sure -- https://www.vlr.gg/pickem/87ef4310 (just fill it in to complete it)

hey -- i think they're still slightly off? i have both ORDER and AE winning first match and losing second, but they drop down to LR1 instead of LR2

pickem wrong? have all preds right but have FCY vs CES here?

they really are - lots of casters from APAC and KR (im thinking achillios and paperthin rn) that are super strong and entertaining

sadge that rito doesnt care abt them :(

NA
Fade/Neon
Vandal

no 100T/SEN matches? 0/8

agreed these two just bring an energy no one else can

that was some of the best casting we've seen in VCT

bren and sideshow are insane with the emotions

so many props to LEV

yup they'd have to compete under a different name

these chinese circuit isnt technically operated by VCT but rather by a third party

the most interesting take on here

even if this is true, the whole point of franchising is consolidating strong players and weeding out all the weak ones.

tenz still has potential, no doubt in my mind if SEN don’t make franchising he gets picked up somewhere else

COMMON HUDSEN W

never heard of this comp before -- who's organizing it?

also very stacked participant list. incredibly excited to watch these teams battle it out.

good eye

what changed?

I was thinking about this, and I noted it may be smart for Riot to include a "wildcard series" or something of that sort so that T2 talent can still foster.

What do I mean by this:

Let's assume that VCT still runs in two stages, where Masters becomes a MSI type tournament like what is in LoL which would happen inbetween Stage 1 and Stage 2, and then Champions in September. Then that means we would have two stages.

Stage 1 would just be 12 invited teams to the league, which would look something along the lines of:
(and keep in mind as you're reading these predictions, that Riot will likely not just choose teams based off of team success and skill, but also based off of their money and if they've partnered with other Riot esport ecosystems like the leagues in LoL)

Americas:
NA: C9, SEN, 100T, OpTic, TSM, LG, T1 (?)
BR: LOUD, FURIA, NIP
LATAM: KRU, FUSION (LATAM North, I would argue has more money than 6K)

Asia:
APAC: PRX, BLEED,
KR: DRX, DWG, On Sla2ers
JP: ZETA, RIG or DNG (Reignite and DetonatioN Gaming, has more money than Crazy Raccoon)

Europe:
EU: ACEND, FNATIC, GUILD, G2, TL, VITALITY, MAD LIONS, OGLU
TR: SMB, BBL
CIS: M3C, NAVi

Then in Stage 2, 4 teams would be invited to these superleagues, and there would be different ways to do this.

In the Americas league, perhaps 8 teams from NA play for 2 spots, and 8 teams from BR/LATAM play for 2 spots

In the European league, the 8 teams in EU VRL's would compete, and then 8 teams from the CIS and TR VRL would compete for 2 slots each.

In the Asian League, 8 APAC teams would compete for 2 spots, and 8 KR/JP teams would play for 2 spots.

This allows for teams to still be committed, or else I figure they'd just drop their rosters. It also still gives upset potential which would certainly help the scene with viewership, as well as tackle with issues like Astralis in LEC, where they just are always dead and never do well, and let Riot access more adequately which teams to keep in the long term, and to pressure certain teams to step it up.

TLDR: 12 team leagues are solid, if VCT 2023 runs like 2022 with 2 stages, Stage 2 should open each league to 4 spots which would come from "Wildcard" tournaments through regional leagues, in a similar structure to Challengers -> Masters currently.

i swear steel removed the T1 from his name a long time ago, but perhaps im just pretending to remember things

not sure what the significance of the T1 tweet is tho

following trade of C9 xeta and autumn, is it safe to say that T1 is planning on franchising into korean VCT?

waiting for the “bro thought he was funny part 73938593” post from valorantgamer69420

i agree though it puts WAYY too much pressure on teams to succeed within stage 1, because should they pass through open quals, they can just guarantee they're in VCT for the rest of the year

the VRL system does let for tier 2 valorant to be more competitive and have more games tho, both systems work great tbh (EMEA and NA)

actually fax fokus sleeper pick, their underdog story begins now >:)

EMEA already has smaller more regional leagues called the VRLs. what that means is, if teams want to compete in challengers, they have to first choose to compete in a VRL, find success there, and then go through a relegation process to re-enter EMEA challengers

yea basically -- masters 2, LCQ, and then champs just like you said

riot wanted to cut the VCT short this year, which opens up the timeline between sept-dec for third party competitions + international game changers events

hmm interesting -- thanks!

(lmao i know it's a bit of an internet explorer moment, was just curious)

https://www.hltv.org/news/33709/gob-b-returns-to-big-as-head-coach

gob b went back to valorant, sadge

so who's replacing him on BIG? isnt EMEA challengers pretty soon?

easy 4 TBD -- never seen em lose these

DZ 2-0 — trick pulls out some “tricks” and with the power of zexrow “FNCS NAE 2nd place” drops 80 kills

SoaR 2-0

LMAO oh god i hate this post so many to choose from

W

GIGACHAD LMFAO

i love mct

oderus the chad

rito should've probably prepared more, but new stage, new setup and different location, things are bound to change.

plus, tech issues are ones you typically cant prepare for. if someone's mouse breaks, how is it the fault of rito? their job is to fix it as fast as possible, which has been there, so really what they've been doing is good, you just cant predict these things

eutalyx W

i was talking to a couple friends about this but PRX is quite literally the kryptonite of DRX. DRX loves to utilize their set plays, get site, then play a really well structured post plant (like we saw against zeta).

but if DRX can outaim them, take these sorts of duels and challenges that disrupts their game plan, there's literally very little DRX can do to adapt. that's why you see often, DRX losing the initial gunfight, and then not having the map control and just straight SPRINTING to the bombsite on the opposite side of the map

watched it live idk if APAC has vods yet, but it was XERXIA vs PRX upper finals, vlr link here: https://www.vlr.gg/76236/xerxia-esports-vs-paper-rex-champions-tour-asia-pacific-stage-1-challengers-playoffs-knockouts-u/?game=74187&tab=overview

literally -- guy is a monster

i dont watch a lot of APAC but the times ive seen forsaken on the yoru, holy shit he knows how to play that agent sooo well

bro round 22 and him sitting in the kj ult and getting three there? absolutely crazy

no obvi jing is better but like back when asuna had his popoff moments it's literally the same feeling

reminding me of prime asuna, this guy hits different man

dude even if DRX wins bind, last map is ascent. both teams suck ass on ascent. literally 50/50 unless DRX wins this bind, but bind has been known to be PRX comfort pick

DUDE JING IS REMINDING ME OF PRIME ASUNA IM NOT EVEN JOKING

pog

would be lit but i think riot may want to look for VCT getting a live audience -- how are the covid restrictions there?

in any case, japan would have a shit ton of viewers and it would be really great

dude yea the viewership of this region is nuts, that's why riot keeps investing.

lots of orgs willing to invest and players willing to grow. we saw their potential and rise these past two days. it'll only get better.

it's okay yall got the W at LEC at least

it's G2 for a reason...

... because G2-3 Guard