An understandable decision, the experimenting with fielding different rosters based on map/opponent seemed to work for a while early on, but I think trimming the group will lead to a lot more success than they've had recently. Most shocking move to me is letting Woohyal go, but Susie's point about Zarya being important this stage makes it more forgivable.

Guess that answers the question of who will play off tank now. I'm so ready to watch my boy SPACE frag out

Where's Mowzassa been? :(

Damn, that is a nutty pickup. Bischu has been playing just fine, but Void was absolutely crazy on Kongdoo, plus the reunion with Fissure is sure to come with built in chemistry, this is so juicy. Shields up boys, LAG is coming to play stage 3.

Obviously Volskaya wasn't close, but I'd argue every other map was.

You can't call a 2-1 on control not close just because the last round was 100-0. Even that round's score was deceiving, it turned into an extended staggered fight after Houston didn't cap with more picks in the first fight.

Likewise you can't just write off Route as not close because of how they snowballed 2nd. They capped first in OT, I'd say that's a pretty close map.

3/4 maps were close and I'm sticking with that

Alright calling Houston v NYXL a "complete blowout" is pretty incorrect. It was one of the closest 4-0 sets ever, and was only as hype as it was because New York was clutching it out despite such excellent opposition. That King's Row map was one of the entertaining games I've ever seen.

Fleta
Dafran
Muma
SPACE
Jjonak
BigGoose

Is mowzassa on a team? I haven't seen his name around in a while, but I might be lost. If he's not that's my pick on main tank 100%. I'll also second the Train pick, can't believe he's the only ex-LGE player without a team, dude was loony.

I get Malik for a different interviewer, but why Goldenboy on the desk? I don't want anyone taking my boy Puckett's time away ;/

I was expecting to see London at 1 and Boston at 4 after last week, but perhaps it's too soon to be moving them up that much

I would guess for insta-reporting a Sym-Torb only player. Haven't watched all of his stream recently but doubt it was for toxicity or throwing

Sheesh, $5 for ONE skin? Maybe I'm cheap but that seems rather unreasonably priced to me. Guess I'll have to choose my free Outlaws skin wisely.

Pretty funny how Apex, Contenders, and now APAC have all avoided playing on the initial broken mercy patch, and for the best if you ask me. Will be very interesting to see if these teams find GA not resetting troublesome enough to not run her or if she will be as required as we've feared since 1.15.

I personally think San Francisco Shock sounds quite good, especially compared to Fuel and Excelsior

WOW, that's a damn scary looking lineup. Can't wait to see this in action

PLEASE give their contenders spot to Arc6, they deserve it more than c9 imo. Also MESR and shadder should find homes quickly, they're both studs.

WOW. That was one of the most hype matches I've seen in a long time, glad that one of these RO16 games with Blizzcon on the line finally got the adrenaline pumping. AKTM is absolutely nuts, sad to see Japan go down, but best of luck to Australia at Blizzcon!

After #8 I was intensely curious as to who you would go with for 9 and 10, and I could not be happier to see my boys Arc 6 on here. With Custa on the roster they are a serious threat to the tier 1 of NA, and it's such a shame they're not in contenders because it seems like they'll have no place to play and prove they deserve this ranking.

Truly hoping the "better option popped up elsewhere" is the case. Dude was out of the scene for way too long for how great he is, and he looked in prime shape when Envision were on stream .

This has been really hard to watch as an Arc6 fan, they honestly just looked outclassed this set. The real choke was Arc6 tying Tempo and allowing this game to be a decider, but after watching this FNRGFE with coolmatt definitely deserve to make it to playoffs.

It's getting cast boys

LGE losing to Faze in the finals was the play of the tourney so far, their group is so free. Meanwhile every single team in the other 3 NA groups has a legitimate shot of taking top 2 in their draw IMO (except maybe Selfless, it's a tough ask replacing Dafran). I'd agree with #11 that it looks far easier for the top EU teams to make it out of groups, but I think that's more a product of NA having genuinely strong teams in the bottom half, while EU at least seems to have less depth. At this point I'd struggle to even call anyone here a "top NA team" besides maybe C9, and their group is stacked beyond belief. NA seems so wide open right now. All things considered this is shaping up to be an amazing watch.

I'm very interested to see if AFB live up to this hype they've created, they've got a chance to prove they're definitively better than Meta and Envy coming, can't wait to see how that plays out. Quite serendipitous time for these rankings seeing as how Dafran isn't with Selfless now. Can't say I expect to see them on the next iteration of this list, but I am curious to see who rises to the top in contenders now that Selfless is gimped.

Very glad to see you all have your heads on straight and didn't punish Rogue hard for that loss to KDP. Honestly KDP could potentially make Apex finals this season if they keep this level of play up, and that match was potentially just two team fights away from going in Rogue's favor. Also new look AF Blue are looking scary, but it's hard to tell how much of that 3-0 against RunAway can be attributed to their illnesses, but regardless they're looking fierce.

The first 2 maps were ridiculously close, set could have gone either way easily. Rogue's got a shot against LH, but assuming they lose this is one of the worst cases of "screwed by the group draw" I've ever seen.