IMO 8 team masters atp is decent for the start of the season. The tough kickoff bracket makes sure only a few good teams per region make it through (i.e. teams that don't have glaring holes and inconsistencies in their play). Because of this every game is a much watch and after the first round the Swiss stage makes all of the other games pretty important as well as they are all advance or elim games. Ideally you would want more tournaments with more teams invited but with the current investment from riot into esports this is kind of the best we can hope. The scene hasn't developed enough either yet for more teams at the start of the year without making masters 1 look competitively worse than masters 2 because of the massive gap between the top and mid table teams in each region at the start of the year.

https://www.vlr.gg/post/4486511/100t-coaching-search-application

I could definitely see China winning this event, I think I just personally rate the lean into the yoru pick by g2 and Sen a lot higher, simply because he has been an overturned agent for a while, allows for a lot of set play opportunities in this execute heavy meta, has combo potential with Astra, that is more viable again because of omen nerf plus 5th star and is very strong on defense because of his quickrotate tp.

I think America's also just has a great grasp on the meta with g2 opting into the chamber for sentinel and with sen opting for no sentinel or vyse on their maps.

Also am hopeful that Sen and nrg simply just need a bit more time to get comfortable with these new comps as they do play very differently to last years meta that America's is used to.

Power pred for Bangkok. A little early considering we've only seen a few teams play 1 or 2 games but regardless imo:

For only the top 2-4 teams (bangkok, not comparing the power level of the whole region)

America's > China >= EMEA > Pacific.

America's is both top heavy and bottom heavy only mid table team(s) might be c9 or lev. Region has the most play with Tejo and vyse comps, which seems to be the direction the meta is heading towards. Although they have only played 1 game against arguably a brain dead opponent g2 have firepower (top 3 in each role for the americas arguably) and seem to have a solid understanding of the macro play and tejo comp atm. Sen/nrg/(100t-elim) seem to be close behind. Kru and loud could potentially make a run as well (they have the firepower but it's either unproven or a hit or miss from game to game).

China and Emea share second, China's edg seems to have kept their champs form but their decision making and their disrespecting solo pushes would be punished against stronger teams. Their form is currently the only reason they have a decent chance for a run at bangkok. Altenatively Trace don't have as much firepower as edg but have a great coaching staff and have a very good understanding of their comps (bind). They also will have the most time to improve as they go into Bangkok as they've already finished their kickoff. Trace could become the strongest China team by the start of Bangkok.

Emea is a hit or miss atp, Vitality didnt "dominate" their match against kc but seem strong and should only get better, TH still seem good but not sure if the boo and woot role swap will work. Not many stand out tejos in the region atm. Meta wise emea is leaning heavily into yoru comps, trading the space making and entrying of duelist like Jett, raze for more set play opportunities. Yoru on defense is definitely much stronger. I rate yoru high enough that these teams could easily make a run in bangkok but America's G2 and Sen however are also utilizing yoru well and also have great tejo usage, hence why I rank them higher.

Pacific unfortunately seems to be the weakest going into Bangkok as there is no clear standout team, geng have lost a lot with the meteor to foxy9 tradeoff, but his last game was pretty good hopefully he gets his confidence and they can turn it around. T1 look like they are playing without comms. Drx atm seem the most consistent but also don't have anything standout in firepower or straps. Personally i rate nongshim as one of the top teams in the region simply becuase they have a clear goal with the danbi neon and know their win conditions. PRX are decent as always, their ceiling could grow but never seems to do so. Pacific has the most "top" teams but none that are as strong as the top of the other regions atm. They also have the least Tejo usage and play with the new meta comps.

This year should ideally still be one of the strongest first masters with how much the chinese teams have improved. Potentially may have an emea superteam(vit), an na superteam(g2), last years consistent second place finalists(th), and potentially some strong contenders from pacific.