo, depending how you weight thing for IGL pick.