Spoiler
So when it comes to who is the favorite the same names have to be mentioned but in another order. I am gonna make the bold prediction that Poosy is gonna fight back with a tournament win if they bring all their members and I am also gonna explain why. Poosy has without a doubt the biggest depth in their roster. Rikkert and Troister have shown they can perform strongly alongside the Brits and if Bagins could make it to the tournament, they even have another good alternative, not to forget they were probably already the best team at the first tournament, just didn't achieve to secure the win due to own faults making the opponent strong. The last interesting thing is that it is quite easy to see that 5v5 is the worst format for the majority of the team, judged by performances in former teams. But Amaterasu can also be expected stronger than they already were at the 5v5. Both Zeyden, the captain and best player of the team, and RedFire, who proved himself in the last 6 months, will return after their absence to give the Amaterasu roster another boost. And the depth seems to be closer to what Poosy has than I would have predicted it 2 weeks ago. But what makes me believe they are "only" gonna come second is the fact that several players have likely overperformed their average abilities in the last final, and although I´d be happy to get convinced by the opposite, playing any worse is simply too big of a loss in such a close match. And different from Poosy, 5v5 seems to be the Amaterasu member's favorite format, judging by previous teams' performances. In the end, it will also come down to mental strength. Has Poosy forgotten their big defeat? Is Amaterasu able to play in humility after their recent tournament win? A duel of 2 generations of competitive players is just starting!
Taking a look at who will play for Bronze it looks like another duel to me. ProudBoys against Virgins. But with a potentially big gap towards the first two places. When it comes to ProudBoys, only 4 people at this very moment seem to have a potential tournament-winning level. Too many of the others are still super rusty, inactive, or underperforming. It could well be the deciding trifle if 2 of the other 5 have secretly improved over the last 2 weeks. And when it comes to Virgins the last tournament was more of a one men show, and that although Extazz didn't seem to be fully integrated already. So it will be Coco's job to find a line-up where is Extazz is comfortable but not the only one to do anything. People such as Quenouille, Steinmann, or Ilypa have the quality to do great stuff, even against the best, but they need to be trusted to do that. As confusing as that may sound but Virgins benefits from the bigger format, simply due to the fighting field being bigger and all players behind Extazz being on such a same level.
Talking about a deep run we shouldn't forget Snappers. Walking under the radar they are another team with people of nearly the exact same skill level on all 6 positions and are thereby hard to foresee. The addition of Irish to the roster brings another valuable option. Different from being a favorite in the 5v5, this time Enigma is only a team to look out for. The loss of a strong performing Wursti towards CCCP and the old depth problem they have experienced in the last NWWCs. It's simply too narrow behind Gerher, Wolpi, and Igel, plus it's hard to believe Blacktham can show what he did in the 5v5. The last really dangerous team is one that failed in the 1st knock-out round last time. Having benefited from the probably best transfer, the addition of Wursti, CCCP has gained a fourth top-class player. But they will also feel some pressure as their roster needs to make it to a quarter-final without a doubt, especially considering they don't wanna fall behind in the fight for the 8 places that allow participation for the final.
In the midfield, BlackKnights is a darkhorse to get a somewhat deep run. They have done some good practices and people like Ciomcio or galava are often underestimated. MistyMountains will try to surprise us again, and with Spooky being not the worst addition of all, a knock-out appearance looks to be in range. The same can be said for Gordon´s who played a bad first tournament but now on the one hand added DayBoul and on the other their benefit increases, the bigger the format gets.
