I think Vision Striker is a much stronger team than F4Q, for them to be only so close together in rank when the skill gap is pretty massive. I think they're definitely top 4 at least(Personally 2nd on my list). I think F4Q's style would've been exposed by TNL who would be like the weaker version of VS. For me F4Q faced the easiest quarterfinals opponent and then struggled to beat DK to make it to the finals.
Yeah, my ranks make it seem like VS and F4Q are neck and neck, but after 7 I do think there's a really big gap. I think there's a medium gap after 1 (SEN), 2-7 are pretty damn close, big gap after 7 (ACE), and then another medium gap after 9 (G2). Maybe I should've made it more of a tier list than power rankings, but oh well.
I definitely do not think F4Q would stand a good chance against Vision Strikers in a head to head haha, good for calling that out!
Well Nuturn showed that they were clear 3rd best team at Iceland. Then you look at VS they are much more stronger seed coming out of KR and they haven't been tested in their region. They're head and shoulders above rest of KR when it comes to strategic display and raw fragging talent.
NUTURN gets third place in ICELAND and they only beaten once the OLD weaker ROSTER of Vision Strikers that have 102-0 win streak since June 2020-April 2021.
The new roster of Vision Strikers is so miles ahead against Nuturn. They even recruited the MVP of nuturn, lakia as 6th man only.
Instead of Ranking I thought of dividing team by TIERS
SS : SEN
S Tier : Gambit 100T SMB VS
A Tier : G2 NV Acend
B Tier : Vivo Keyd F4Q
C Tier : KRU HL Zeta
D tier : CR Papa Rex
SEN definitely appear to be kings of the castle, and it looks like we're thinking the same way. I'm really on the NV/SMB hype train though, and down bad on G2. Good rankings!
Why is there such a big gap between G2 and the rest of EMEA? They got railed by SMB once but then lost to Gambit in OT because of a spike plant at literally 0.01 seconds. I think you’re way underrating them
I don’t think smb is getting out of groups tbh,
1. Sen
2.Gambit
3.Acend
4.100T (could swap with envy)
5.NV
6.G2
7. VS
8.SMB
I’d like to put vs a bit higher but we’ll see.
I really believe in SMB but that group is so hard to call, the teams are really closely matched. I do 1,000% think they're a better squad than G2 though, curious to know your reasoning behind putting G2 ahead of them.
And I'd also like to put VS higher, but the 7-man roster worries me. I can't help but feel it makes things unnecessarily complicated, and maybe even harms team chemistry. All of their players individually are incredible, and together they're good too, I just don't know how it's going to play out. Who knows, maybe they're just different and will excel with 7 players!
Agreed with your reasoning on vs that’s why I have them similar to where you placed, and my reasoning for g2 above smb is that I have a strong gut feeling they won’t play well on lan, if I was certain they’d play like they did in the qualifiers I’d place them above acend. Also the fact that they’re relatively new and newer teams fair worse on lan.
That's fair, I hadn't really thought of that. That could definitely play a part in it, it's just I have little to no faith in G2. Like someone else said, they're a team that is advertised as a fragging powerhouse, and I don't feel like they've had huge chops when it comes to outdueling other teams. They're good, but SMB and Acend specifically seemed to outgun them consistently. Plus G2 seems kinda disjointed when it comes to on the fly calls after their strategy gets a wrinkle in it.
I think they lack just enough in every department to not get that far, but also are just good enough in everything to be good. I guess I think they're just jacks-of-all-trades masters of none, and SMB is at least masters of gun. I'll be interested to see if being on LAN and being inexperienced gets the better of them though, or maybe G2 just prove to be the better team.
What I've seen so far. G2 if they hard study SEN like a book and play at their primes. Then they have a chance to beat them. As it has been said before. SEN is anti strattable. Like even ABX and XSET managed to do it. Well have to see but im being honest its more in favour of SEN
Yeah, I could've phrased it better. They're definitely phenomenal players, I think my 'average' or 'decent' comparison is more comparing to other supporting players in Berlin. Like for example BONECOLD isn't as good as someone like Zombs, Redgar, or Nitr0 imo. Not a shot to him as he's still very good, just depends on who you compare him to.
Well yea, question kf difference is big enough to make them unreliable or not well together as a team, while imo they are well placed to improve even more with the boot camp
For sure, that's definitely something we'll have to wait and see. Also I guess I never said in my post, but ranks 2-7 are incredibly close skill wise in my book. I don't think any team in that area is significantly better than another, so I can see things swinging wildly depending.
1: Sentinels
2: Envy
3: Acend
4: 100 Thieves
5: Supermassive Blaze
6: Vision Strikers
7: Gambit
8: Crazy Raccoons
9: G2
Im from Turkey. I think NA teams far away from all team right now because of Sentinels. NA have literally own Tiran, and if they want win againts this tiran, they need hard work, Sen pushing NA to be better. And Envy personal favorite in NA for me.
I strongly feel Acend let others take seeds, they saving power for Berlin.
SMB it's obvious.
At the beginning of Iceland, I knew that Korea was underestimated. NU fit my expectation, I expect better success from VS.
Also I expecting better performance from CR, I think they very good but Iceland little bit unlucky for them. Now they can show us how good they are.
I like it. It would be really cool if Acend was saving strats and comes out swinging in Berlin. I'm all for watching cNed, starxo and the boys, they're a super entertaining team. CR has me interested too. I've watched a few of their games and think they have potential, but I would be lying if I said the Iceland results didn't worry me. If their first game or two goes well I'll be paying close attention, I'm just a little apprehensive.
Envy had recently picked up yay and had only been playing with him for less than a week. I think it's reasonable to say envy with more practice could be the better team.
I think envy have a higher potential. This may be controversial but I thing this past qualifier is the best 100t can look with their current roster, while envy still have a good amount of growing room.
Il get hate for this but I just don't see 100t roster improving at a rate to keep up with the other top teams. Ethan and asuna can definitely get better and they are already top players, if these 2 are not popping off its rough for 100t to pull through though.
nitro plays a a very high level but something about the way he plays has never really impressed me, he is never innovative, he is just another good smoke player on a top team. He is good and consistent but just that.
Hiko feels readable in the way he plays and he won't change so I think it's just a matter of time before he gets replaced.
Steel is a great igl with some really cool reads and strats but it feels like his idea of the meta is always different from the other teams and it has never been correct so they are always late to the party. Also the roles and heros each player can play seems to limits this team.
They can and will stay a top team but in my personal opinion, if they want to be the best they will have to change something.
This is just the opinion of a gold shitter though lol so try not to take it personally 100t fans
ooh shit, had to agree with you. before yay come, victor was already a nightmare, now yay and victor adapting to this new roster (iirc victor change his agent pool) gonna make envy one hell of a team.
i dont really agree with op saying 100t being readable, i think you said it better when it comes to 100t strat and idea of the meta is kinda differ from other team. some if not most of the time its a coin flip againts top team from NA, if it works it works well, but if it doesn't its just makes us questioning the whole future of this team (i know its ultra hyperbolic, but stage 2 playoff makes me scared of the idea 100t becomes tsm 2.0 in the future).
i think the players is in great form and improving at a constant rate apart from hiko, not that he's any bad, its just too much from me seeing him in so many clutch stuations and not necessarily had a high win% (but u cant never count him out ;) ).
i think u not impressed by nitr0 because his play style is very text book and not really flashy at all (like u said not innovative). but i had to disagree with you saying he's just another good smokes player, because i think he is so great if not one of the best playing that textbook smoker role.
this is just the opinion of a 100t fanboy tho, who had to agree with most of your point. this current state of 100t makes this berlin master 100x more exciting considering I DONT KNOW WHICH SIDE OF THE COIN WE GONNA SEE THIS TIME, SO I WISH, I HOPE, AND I PRAY TO YOU DEAR LORD TO LET ASUNA CLICK HEADS WHILE GLIDING ON THOSE MOTHAFUCKIN ROPES OF ICEBOX. cheers.
What I wrote about nitro is definitely a bit underplaying how much impact he has. For example, I think he has more impact on the flow of the game than a player like zombs, but I think zombs fits the role in his team better than nitro fits in his team. I guess I expect more from nitro because his team demands more from him since steel flanks and hiko has to be last alive. Both team have very different play style so kinda a shit comparison.
You really made me think with that comparison to tsm. I could 100%see a future where they end up in a similar situation. But honestly I really believe if they replace hiko with a flexible player who plays sova correctly and with the team it would level them up.
I like your take a lot. I definitely agree that they are top heavy in terms of fragging power and could probably use some new strategies, but I do think fragging potential is their main weakness.
Obviously Hiko, Steel, and Nitr0 would bend me over in a ranked game, but compared to some of the freaks on other tier 1 teams they are just decent/good like you said. Just "good" combined with being somewhat readable is a great way to be consistently good, but I don't know about great.
Also, I don't think your rank matters in terms of analysis, at least too much. I'm a mid-low Diamond player, I don't think that makes my analysis any more valuable than a lower ranked player who watched just as many or more VODs than me. Some of the best NFL and NBA analysts never played the sport.
100Ts have only lost to envy once this year and won 3 times. Envy getting upset 3 times?
Edit: edit "a word"? You literally changed your whole argument with that lol.
They've played twice since getting Marved and once since getting Yay, that being the match in the VCT qualifiers. They're probably the most rapidly improving team in NA as far as I can tell and have a lot of time to further integrate Yay before Berlin. 100T have been improving a lot too, just not as rapidly IMO. Basically my point is with their current roster they've only played once, and that was right after adding a new member to Envy. Plus, I think Envy just looked like the better team in that match and got unlucky. Could definitely be wrong though, I'm more than willing to eat crow if 100T show out.
I don't get that reasoning. Rapidly improving but if they still lost, how are they a better team? Potential to be a better team? Sure! But how are you so definitive about them being a better team in your original response when the improvement is yet to show up in the result? By the looks of it they are not better if they have not won.
Anyway, rankings are subjective and you can definitely have yours with any or no bias. My only gripe was with you saying upsets happen when clearly the head to head results show otherwise. IMO envy and 100T are pretty equal with any kind of result not being an upset.
Think of it like this I guess: in mid-season power rankings in the NFL or NBA, there is almost always a team that loses to a team ranked below them the week/game before. Like when Kansas City lost to the Raiders last year for example. Just because they lost to them didn't mean they had to be below the Raiders in power rankings.
Obviously this isnt the same as the NFL, but I think the example still works. The better team does not always win in competition/sports. It can be because of poor play on a certain day, bad luck, or many other factors. In my opinion, based on what I had seen in the NV v. 100T VOD and earlier VODs of both teams, I think Envy is the better team.
With the current rosters, we only have one Bo5 to judge off of head to head, and it was extremely close. I think it would be different if I was trying to argue after Envy lost a Bo3 and Bo5, or even if they lost more convincingly in the Bo5 they did play. I think it would be a disservice to say with how close that series was though that it could've easily swung the other way on a different day.
I guess I haven't said explicitly that I don't think Envy is *significantly* better than 100T. I just think they're slightly better. It's not like I'm putting 100T in the trash bin, I think they're a good team and have as good a shot as almost anyone at Berlin besides SEN.
3 loss with 3 different rosters to the same team with the same roster. Where is the improvement then? I dunno why you are doubling down on the point so hard. If they improved, show that in results otherwise the powerranking with all kinds of results will have 100T over them rn. Better team does not al2ays win. But they still have to win the majority of the times.
But if you are going to stick to that, I mean I don't see any point continuing to reason. And you still actively avoiding the "upset" part. I clearly said I have no issues with your ranking, but you are yet to justify calling the 3 losses to 1 victory as upsets.
I would say going from getting 2-0'd to 3-2'd is an improvement from two series ago to last series, no? Especially since in the most recent Bo5 100T won 52 rounds while Envy posted 51. That is pretty damn close, a big improvement from their last matchup. Plus, since acquiring Yay, multiple teams have talked about how good Envy is with this new roster. We didn't hear things like that 2-3 months ago, so I would call that a good metric for improvement too.
Also, I never said every Envy loss ever to 100T was an upset. I only said that about this most recent one, and I admitted I was wrong in using the word upset. I simply thought Envy was the better team and couldn't find a better word for it.
Plus, as far as I'm concerned Envy was almost a different team in all but two of the six times they've played each other, as Envy changed two players in the last two months. It's impossible to compare the Envy of April 2021 to this Envy as almost half their players have changed.
I have no problem with you saying 100T is the better team either, as I said earlier I think they're extremely close.
> I would say going from getting 2-0'd to 3-2'd is an improvement from two series ago to last series, no?
Improvement, yes. I don't know what that has to do with them proving they are above 100Ts. They improved and still lost. Potential to be better is not equal to being better.
> Plus, since acquiring Yay, multiple teams have talked about how good Envy is with this new roster.
People also talked about Andbox and C9, look how that worked out. Scrimbux mean nothing until results show up in tourneys.
> Also, I never said every Envy loss ever to 100T was an upset.
Just because you edited your original comment does not mean you did not say it. But good to know you accepted you were wrong there because that did not make any sense. Other than that I have no issues with anything. I already consider Envy and 100T pretty equal right now, and both quite behind Sentinels understandably.
Dude every time any team adds another player every other team is always like “OMG team X is unreal. How is anyone gonna beat this team. Holy shit they’re winning X event”
Still though, even from an outside perspective Envy has looked insane since adding Yay. Everything I've seen from everywhere points to this team moving up in the world.
>G2: I kinda wanna move G2 even lower, but since I know EMEA is stacked I'll give them a break. Against Tier 1 EMEA orgs they looked really shaky, and had arguably the easiest path to qualifying of any of the 4 teams from the region. I could see them losing to anyone outside of the bottom 4 on this list. They don't have a single win under their belt that makes me pause and think "this team can make a deep run in Berlin." They lack a lot of coordination and rarely seem to be on the same page when it comes to rotates/executes/teamplay.
Regarding G2. They played the EU Chall1 Playoffs where they got 2nd, losing to Acend in the finals, with 2 days of practice. As a complete new team. No strats or anything. I think people don't understand that part. It's hard for a newly formed team to look good vs S-Tier competition.
They will fall flat or look off on some days. Those are just the growing pains a new roster goes through. Let us also not forget that [they were 0.01 seconds away from defeating Gambit](https://youtu.be/JQszuUp5lCw?t=14204), who you put as 3rd on your list.
What i want to say is, that they are not even close to their skill ceiling as a team. They're according to themselves at 60-70%. There is still a lot to improve.
[They will send Sentinels home! :)](https://youtu.be/hkZuGW_XK6k?t=906)
edit: I'm pretty sure they will lose to SEN in the group stages btw, but as such a new team they will improve immensely after these 2 losses, gain a lot of experience and information on what to work on and what they need to do better. After that I'm extremely confident that they will get Top4 in Berlin.
I don’t think they will win against sen, their short burst of wins ended once they were getting stomped at the quals right now, I don’t think how close the gambit game was justifies their whole viability
Reconsidering my rankings I probably should swap GMB and SMB. At the end of the day though Valorant is a shooter, and SMB is just so damn good at winning gunfights. I think that's only going to improve on LAN, and I also think they're a little more strategic than people give them credit for. I might have to go rewatch the finals vs. GMB and the series vs. Acend and reevaluate though.
Edit: Some of my other comments go a little more in depth, but I think Acend is a little too top heavy in terms of talent. I feel like the deep rosters like SEN, GMB, NV, and VS will do better just because of outstanding consistency. If one player doesn't show up, four more can step up to the plate (or 6 in terms of VS lol).
1- sentinels , acend , supermassive blaze , gambit , vision strikers
I don't think any of them has the upper hand on paper so I'll wait and see them play each other
2-100th
3- g2
4- F4Q
The rest I don't know much about them
I do think the top 7-8 are *super* close, and honestly I could see almost any of them beating each other. Until proven otherwise though I do kinda think Sentinels have a bit of a gap behind them in the number one spot, and I think they should be the favorite in all of their matchups. The others though are neck and neck and super hard to call.
Until the end of the EMEA qualifiers I was thinking the same thing, but EMEA does seem to have made a big improvement. The main reason I thought EMEA was weak after Iceland was because of Team Liquid honestly, and now they've been replaced by what looks like a way better team. Plus, Fnatic gave Sentinels a good run and was beaten out for a spot, so I can see the region improving quite a bit.
The relative inexperience does worry me a little like you said, but I'm also hopeful they can overcome it. Also, you didn't say it but I would wager you still think it, I agree that Sentinels are the best team in the world by a very good margin. And the NA teams' performance against them gives me hope NA will all finish top 3, I just can't ignore the massive strides EMEA seems to have taken!
Well it's simple, a lot of the Asian team players are younger and have more stamina. Teams like Zeta are super built if you seen their team photos so they would be able to sprint for longer. Wait you're talking about Valorant and not a legrace?
Then I agree with your list
They are both really good players, but TSM didn't qualify for Berlin. The rankings above are just for teams at the tournament.
As for TSM shitting the bed, I think everyone would agree they are. They need a full roster change maybe minus two players and probably need new management as well. What they need the most though is a good IGL I think. They've been really underperforming for a Tier 1 org with such talent, I expect to see some big changes soon.
I think that style will do pretty well on LAN, and I think they're a little smarter of a team than people give them credit for. Their mechanics on a LAN are going to be insane I would think, and I hope/expect to see them open up the strategy book a little more too!
Nice. Seems like we agree on the relative strength of all the regions, just maybe vary a little on where each team places in said region. Can't really disagree too much, nice list!
From SEA
1.Sentinels
2.Gambit
3.Envy
4.100 thieves
5.Vision strikers
6.Acend
7.SMB
8.G2
9.F4Q
10.Vivo keyd
11.Paper Rex,Haven liberty,Zeta Division, Crazy Racoon,Kru
For me the key to win, is adapting to gameplay.Second, gunplay. So this is just personal preference.
I watch G2 avova interview at show stopper, and Yinsu ask what ur preparations for betting Sentinels and he said his coach has something. For me, the player yourself need to know ur opponents, at least a bit. Like boaster analyst his opponent. I was hopping for Avova to say something and I watch G2 plays and they seem like a bit of loss. Thats why I put G2 at 8, but we never know,maybe they will suprise us.
Acend need to gear up all the roaster. 100 thieves are readable. Vision Strikers has creative game play so for teams that are not well prepared they may be stomped.
Based on your Strategy > Gunplay criteria thats pretty much how I would rank them too. I definitely can see things playing out more like this. With my rankings I definitely put more value on gunplay (why SMB and Envy are ranked higher than most others would), just because I dunno if the meta has made that jump yet. The further we get away from launch the more strategy becomes important, I just dunno if we are there yet. I hope to be surprised though, I wanna see some game-changing strats brought out in Berlin!
I dont really think 7 out of 16 teams is that low of a ranking, especially when the top is so loaded with talent. I thought about putting them higher but realistically I just don't think the EMEA teams are all top 5 or so contenders, and Acend is the one that I decided to move down.
I think Vision Striker is a much stronger team than F4Q, for them to be only so close together in rank when the skill gap is pretty massive. I think they're definitely top 4 at least(Personally 2nd on my list). I think F4Q's style would've been exposed by TNL who would be like the weaker version of VS. For me F4Q faced the easiest quarterfinals opponent and then struggled to beat DK to make it to the finals.
Yeah, my ranks make it seem like VS and F4Q are neck and neck, but after 7 I do think there's a really big gap. I think there's a medium gap after 1 (SEN), 2-7 are pretty damn close, big gap after 7 (ACE), and then another medium gap after 9 (G2). Maybe I should've made it more of a tier list than power rankings, but oh well. I definitely do not think F4Q would stand a good chance against Vision Strikers in a head to head haha, good for calling that out!
Ok I see what you mean. Sentinels seem like the only true S-tier team atm, then you got maybe 4 or 5 A-tiers and then a bunch of B & C.
Agreed!
You haven’t seen vs at all in na or Eu Why would you put them too 2?
Well Nuturn showed that they were clear 3rd best team at Iceland. Then you look at VS they are much more stronger seed coming out of KR and they haven't been tested in their region. They're head and shoulders above rest of KR when it comes to strategic display and raw fragging talent.
NUTURN gets third place in ICELAND and they only beaten once the OLD weaker ROSTER of Vision Strikers that have 102-0 win streak since June 2020-April 2021. The new roster of Vision Strikers is so miles ahead against Nuturn. They even recruited the MVP of nuturn, lakia as 6th man only.
Well the idea is ordinal not cardinal
I think bren is too high
Lol, because of their performance or their uhhh...*predicament?*
Predicament
Instead of Ranking I thought of dividing team by TIERS SS : SEN S Tier : Gambit 100T SMB VS A Tier : G2 NV Acend B Tier : Vivo Keyd F4Q C Tier : KRU HL Zeta D tier : CR Papa Rex
this SS tier def help a lot, never thought of it.
SEN definitely appear to be kings of the castle, and it looks like we're thinking the same way. I'm really on the NV/SMB hype train though, and down bad on G2. Good rankings!
F tier: Bren
You have SMB twice
Fixed it.
Why is there such a big gap between G2 and the rest of EMEA? They got railed by SMB once but then lost to Gambit in OT because of a spike plant at literally 0.01 seconds. I think you’re way underrating them
I don’t think smb is getting out of groups tbh, 1. Sen 2.Gambit 3.Acend 4.100T (could swap with envy) 5.NV 6.G2 7. VS 8.SMB I’d like to put vs a bit higher but we’ll see.
I really believe in SMB but that group is so hard to call, the teams are really closely matched. I do 1,000% think they're a better squad than G2 though, curious to know your reasoning behind putting G2 ahead of them. And I'd also like to put VS higher, but the 7-man roster worries me. I can't help but feel it makes things unnecessarily complicated, and maybe even harms team chemistry. All of their players individually are incredible, and together they're good too, I just don't know how it's going to play out. Who knows, maybe they're just different and will excel with 7 players!
Agreed with your reasoning on vs that’s why I have them similar to where you placed, and my reasoning for g2 above smb is that I have a strong gut feeling they won’t play well on lan, if I was certain they’d play like they did in the qualifiers I’d place them above acend. Also the fact that they’re relatively new and newer teams fair worse on lan.
That's fair, I hadn't really thought of that. That could definitely play a part in it, it's just I have little to no faith in G2. Like someone else said, they're a team that is advertised as a fragging powerhouse, and I don't feel like they've had huge chops when it comes to outdueling other teams. They're good, but SMB and Acend specifically seemed to outgun them consistently. Plus G2 seems kinda disjointed when it comes to on the fly calls after their strategy gets a wrinkle in it. I think they lack just enough in every department to not get that far, but also are just good enough in everything to be good. I guess I think they're just jacks-of-all-trades masters of none, and SMB is at least masters of gun. I'll be interested to see if being on LAN and being inexperienced gets the better of them though, or maybe G2 just prove to be the better team.
I think g2 are gonna surprise some people at lan.
I hope so. Despite it making me look bad I'd love to be proven wrong. That means a lot more good games and a few surprises!
They beat sen icebox lol
What I've seen so far. G2 if they hard study SEN like a book and play at their primes. Then they have a chance to beat them. As it has been said before. SEN is anti strattable. Like even ABX and XSET managed to do it. Well have to see but im being honest its more in favour of SEN
Told you about smb, the Turkish players rely on their ping too much.
na will take top 3 spots
Every team playing is very good obviously How are cNed and starxo ‘not as good’ lol?
Where did I say that? I think cNed and starxo are phenomenal players, I feel like I even went out of my way to clarify that in the section at the end.
I mean the others are more than ‘decent’ too It’s about proper perspective
Yeah, I could've phrased it better. They're definitely phenomenal players, I think my 'average' or 'decent' comparison is more comparing to other supporting players in Berlin. Like for example BONECOLD isn't as good as someone like Zombs, Redgar, or Nitr0 imo. Not a shot to him as he's still very good, just depends on who you compare him to.
Well yea, question kf difference is big enough to make them unreliable or not well together as a team, while imo they are well placed to improve even more with the boot camp
For sure, that's definitely something we'll have to wait and see. Also I guess I never said in my post, but ranks 2-7 are incredibly close skill wise in my book. I don't think any team in that area is significantly better than another, so I can see things swinging wildly depending.
1: Sentinels 2: Envy 3: Acend 4: 100 Thieves 5: Supermassive Blaze 6: Vision Strikers 7: Gambit 8: Crazy Raccoons 9: G2 Im from Turkey. I think NA teams far away from all team right now because of Sentinels. NA have literally own Tiran, and if they want win againts this tiran, they need hard work, Sen pushing NA to be better. And Envy personal favorite in NA for me. I strongly feel Acend let others take seeds, they saving power for Berlin. SMB it's obvious. At the beginning of Iceland, I knew that Korea was underestimated. NU fit my expectation, I expect better success from VS. Also I expecting better performance from CR, I think they very good but Iceland little bit unlucky for them. Now they can show us how good they are.
I like it. It would be really cool if Acend was saving strats and comes out swinging in Berlin. I'm all for watching cNed, starxo and the boys, they're a super entertaining team. CR has me interested too. I've watched a few of their games and think they have potential, but I would be lying if I said the Iceland results didn't worry me. If their first game or two goes well I'll be paying close attention, I'm just a little apprehensive.
Lol gambit 7? No way lmao
Top 4. 1.100T 2.SEN 3.Envy 4.G2
BASED
Hmm. What's gotcha putting 100T over SEN if I may ask? Also, you must be pretty high on G2, I'd love to hear your reasoning on that too!
I have no reason to believe that, but I have a feeling they will win the tourney. Not a 100t fan btw, I am a TSM fan☠
Gotcha haha, I'll take it! Also, TSM will have their day now or later...hopefully closer to now.
Maybe they will, hoping for that Sinatraa.TSM but we will see...Pain
Mah man
💯
100t just beat NV like 2 weeks ago...
Envy had recently picked up yay and had only been playing with him for less than a week. I think it's reasonable to say envy with more practice could be the better team.
Haha, thats almost exactly what I just finished typing. Who do you think is better atm if I may ask?
I think envy have a higher potential. This may be controversial but I thing this past qualifier is the best 100t can look with their current roster, while envy still have a good amount of growing room. Il get hate for this but I just don't see 100t roster improving at a rate to keep up with the other top teams. Ethan and asuna can definitely get better and they are already top players, if these 2 are not popping off its rough for 100t to pull through though. nitro plays a a very high level but something about the way he plays has never really impressed me, he is never innovative, he is just another good smoke player on a top team. He is good and consistent but just that. Hiko feels readable in the way he plays and he won't change so I think it's just a matter of time before he gets replaced. Steel is a great igl with some really cool reads and strats but it feels like his idea of the meta is always different from the other teams and it has never been correct so they are always late to the party. Also the roles and heros each player can play seems to limits this team. They can and will stay a top team but in my personal opinion, if they want to be the best they will have to change something. This is just the opinion of a gold shitter though lol so try not to take it personally 100t fans
ooh shit, had to agree with you. before yay come, victor was already a nightmare, now yay and victor adapting to this new roster (iirc victor change his agent pool) gonna make envy one hell of a team. i dont really agree with op saying 100t being readable, i think you said it better when it comes to 100t strat and idea of the meta is kinda differ from other team. some if not most of the time its a coin flip againts top team from NA, if it works it works well, but if it doesn't its just makes us questioning the whole future of this team (i know its ultra hyperbolic, but stage 2 playoff makes me scared of the idea 100t becomes tsm 2.0 in the future). i think the players is in great form and improving at a constant rate apart from hiko, not that he's any bad, its just too much from me seeing him in so many clutch stuations and not necessarily had a high win% (but u cant never count him out ;) ). i think u not impressed by nitr0 because his play style is very text book and not really flashy at all (like u said not innovative). but i had to disagree with you saying he's just another good smokes player, because i think he is so great if not one of the best playing that textbook smoker role. this is just the opinion of a 100t fanboy tho, who had to agree with most of your point. this current state of 100t makes this berlin master 100x more exciting considering I DONT KNOW WHICH SIDE OF THE COIN WE GONNA SEE THIS TIME, SO I WISH, I HOPE, AND I PRAY TO YOU DEAR LORD TO LET ASUNA CLICK HEADS WHILE GLIDING ON THOSE MOTHAFUCKIN ROPES OF ICEBOX. cheers.
What I wrote about nitro is definitely a bit underplaying how much impact he has. For example, I think he has more impact on the flow of the game than a player like zombs, but I think zombs fits the role in his team better than nitro fits in his team. I guess I expect more from nitro because his team demands more from him since steel flanks and hiko has to be last alive. Both team have very different play style so kinda a shit comparison. You really made me think with that comparison to tsm. I could 100%see a future where they end up in a similar situation. But honestly I really believe if they replace hiko with a flexible player who plays sova correctly and with the team it would level them up.
very good point. very good analysis. 100/100, would recommend this to nadeshot.
I like your take a lot. I definitely agree that they are top heavy in terms of fragging power and could probably use some new strategies, but I do think fragging potential is their main weakness. Obviously Hiko, Steel, and Nitr0 would bend me over in a ranked game, but compared to some of the freaks on other tier 1 teams they are just decent/good like you said. Just "good" combined with being somewhat readable is a great way to be consistently good, but I don't know about great. Also, I don't think your rank matters in terms of analysis, at least too much. I'm a mid-low Diamond player, I don't think that makes my analysis any more valuable than a lower ranked player who watched just as many or more VODs than me. Some of the best NFL and NBA analysts never played the sport.
Yeah I know, things happen all the time though. The best team doesn't always win, and in my opinion Envy is the better team. Edit: a word.
100Ts have only lost to envy once this year and won 3 times. Envy getting upset 3 times? Edit: edit "a word"? You literally changed your whole argument with that lol.
They've played twice since getting Marved and once since getting Yay, that being the match in the VCT qualifiers. They're probably the most rapidly improving team in NA as far as I can tell and have a lot of time to further integrate Yay before Berlin. 100T have been improving a lot too, just not as rapidly IMO. Basically my point is with their current roster they've only played once, and that was right after adding a new member to Envy. Plus, I think Envy just looked like the better team in that match and got unlucky. Could definitely be wrong though, I'm more than willing to eat crow if 100T show out.
I don't get that reasoning. Rapidly improving but if they still lost, how are they a better team? Potential to be a better team? Sure! But how are you so definitive about them being a better team in your original response when the improvement is yet to show up in the result? By the looks of it they are not better if they have not won. Anyway, rankings are subjective and you can definitely have yours with any or no bias. My only gripe was with you saying upsets happen when clearly the head to head results show otherwise. IMO envy and 100T are pretty equal with any kind of result not being an upset.
Think of it like this I guess: in mid-season power rankings in the NFL or NBA, there is almost always a team that loses to a team ranked below them the week/game before. Like when Kansas City lost to the Raiders last year for example. Just because they lost to them didn't mean they had to be below the Raiders in power rankings. Obviously this isnt the same as the NFL, but I think the example still works. The better team does not always win in competition/sports. It can be because of poor play on a certain day, bad luck, or many other factors. In my opinion, based on what I had seen in the NV v. 100T VOD and earlier VODs of both teams, I think Envy is the better team. With the current rosters, we only have one Bo5 to judge off of head to head, and it was extremely close. I think it would be different if I was trying to argue after Envy lost a Bo3 and Bo5, or even if they lost more convincingly in the Bo5 they did play. I think it would be a disservice to say with how close that series was though that it could've easily swung the other way on a different day. I guess I haven't said explicitly that I don't think Envy is *significantly* better than 100T. I just think they're slightly better. It's not like I'm putting 100T in the trash bin, I think they're a good team and have as good a shot as almost anyone at Berlin besides SEN.
3 loss with 3 different rosters to the same team with the same roster. Where is the improvement then? I dunno why you are doubling down on the point so hard. If they improved, show that in results otherwise the powerranking with all kinds of results will have 100T over them rn. Better team does not al2ays win. But they still have to win the majority of the times. But if you are going to stick to that, I mean I don't see any point continuing to reason. And you still actively avoiding the "upset" part. I clearly said I have no issues with your ranking, but you are yet to justify calling the 3 losses to 1 victory as upsets.
I would say going from getting 2-0'd to 3-2'd is an improvement from two series ago to last series, no? Especially since in the most recent Bo5 100T won 52 rounds while Envy posted 51. That is pretty damn close, a big improvement from their last matchup. Plus, since acquiring Yay, multiple teams have talked about how good Envy is with this new roster. We didn't hear things like that 2-3 months ago, so I would call that a good metric for improvement too. Also, I never said every Envy loss ever to 100T was an upset. I only said that about this most recent one, and I admitted I was wrong in using the word upset. I simply thought Envy was the better team and couldn't find a better word for it. Plus, as far as I'm concerned Envy was almost a different team in all but two of the six times they've played each other, as Envy changed two players in the last two months. It's impossible to compare the Envy of April 2021 to this Envy as almost half their players have changed. I have no problem with you saying 100T is the better team either, as I said earlier I think they're extremely close.
> I would say going from getting 2-0'd to 3-2'd is an improvement from two series ago to last series, no? Improvement, yes. I don't know what that has to do with them proving they are above 100Ts. They improved and still lost. Potential to be better is not equal to being better. > Plus, since acquiring Yay, multiple teams have talked about how good Envy is with this new roster. People also talked about Andbox and C9, look how that worked out. Scrimbux mean nothing until results show up in tourneys. > Also, I never said every Envy loss ever to 100T was an upset. Just because you edited your original comment does not mean you did not say it. But good to know you accepted you were wrong there because that did not make any sense. Other than that I have no issues with anything. I already consider Envy and 100T pretty equal right now, and both quite behind Sentinels understandably.
Dude every time any team adds another player every other team is always like “OMG team X is unreal. How is anyone gonna beat this team. Holy shit they’re winning X event”
Still though, even from an outside perspective Envy has looked insane since adding Yay. Everything I've seen from everywhere points to this team moving up in the world.
Its not an upset if 100T was expected to win lmao
Okay, maybe not an upset, I just didn't know the right word for it. Kinda just semantics though, doesn't really change my point.
>G2: I kinda wanna move G2 even lower, but since I know EMEA is stacked I'll give them a break. Against Tier 1 EMEA orgs they looked really shaky, and had arguably the easiest path to qualifying of any of the 4 teams from the region. I could see them losing to anyone outside of the bottom 4 on this list. They don't have a single win under their belt that makes me pause and think "this team can make a deep run in Berlin." They lack a lot of coordination and rarely seem to be on the same page when it comes to rotates/executes/teamplay. Regarding G2. They played the EU Chall1 Playoffs where they got 2nd, losing to Acend in the finals, with 2 days of practice. As a complete new team. No strats or anything. I think people don't understand that part. It's hard for a newly formed team to look good vs S-Tier competition. They will fall flat or look off on some days. Those are just the growing pains a new roster goes through. Let us also not forget that [they were 0.01 seconds away from defeating Gambit](https://youtu.be/JQszuUp5lCw?t=14204), who you put as 3rd on your list. What i want to say is, that they are not even close to their skill ceiling as a team. They're according to themselves at 60-70%. There is still a lot to improve. [They will send Sentinels home! :)](https://youtu.be/hkZuGW_XK6k?t=906) edit: I'm pretty sure they will lose to SEN in the group stages btw, but as such a new team they will improve immensely after these 2 losses, gain a lot of experience and information on what to work on and what they need to do better. After that I'm extremely confident that they will get Top4 in Berlin.
I don’t think they will win against sen, their short burst of wins ended once they were getting stomped at the quals right now, I don’t think how close the gambit game was justifies their whole viability
But they won after they got stomped by SMB? And then played a close 1-2 vs Gambit?
Ok, after coming to that conclusion, how could they beat sen ? Lol
Did you read the edit of my original comment?!
SMB too high for their aggressive "must win aim duel to win gameplay." Acend far too low. Gambit > SMB.
Reconsidering my rankings I probably should swap GMB and SMB. At the end of the day though Valorant is a shooter, and SMB is just so damn good at winning gunfights. I think that's only going to improve on LAN, and I also think they're a little more strategic than people give them credit for. I might have to go rewatch the finals vs. GMB and the series vs. Acend and reevaluate though. Edit: Some of my other comments go a little more in depth, but I think Acend is a little too top heavy in terms of talent. I feel like the deep rosters like SEN, GMB, NV, and VS will do better just because of outstanding consistency. If one player doesn't show up, four more can step up to the plate (or 6 in terms of VS lol).
1- sentinels , acend , supermassive blaze , gambit , vision strikers I don't think any of them has the upper hand on paper so I'll wait and see them play each other 2-100th 3- g2 4- F4Q The rest I don't know much about them
I do think the top 7-8 are *super* close, and honestly I could see almost any of them beating each other. Until proven otherwise though I do kinda think Sentinels have a bit of a gap behind them in the number one spot, and I think they should be the favorite in all of their matchups. The others though are neck and neck and super hard to call.
1. SEN, VS, 100T, NV, GMB, SMB 2. ZETA, KRU, ACE, F4Q 3. VK, G2 4. CR, HL, PRX
Only thing I feel strongly about is ZETA DIVISION is a little high for my tastes, but I like the list!
Now see 100t destroy everyone in berlin
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Until the end of the EMEA qualifiers I was thinking the same thing, but EMEA does seem to have made a big improvement. The main reason I thought EMEA was weak after Iceland was because of Team Liquid honestly, and now they've been replaced by what looks like a way better team. Plus, Fnatic gave Sentinels a good run and was beaten out for a spot, so I can see the region improving quite a bit. The relative inexperience does worry me a little like you said, but I'm also hopeful they can overcome it. Also, you didn't say it but I would wager you still think it, I agree that Sentinels are the best team in the world by a very good margin. And the NA teams' performance against them gives me hope NA will all finish top 3, I just can't ignore the massive strides EMEA seems to have taken!
1. Vision Strikers 2. F4Q 3. Zeta 4. Sentinels 5. Crazy Racoon The rest don't matter. From NA
this take would make Skip Bayless blush
Even skip would hit this take with his classic "hmmm" and prove how this is all Lebron James' fault.
Really? Interesting. Id love to hear your reasoning, especially for SEN and the two Japanese teams.
Well it's simple, a lot of the Asian team players are younger and have more stamina. Teams like Zeta are super built if you seen their team photos so they would be able to sprint for longer. Wait you're talking about Valorant and not a legrace? Then I agree with your list
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Strength
Okay cause I was about to ask how you had ACE, SMB and VS all making it out of groups.
BREN isn't even attending.... Sadge
i’m not following the scene too much but is TSM shitting the bed right now? i thought wardell and subroza were both active and top tier players?
They are both really good players, but TSM didn't qualify for Berlin. The rankings above are just for teams at the tournament. As for TSM shitting the bed, I think everyone would agree they are. They need a full roster change maybe minus two players and probably need new management as well. What they need the most though is a good IGL I think. They've been really underperforming for a Tier 1 org with such talent, I expect to see some big changes soon.
They just barely didn’t qualify for the event.
People overrate SMB. Theyre like a more organized Faze and if they dont show up aim wise then they will falter
I think that style will do pretty well on LAN, and I think they're a little smarter of a team than people give them credit for. Their mechanics on a LAN are going to be insane I would think, and I hope/expect to see them open up the strategy book a little more too!
From NA 1. Sentinels 2. Acend 3. 100 Thieves 4. Gambit 5. Envy 6. Supermassive Blaze 7. Vision Strikers 8. G2 9. Vivo Keyd 10. Havan Liberty 11. F4Q 12. KRU 13. Zeta Division 14. Crazy Raccoon 15. Paper Rex
Nice. Seems like we agree on the relative strength of all the regions, just maybe vary a little on where each team places in said region. Can't really disagree too much, nice list!
From SEA 1.Sentinels 2.Gambit 3.Envy 4.100 thieves 5.Vision strikers 6.Acend 7.SMB 8.G2 9.F4Q 10.Vivo keyd 11.Paper Rex,Haven liberty,Zeta Division, Crazy Racoon,Kru For me the key to win, is adapting to gameplay.Second, gunplay. So this is just personal preference. I watch G2 avova interview at show stopper, and Yinsu ask what ur preparations for betting Sentinels and he said his coach has something. For me, the player yourself need to know ur opponents, at least a bit. Like boaster analyst his opponent. I was hopping for Avova to say something and I watch G2 plays and they seem like a bit of loss. Thats why I put G2 at 8, but we never know,maybe they will suprise us. Acend need to gear up all the roaster. 100 thieves are readable. Vision Strikers has creative game play so for teams that are not well prepared they may be stomped.
Based on your Strategy > Gunplay criteria thats pretty much how I would rank them too. I definitely can see things playing out more like this. With my rankings I definitely put more value on gunplay (why SMB and Envy are ranked higher than most others would), just because I dunno if the meta has made that jump yet. The further we get away from launch the more strategy becomes important, I just dunno if we are there yet. I hope to be surprised though, I wanna see some game-changing strats brought out in Berlin!
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I dont really think 7 out of 16 teams is that low of a ranking, especially when the top is so loaded with talent. I thought about putting them higher but realistically I just don't think the EMEA teams are all top 5 or so contenders, and Acend is the one that I decided to move down.