All my friends have TheShy wiping the floor with Faker but idk I'm not big on LCK or LPL

You never know! I think DRX has a very experienced core and they're going to make a breakthrough one day or another :D

Definitely. DRX looked really good against C9 and EDG with a sub during that one tourney and I think if they figure out their first team roster + roles and all that they for sure can mount a convincing challenge against teams like (mainly) PRX. Heck they might even make a top 4 run in an international LAN.

Oki thank you very much!

Honestly, nothing too hot or too cold 10<t<27C

Fair response. I've never been to India before. Do you recommend travelling there? If so, where?

I agree with most of them, here are some of my insights/opinions:
For EMEA: I agree with all of your statements.
For Americas: C9 looked alright for a bit, but they might bottle it all so we shall see how well they do in the actual league.
For Pacific, I think DRX and PRX are definitely going to remain top dogs, but what are your thoughts on RRQ? I think they're pretty underrated.

And China has EDG, with teams like TE, BLG, RA, and FPX to challenge them. (ik the final partnered team list isn't out yet but these teams are pretty likely considering their performance recently).

Do you like travelling? If so, which country did you enjoy the most based off these aspects?

1. Infrastructure (Architecture/City design, etc)
2. Food (Edible things, etc)
3. Development (Technology, etc)
4. Environment (Trees and green things, etc)
5. Overall feeling (Made you feel "Man I really enjoyed that", etc)

That's very fair. I'd even go to say that those four teams have remained among the top 6 CN teams with the additions of Rare Atom and Trace Esports.

You actually did pretty well considering how you apparently know nothing about the CN scene.
Only a few things to consider.

1. DRG > TEC (TEC is quite a weak team compared to some of these other teams.)
2. BLG isn't at their strongest right now but it isn't too far fetched to say that they'll make it to grand finals.
3. ASE is quite good right now.
4. LGD isn't as good as TE
   But aside from those, I think you're pretty much set. You've made a lot of safe/reasonable choices and they may come to fruition in the future.

Oops looks like I misunderstood. All good, I'm sure RNG will prepare more against FPX than they did against DYG.

Hmmm thanks for the info!

I think FPX's mental is better than RNG's. Maybe it's just me but I think the first map in the DYG series was only won due to homework and antistratting. The second two maps were won merely because RNG is a better team than DYG.

Thank you for the comment. I believe that while you've made several bold picks, they all seem to be backed by logical thinking and I think it's worth taking the risk because it could very well happen. I'm very excited for this stage of the event, and I agree that this will be entertaining to watch. I can see where your skepticism originates for the RNG - TES match, and I think that it could definitely go either way. I'll see how the two teams play first and then I'll make my real prediction when the time comes.

I'm not going to say that you're overvaluing DRG and TES, because I too think that they are rising teams with a lot of potential. However, I think that your only pickem that really unsettles me has your DRG - RA match in the uppers lol. The upset could happen, but there's no reason for it lmao.

We'll see how it all unfolds in errrrr 6 days! Cheers!

https://www.vlr.gg/pickem/bec7b32e
Feel free to give me suggestions!

I believe this is a very fun matchup and will be highly entertaining to watch. Of the four opening matches, this series pits two high echelon Chinese teams against one another and I can see FPX having the advantage against RNG. This belief of mine mainly stems from the fact that first of all, FPX is much more solid as a team and relies much less on individual skill than RNG does. Secondly, FPX is simply more experienced, with all members of their roster having played internationally and Autumn too, who was imo one of Oceania's most promising players. But don't get me wrong: RNG has great players too, such as SWERL, Xiaonuo and Minimise.
Although both sides are strong, I think that FPX's mentality gives them a substantial boost and I hope RNG is able to cope on the second map if they lose the first.
2-1 FPX win (given that RNG copes with first map loss, if not 2-0 FPX win).

I feel like this series is one of the more evenly-matched games of the four. Both TES and 17G have looked to be quite decently sound teams, with the abiliity to clean out maps pretty well. 17G played amazingly against KBG and ODG, only falling short to DRG after winning 13-9 on Split. TES on the other hand, dominated TEC on all their maps but Bind, which we might see 17G pick if given the chance. 17G have a really solid Bind game but considering the fact that TES is first seed, they might just straight out ban it immediately.
I'm expecting a close match, but I think 2-1 TES win is reasonable.

While I still don't have a complete grasp on how LGD plays, I think I can be confident to say that BLG has a very high chance at winning this series. LGD's recent match against AG was pretty dominant from start to end, but there are many factors that could suggest that they could play differently against BLG. While their first maps against NWG and RNG were not won too comfortably, BLG's second maps with the two respective teams proved that they were just miles ahead of their opponents, and if we see the same sort of form against LGD, we might very well see a clean 2-0 sweep from BLG.
2-0 BLG win.

In a series between vo0kashu's DRG and abo's IMAY/INV hybrid team, I think that DRG is going to come out on top as victors and move on to face Rare Atom. While both teams qualified just fine, I think that DRG are the favourites to win here, and I'm pretty content with how well they're improving. After that brilliant comeback against 17G, I think that if DRG gets in the groove, they could probably dominate TEC on both maps. However, I'm not going to downplay TEC and point out that they've had some nice set plays on maps such as Split.
DRG 2-0 win. vo0kashu drops 40 minimum.

Ooooh, that piques my interest. Please do share if you do indeed find it. Thank you!

I agree with you, but I did hear a lot of people talk about weird odds (which could just be a coincidence). Anyways, yeah I noticed a bunch of strange mistakes from LGD but that could just be attributed to a lack of preparation or underestimation/overconfidence. Regardless, it was a weird match lol.

I didn't understand at first but now I do. Okobotro🗿

Okobotro 🗿

Possibly, but I don't know the coaches well enough to comment too much on them.

I don't think you understand the premises of my prediction. The first series played between these two teams was shrouded in suspicion, with blatant throws and suspicious gameplay all throught the two maps. Which is why, I refused to give an honest attempt at an actual prediction.
How could I predict one winner when both could win using illegitimate methods?

I'm actually quite interested to see how Munchkin gets on at Gen.G; he was one of my favorite T1 players 2023 season so I kind of wish him success.

That's how the first series between the two should've went smh.

They don't know...

Absolutely nailed it! That's exactly what I would say. I really liked ScreaM and Nivera a long time ago but they just stopped showing what they were supposed to. I see good potential with this new roster and I think TL will continue to qualify for international LANs.

y0y

My actual prediction would probably be a 2-1 AG win but considering the underlying nature of this matchup it could probably go either ways.

I agree. It's a great prediction!

Agreed.

Thank you for the information, I'll make sure to keep it in mind...
But! I will try my best to predict it right, because that's what I aspire to do!

I think I'm having a tough time due to the lack of knowledge I have on teams like DYG, LGD, and even KBG among other teams. I've only been following the CN scene for around 2 months, so it somewhat makes sense that most of my predictions are wrong at first. When my friends and I first got into Valorant Esports, I had a friend group that loved to predict stuff, and we were all ass at Challengers and Masters. But we got better over time, and I correctly predicted 72/90 of the EMEA results in the league last season.

I'm expecting myself to get better with the CN predictions as the league develops and I get to know the players more, but I appreciate your support! 😊

DYG clearly watched RNG vods and strategies beforehand. They knew where the RNG players liked to play and they used that to their advantage, evident from the first round to the last. They did their homework.

RNG got heavily counterstratted on Haven, it feels to me as if they didn't prepare well enough (ex. look at DYG vods). Good luck on the next two maps, I still think RNG will pull through with a 2-1 victory.

I'm absolutely ecstatic that I am of assistance to so many people!
But I don't always predict wrong... 🤔 So it sounds like you have had a difficult time, because I've predicted twelve (12) series correct this tournament.
Cheers!

Let's go Valorant!

Hard fought from both teams. Well played!

Okay, some copium here, but I didn't put a lot of effort into this 2-0 4AM prediction. I simply got caught up with certain feelings after the LGD-4AM match.
Now, considering all factors, I think 4AM will win 2-1, probably losing Ascent.

I'm elated that I'm able to be of help to you! ❤️❤️❤️
However, please be careful in relying on my predictions, as I do not intentionally predict the wrong scores.
This tourney has been so unpredictable that I am often left baffled during the matches.

I think there's a good chance that 17Gaming closes this out pretty well. KBG played decently against ODG, but there were some moments where they looked kind of shaky; especially on Bind. 17G has impressed upon me that they aren't just some random average team and that they are able to contend for main event qualifications. I think 17G should and possibly will win this series 2-1, because we might see OT or even a map win from KBG.
However, I will concede the fact that 17G has a lot of maps to improve their gameplan on, with the likes of Split and especially Ascent.
2-1 17G win.

Ikr??? The triad giveth me hell.

There certainly is a chance, but if I take your suggestion into consideration, then I guess I'll edit my prediction to a 2-1 KBG win.

edit: actually, ODG is looking pretty good rn

You flatter me, but yeah I agree with you.

DYG did surprise me by taking NWG to the sword, but I am almost certain that this match will be a win for RNG. I doubt they're happy with their performance against BLG, and I'm positive that they're looking to qualify to solidify their position as (imo) a top 10 Chinese team. I hope RNG has worked a bit on their Ascent, and perhaps they should take a look at haven as well, even though they did play pretty well on it last series.
RNG 2-0 win.

I sure hope it isn't.

With all due respect, I disagree with your statement. 😒

I don't think my comments are pretentious at all! In fact, I try my best to make sure that every one of my predictions are based off of at least one established fact, and I strive to follow the matches to the best of my ability to find those established facts. If you think that my comments are pretentious, I get it. I use an unusually excess amount of verbs and adjectives, and that might not appeal to your language palette as much. 😐

I love this game, I love the community, and I love the esports. I want to see it succeed, and with the CN league as one of the new chapters of VCT, I am going to continue to commit time and effort into watching these matches and obtaining a better understanding of these so called "low level" teams. 😌

Never once have I made myself out to be "him", or a really great person or prophet or whatever. I accept that I'm not always right, and I also accept that there may be some form of tampering in these matches.
However, I simply can't comprehend the part of my actions online that made you uncomfortable to the point where you would create such a disparaging comment towards me. 🤗

Regardless, I appreciate your consideration and time you put into your comment, and I hope you can pursue whatever you want to do; whether it is making educated guesses on the results of T2 matches, or even just painting a tree on a canvas or something! 😁

I'd like to believe that most of the matches do retain some semblance of integrity. However, I do accept and agree that there are indeed several suspicious matches played recently in this event.