Hey there, i want to share my thoughts on the teams and my predictions on the outcome. Feel free to share yours! OG: Clearly one of the favorites to win it all. Well rounded team with versatile picks and strategies. TL: For me a TOP 3 team with yet something missing to win it all. Strange picks from time to time, Matumba lately not that stable, Kuro has some strange feeding games from time to time. Newbee: Also TOP 3 material, close games vs OG and TL lately. A force to be reckoned with! LGD: For me no TOP3 material, TOP 6 possible, but could go either way depending on how banana fits for them. MVP Phoenix: Sea´s strongest team, clearly has TOP3 potential, heck they even can win TI if everything goes their way. But they crumbeled vs the top teams in the recent big valve tournaments, so realistically TOP6. Navi: Have had a good showing but always lost to the top teams. Might surprise us all, but i guess they will end something between TOP8 and TOP4. EG: Seem to not have found a good synergy with this rooster. Dont look too strong. For me something between rank 6 and 10. Wings: TOP 6 isnt that unlikely, TOP3 is realistic, if everything goes their way, they even could win it! TS: Strong showing lately, lost hard to navi, so i guess TOP6 is possible, but could even go the other way around to place 12-16. TNC: Compared to the other teams TNC is one of the weakest TI-contenders for me. Something between 10 and 16 will be the final rank for them DC: Same as for TNC. Vici.R: Could surprise us as they had some really strong performances the last month, but i guess a TOP 8 is realistic. [A]: One of the weakest teams this TI, lackluster performances lately, not very much practice before TI in terms of tournaments played and success. Place 12-16 is realistic. Fnatic: I consider Mushi the weak link in this years fnatic as he always tries his best, but sometimes just has bad games. So Fnatic can go either TOP 6 (unlikely) or end up rank 8 or lower (more likely). Wild card teams: None of those except maybe EHOME (i dont really now how good their current for is) will get TOP 8 is my prediction. They lack experience as a team, they lack skill and teamplay. If I had to predict final standings it would look like: 1. OG 2. Wings 3. Newbee 4. TL 5. MVP 6. TS 7. Navi 8. Vici.R 9. Ehome 10. EG 11. Fnatic 12. LGD 13. DC 14. Escape 15. [A] 16. TnC Exacration and Complexity losing in Wild card.
I like your analysis of each team, agree for the most part. And I feel like you put thought into it and considered more than just the tournaments from the past month and also min/max potential of each team. Things that most people don't do. There are a bunch of teams who could end up way higher/lower than their potential based on how they perform there and how the rest do. So some of my opinions: OG: I am a very negative and pessimistic fan so even though I know recent results gives them a very good chance of top3 and winning I am going to be happy with everything top 6 or higher (depending on how they lose, being outplayed and ending 6 is fine but if they just underperform I will be unhappy). Obviously top 3 is a good prediction for them. The rest is tough, precise predictions is hard in TI. Top 3 should be OG, Newbee and Liquid (In that order) according to recent results. But I feel safer with sticking by a top 6 of those three and then MVP, LGD and then I don't even know. LGD is a team that I feel could end up almost anywhere. Depending how Banana works out and then of course the Xiao8 effect. I would honestly not be surprised if they win but also if they barely make top 8 I wouldn't either. I think there are a bunch of those teams though. MVP, Na'Vi and Wings look like safe bets for top 6. But I think the 7 I mentioned as well as EG and Secret won't be shocking top 6's for me. I know most people aren't expecting those positions for Secret and EG but I think they will do well, at least top 8. But a team by team list like yours: 1. OG - 1 to 6. Probably top 3 2. Wings - 3 to 8 or even 9th-12th. If I had to I would say top 8 3. Newbee - 1 to 4. Probably 2 4. TL - 1 to 4. 5. MVP - 3 to 6. They could win it though but I think top 6 6. TS - Anything between 6 and 9th-12th. They look like they improved a lot but tournaments close to TI don't say that much. I think 9th-12th. 7. Navi - 6-9th. I would not be surprised by any position except 13-16, just like Wings 8. Vici.R - 9th-12. But I don't know enough about them 9. Ehome - Same as Vici.R but 6th is possible depending. 10. EG - Man this one is hard. 3rd to 9th-12th. I think Starladder didn't say anything concrete about them, they can improve a lot in terms of Zai and Fear. 11. Fnatic - 6th-12th. Its pretty much on Mushi 12. LGD - 4th to 9th. They are like EG I think, hard to gauge. If it wasn't for the visa problems I would say top6. 13. DC - 9th-12th. Even bottom 4 if they have a bad day. 14. Escape - Well they haven't shown much so bottom 4, even 9th-12th would be good. Although I want them to do well because of Synd and especially Era. I think they should stick together regardless and will become a strong team by the next major. 15. [A] - Bottom 4. Even 9th-12th would be ok I think. 16. TnC - Bottom 4 of course. Won't be MUFC level but they were probably lucky to qualify. And yeah coL and Execration will lose. But if coL somehow steps up and stuff they can get 9th-12th again. Like I said a lot depends on which version of each team shows up, and how much/little the West chokes. And if China follows their trend of doing well at TI.
Wings will win it all dude, why everybody is so hyped over OG? Anyway: 1. Wings 2. Liquid 3. Newbee 4. Navi 5. OG 6. MVP 7. Fnatic 8. LGD 9. Vici.R 10. DC 11. [A] 12. Complexity 13. Secret 14. EG 15. Escape 16. TnC Ehome and Execration will lose.
i would've honestly bet on LGD for guaranteed top 3, and in my mind even win out of all of them if they had full team. their improvement is amazing and something just feels great about them. Especially with maybe showing some really great solo performances again
Top 1-4 Na'Vi, OG, Liquid, Newbee Top 5-8 Wings, MVP, LGD, VG.R Top 9-12 Secret, Fnatic, DC, Ehome Top 13-6 EG, Escape, A, TnC
Great to see people cheering for a team even when they don't do well. That makes you a true fan. As a long time n0tail lover I can understand.
I wish they could release the times and brackets for Wildcards already. The hype would be so much bigger then. ---------- Post added at 08:37 AM ---------- Previous post was Yesterday at 12:12 PM ---------- OK so what are your predictions for Wildcards now that the brackets are out (and we need to start some hype)? I think EHOME will beat Execration 2-0. And Escape vs complexity will be close, probably 2-1. I want to say Escape because I don't like complexity but historic results say complexity. I think it can go either way depending on their form today. And then EHOME should win the WB match, with Escape or complexity taking 2nd in another close 2-1 series.
If Complexity beat Escape they'll beat Ehome. With Nahaz as their coach and Ehome taking part in the Grandmasters League they should be able to make a plan to get past them. If Complexity loses to Escape I'm betting Escape and Ehome will clinch their spots.
The only reason I agree with you is that I think if complexity beats escape it means that the complexity of TI5 is there and not the Manila one. I didn't think of this before.
When I watch EG vs OG game 1 in the group stages Link I can't help but feel that will be the final this year. The pace of play is insane.
Rofl! what an unlucky bracket/result. one of possibly top 6 teams EG/newbee/liquid gonna be knocked out
