Decided to share my list for next year. I’m not super familiar with SA players so correct me where I’m wrong.

Duelist

1. MIBR Aspas
2. SEN Zekken
3. G2 Jawgemo
4. KRU Keznit
5. NRG Mada
6. C9 Oxy
7. 100T Cryo
8. LEV Demon1
9. 2G Silentzz
10. EG TBD
11. LOUD Dgzin
12. FUR Havoc

Initiator

1. NRG Ethan
2. SEN N4rrate (It would be foolish not to switch back)
3. G2 Trent
4. 100T Eeiu
5. LOUD Cauanzin
6. LEV c0m
7. MIBR Nzr
8. EG Derrek
9. FUR Mwzera
10. 2G Zap
11. KRU Adverso
12. C9 Xeppaa

Flex

1. G2 JonahP
2. KRU Mazino
3. NRG Verno
4. 100T Asuna
5. C9 Rossy
6. LEV Natank
7. SEN Zellsis
8. MIBR Artzin
9. EG NaturE
10. 2G Pryze
11. FUR Raafa
12. LOUD V1nny

Controller

1. LEV KiNgg
2. G2 Valyn
3. NRG s0m
4. SEN Bang
5. EG Supamen
6. LOUD Pancada
7. 100T Zander
8. FUR Khalil
9. MIBR Xenom
10. C9 v1c
11. 2G lz
12. KRU Melser

Sentinel

1. G2 Leaf
2. KRU Shyy
3. EG Yay
4. LEV Tex
5. 100T Boostio
6. SEN Johnqt
7. MIBR Cortezia
8. FUR Heat
9. LOUD Tuyz
10. NRG FNS
11. 2G Gobera
12. C9 Moose

I’ve probably underrated some SA players but the field looks pretty stacked in general. G2 and NRG are a step above everyone else but SEN, KRU, 100T and LEV should be pretty close when it comes to qualifying for Toronto and Paris. MIBR could also be a dark horse and I suspect that any team that they beat convincingly has no chance at Playoffs.

Not really. TH has two distinct records where they had map leads and then lost the match — against FNC (Reverse Sweep) and GenG (Shanghai Final). G2’s losses were either extremely close with each map (Split 2 GF) or they just didn’t show up that day (Shanghai LF) and got crushed; they rarely throw leads and it’s more common that they start behind and mount comebacks.

They have a similar regional record but it’s dubious to consider G2 chokers.

You don’t place second in your region across a whole year and third at an international with “mid tier players”. Don’t forget that G2 has a 2-1 record against TH and are responsible for EDG’s only loss at Champs.

Their system was designed to maximize teamplay with trades, making it difficult for any single player to accumulate “star fragger” stats. Even then, it’s clear that Leaf, Valyn, and JonahP are world class players, not to mention Jawgemo. Trent needs to prove his meddle given how far he’s fallen since Ascension but I have zero doubts about his potential peak.

And yeah, Purp0 is good.

All of the players have unique strengths but JonahP has the best micro decision making for sure.

TH are proven favorites but choke often.
G2 and FNC have single role swaps and are main contenders.
T1 and KC are dark horses.
Everyone else is mid.

If Gozen win GC Champions, they can ride that high hard enough to beat BBL. Should be a fun match!

I’ve never heard of Siko but here’s your preemptive F in the chat.

Edit: should be fun to watch both G2 matches at the same time!

I’m not super familiar with EMEA T2 circuits but I thought Izzy was surely going to be picked up by one of the Turkish teams if not another org. Why did BBL opt for LewN?

Just got home from the gym after taking a 3 month break due to depression. I had stopped taking my ADD medication around that time too which certainly didn’t help. When you spiral, it’s so much easier to go with gravity than against it.

But I’m glad to say I’m be sending out job applications again tomorrow since I recently picked up a new software suite to revisit my design projects after I lost access to my student privileges. Shit doesn’t start moving until you accept you got problems and start working on them.

I know this forum is mostly for bait and bad takes but I just wanted to share this with someone. Appreciate y’all.

I’ll add Outer Wilds to that list. Been tryna get into Subnautica and Dishonored too.

Your active aim is poor and you rely on good crosshair placement paired with clean peeks or flashes to secure kills. When you’re taking unexpected fights you struggle to pause for microadjustments and opt instead for sprays which are ugly — illustrating your mouse control.

If you want to fix this, pick up an aim trainer or go into dms and minimize your movement when taking duels. Go for two bullet bursts and if you spend more than 6 bullets, let yourself die.

Another comment mentioned you over-rely on your minimap and it’s possible that distracts you from fully focusing on your crosshair. Make sure you’re distinguishing between when you’re in a potentially hot angle and when it’s safe to use the minimap — that’s a game sense issue though and the only way to improve is to get punished.

I’m A3 rn (rough Act) and I have similar issues to you but I play smokes/senti so I don’t have flashes to compensate. If you truly want to improve, you need to clean up this aspect of your play.

I dislike the switch. JohnQT is a proven site anchor and Zellsis was meant to fill the midrounding role when he lurks. You can already see the adaptation issues in their retake setups where JohnQT forgets to rejoin the pack and still plays as a sentinel — holding space while the rest of the team aggresses.

At the same time, Zekken’s entries have suffered because of the quality of support has declined; before, he’d have Tenz as a secondary either as Kayo/Gekko/Omen, resulting in more explosive space creation. Given the talk I’ve seen of the N4rrate Jett and Zekken Sova combo, I want to see the two build chemistry as an entry duo. Put N4rrate on full time Primary Initiator/Jett while JohnQT can flex with Zellsis for the secondary Initiator/Sentinel slots.

I only want to see JohnQT on Recon when N4rrate is playing Kayo/Gekko and can fight with Zekken. I don’t want to see N4rrate on Sentinel at all.

Not sure what an appropriate response would be for your culture but by principle I would communicate my displeasure towards the disrespect and make it known that you’ll be taking space from them. You can make it a set amount of time or until they apologize but for your own peace it makes sense to be forthright and then put the ball in their court to make amends.

Edit: Just realized this post is a month old and you resolved it. Feel free to ignore my advice.

Sounds good. Praying for the 5-0 record and a sweet comeback.

I’m a G2 fan but an EMEA hater. Who do I support this match? D:

This is pretty damn cool. Good work!

Fair enough. Do you think the core 4 are good enough that third place is their likely lowest placement though?

First list I’ve seen where G2 isn’t top 2. Why do you have 100T over them?

Support specific players, and then rep their org. If there aren’t any other players you support on FNC then it’s totally fair to switch to VIT.

Yeah you’re right, I did undersell Derrek and Supamen. They’re both strong fraggers but can be truly feast or famine players so it’s hard to look to them to consistently deliver. Put them in the right system and they’ll fry fs though.

Appreciate it!

I’d honestly put FNS at 3rd above JohnQT. The latter has been an inconsistent fragger since Madrid and his calling has also suffered with the role swap.

1. Valyn
2. Boostio
3. FNS
4. JohnQT
5. KiNgg

W list

That’s an insane take. There is no world where Jawgemo’s worst performance is lower than Icy’s average. Trust me I tried to believe and hype Icy, but he was by far one of the worst duelist at champs.

The change gives them the option to be explosive and kick up their tempo a gear while also adding a consistent star fragger. It’s a massive upgrade on paper.

Kenzit had a better Split 1 but a worse Split 2. Consider also that Jawgemo was pretty much a one-man show on EG last year in the same way that Oxy is for C9.

I’d take Jawgemo everyday of the week as he’s less likely to toss advantages and his peak is higher. The dude earned that champs trophy.

I don’t hate anyone. All of my criticism is completely unbiased.

Looks good. Might be the only Brazilian team to break top 4 in Americas,

Don’t ask vlr. The majority of these fools can’t reach Ascendant. Immortal 3 in any amount of time is impressive, much less under 1k hours. Keep it up dude!

The recency bias is insane. One bad game does not a bad duelist make.

1. Zekken | SEN role issues are affecting his entries
2. Jawgemo | His Jett needs work
3. Aspas | Not beating baiter allegations
4. Mada | Needs larger sample size
5. Oxy | Inconsistent
6. Keznit | Inconsistent
7. Demon1 | Agent Pool Issues
8. Cryo | Agent Pool Issues
9. Everyone else is mid

You put into words my only concern with G2. They match TH in player quality but have the potential to easily overtake them if Jawgemo and Trent are in their top forms. If not, I could see NRG take their spot as America’s best team.

Raw aim has to be Demon1

Arguments for Less, Primmie, Yay, and Alfajer miss the fact that they heavily rely on optimal positioning and movement tech. Look at Demon1’s stats for Champ 2023 — 40% HS across 459 rounds. He’s unmatched.

Honestly I’m okay with a duelist that crashes out on the rare occasion. Better than him becoming a stat padder when his team is getting diffed by baiting them and saving his useless op all the time.

SEN and G2 have an alarming number of D tier votes considering the other 80% of their votes are A and S tier. Some of these voters are just generational haters.

I doubted y’all because I thought FNS would result in a firepower deficit but Mada and Verno are the truth. They bring enough star fragging and mid rounding finesse that I was reminded of 2023 EG. You guys might deny Sentinels Bangkok.

NRG is definitely underrated if you think they’ll be middle of the pack.

• s0m | 2023 America’s most consistent controller
• FNS | Attack-masterclass IGL
• Ethan | 2023 Best flash Initiator
• Mada | T2 NA’s best duelist
• Verno | NA’s top T2 talent for the past 2 years.

It’s a couple things.

• NRG just had its worse year.
• Brazil performed quite well at Ascension
• Mada and Verno didn’t qualify to Ascension
• Retribution Fetish - Loud lost to Optic

The average viewer puts these together and thinks that NRG just lost Demon1 and is building a budget roster with scraps from T2. What they don’t realize because they don’t watch our circuit, is that Mada and Verno were the best talents from T2 that were on teams that let them down — they undoubtably belong in franchising.

Here are their placements in their splits:

• Verno | 2023 - 1st | 2024 S1 - 4th | 2024 S2 - 3rd
• Mada | 2023 - N/A | 2024 S1 - 5th | 2024 S2 - 1st

All the international scouts are aware of this and it’s why NRG has so much hype going into 2025. They retained their experienced players while solving their role issues; the talent they picked up are also projected to reach extreme highs. The question now is whether everything works out.

Amer - Jawgemo | Valyn | Boostio

Emea - Sayf | Ardiis | Nats

Apac - Benkai | Stax | T3xture

China - KK | Whzy | Chichoo

I doubt it. Koala is rather consistent — even more so when M80’s main rival was TGRD (current G2). He’s good.

No. He’s way too inconsistent. There’s still 4 other options in Corey, Zeldris, Okeanos and Icy.

I don’t think it’d matter which agent he plays. Zekken would crush all but a handful of players in an individual matchup.

Sym was inconsistent in T2. Corey, Zeldris, and Icy would all perform better than this.

No. I live just west of the Rockies.

Here are less notable songs from the same artists that I listed prior to get a feel for what I mean.

• Cautionary Tales | Jon Bellion
• Holding On To You | Twenty One Pilots
• Other Side of Paradise | Glass Animals
• Black Eye | Allie X
• Crying Lightning | Arctic Monkeys

If you like Kendrick and Frank Ocean then Anderson Paak is a decent shout.

Edit: Specifically his Malibu Album since he features with a lot of other artists.

Not bad. Do you mind if I ask whether you just listen to the most popular songs on Spotify? My preferences from these artists are a good step away from their more pop-inspired pieces.

Couldn’t decide on one, so you get three.

• Drink Water | Jon Batiste ft. Jon Bellion
• Dreamers | Doublecamp
• Casanova | Allie X

Jon Bellion, Twenty One Pilots, Arctic Monkeys, Glass Animals, Allie X

Completely depends on your preferences. Some people like clean and minimal while others prefer flashy or clunky. I’ll list some good examples. I personally run the Champs 2024 Katana.

Clean

• Xenohunter
• Celestial Fan
• Recon Balisong

Balanced

• Kuronami no Yaiba
• Xerofang Knife
• Reaver Karambit
• Onimaru Kunitsuna

Flashy

• Magepunk Sparkswitch
• Blades of Chaos
• Nocturnum Scythe
• Evori Spellcaster

Practice good mechanics consistently until it becomes muscle memory — that way you can use your mental bandwidth to evaluate risk assessment. Being proactive is always important to maximize your impact and you need to be able to parse when it’s worth taking risks and when you should play it safe.

I’d put my money on you being too concerned about what your teammates or the enemy is doing rather than on yourself. Just play your own game and minimize your own mistakes.

Zekken probably has the most proven talent given his growth and continued dominance. Less is a great shout as well.

Trent is in a slump rn but he used to be the OG Verno with a projected peak of where Leo is.

Looking forward to it!