because its a single elim where most teams were playing with some if not entirely new rosters on stage, navi was a top 4 team and wasnt even top 3 in EMEA the rest of the year - simply because they hadn't changed their roster
Liquid lost immediately - embarassingly, but they were the first team to beat fnatic
No kickoff, no group stage, just single elim all the way
It's just not equity to not have stage time for all teams prior to be thrown into single elim knockout rounds
I'm not saying lock in is worthless, but it lacks the same competitive edge that other events have, you cant tell me results would be the same if they played a kickoff instead of just inviting all teams to show off franchising