Bros really out hear critiquing my spelling. Was the autocorrect and didn't proof read mb.

True. Tldr: No game with similarily skilled players is a guarantee. Any given day an upset potential is possible due to a pop off game, a strong antistrat that wins a few rounds, or just some good pistol round wins because of how momentum based this game is.

It used to be impossible to counter chamber because of the amount of util you needed before to push him off a line, but now you can just Tejo missile his likely tp rendezvous spots and trap him. Especially on a map like abyss where there only really are a few good tp positions for mid and a.

The 2.0 betting odds are definitely weird considering kru have many more proven t1 players, and have demonstrated a much stronger performance after their initial loss against loud. Their map pool is their weakest point. They have a weak haven attack, kru also likes to ban fracture and pearl whereas mibr like to ban fracture and pick pearl. This leaves a scenario here mibr will most likely be favoured on the map picks, but still would not think thats enough to make kru have 2x odds.

I would argue that g2 is actually near their peak as their players have had a year or more playing together hence why they look so synergized and their comms and calls from an outside perspective looking in are nearly flawless. Their improvement will come from Jawgemo taking over and changing the pace of their game adding even more to their playbook.

Oh just realized mb lol typing on phone with autocorrect.

Too many people here are writing sentinels off completely.
Imo, sentinels have yet to demonstrate their peek potential. They've only played two games so far like g2 and have had a very lackluster performance. In the loud game for instance their synergy with their utility was very off (understandable considering the complexity of the comp and the time theyve had with it) but they were still able to demonstrate that their form was intact with clutch potential and hero plays that won them the series. Narrate so far has had a slow start to the season likely because of the role swaps and breach pivot. However, he had been one of the most consistent players in emea last year despite kc doing not much of anything past kickoff, so I'm confident his form will return with more runs on the agent.

G2's synergy has been nearly perfect since the start of kickoff, However. they have not been tested much in disadvantage situations because of the space, flanks and timings leaf has been allowed to take in the last 2 games on chamber. Their chamber pick will be anti'd as well. Considering their success so far g2 will likely opt to improve their weaker maps and might not be willing to adapt their comps and strats much further on their chamber pick maps (their strongest) which may give an opportunity for sen to counter them on their pick.

Map wise both Sen and g2 don't seem to like playing haven and fracture. They share a lot of maps in the current pool.
Sen likely still prefer split/pearl,lotus,bind abyss in that order.
G2 will likely prefer to play abyss,pearl,bind/split,lotus in that order.

Possible map pick/bans
G2 ban haven
Sen ban Abyss
G2 pick fracture
Sen pick split/pearl
G2 ban lotus
Sen ban bind
Remaining split/pearl

In this scenario, g2 will either stick with their double senti comp on pearl or cook up something new to prevent being anti'd. And sen might come with a new comp on split considering their struggles on the map so far with the solo yoru entry.

If Sen improve on their synergy from last time, get a good map pick/ban and start off hot they definitely can beat g2.

P.s. no game is more than a 70/30 between similarly skilled players just because of how momentum based this game is.

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.