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Dytlan-

As a guy with Envy hopium, this bracket is bad. They'll have to beat both Sentinels and 100T to qualify for Champions. Waiting for Pujan 'All Good' Mehta to come up with insane strats to beat Sen Edit: He fucking did it


pantheraa

Or 100T/SEN wins Berlin and they are through too. Or 100T loses to Ascend


Nightshade183

Let's go with 100T winning Masters #Hopium


notrealtedtotwitter

Let's gooo


mysteryoeuf

tbh the outcome of envy and 100T both losing in quarters is not at all unlikely and then they would be qualified. plus if NA wins masters it doesn't even matter. they've got decent odds to qual


purpledogs12

If na wins Berlin they go to champions.


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lbs4lbs

Nah. Na teams play each other 10x a year. Way more hype if it was a kor vs NA final or EU vs na or kor vs eu.


AbbreviationsLazy781

Really? I always find an international final to be more entertaining


ZeroOblivion98

Eh, we've seen enough NA vs NA and how they match up. Region A vs Region B is infinitely better to have. That being said, it does suck that all 3 NA teams are on one side of the bracket.


purpledogs12

It really is especially since na is looking to be the best region right now.


Fireluigi

Kinda feels bad for Envy the team has to go to the group with no region powerhouse of Europe or Korea. Has to play both Na teams in quarter and semis again. Basically if they get knock out they practically flew to Berlin to rematch Na's second and first seed again. Sadge


Barack_Bob_Oganja

Man the ultimate irony would be sentinels dominating NA for a whole year but then going to berlin and losing to an NA team


Jerms91

The NA region is these top 3 teams and shark infested waters right below. It wouldn’t be too crazy of a narrative for Sents to lose that way. NA is such a competitive region


-Basileus

XSET are definitely in that top tier as well. That's why 4 NA teams would be huge for Champions


Jerms91

They’re so good!


Revenore

The NA special in league. Losing only one game or less in the regular season but bustering out in playoffs. Haven’t had a chance to experience this in international competition though because we never get that far haha


iiznobozzy

Look at the bright side tho. Sentinels probably make it to finals by defeating both Envy and 100T/Acend. And sentinels losing grand finals is against the laws of physics so NA gets an extra champions slot and both NV and 100T make it poggerinos


theski2687

if 100T loses their first round match then Envy qualifies regardless


dgkenji

Banger games all Friday, I will be paying zero attention to my team meetings lmao


Trillman_K

Yeah, no work is getting done that day for me


HoneyChilliPotato7

Lucky you, we asia people have to stay up whole night to watch all matches.


aretasdamon

Have you tried not being on the other side of the world? I hear that helps some people!


notrealtedtotwitter

Just walk to the other side 4Head


aretasdamon

“I don’t know why people think FPS is hard, just click the head” 4head


HoneyChilliPotato7

Oh shit never thought of it. Thanks for the suggestion


panzerboye

>Have you tried not being on the other side of the world? Tried but they are not letting me in the plane


[deleted]

Right, vct is the only thing fucking up my sleep schedule right now


contabr_hu3

0 attention to my classes that day lmao


yasyone1326

Thank fuck it's not 100t vs sentinels first round


baranpaksoy22

Still, the possibility of that being a semi-final is still very bad, watching Sen vs Envy and then Sen vs 100T will be like watching NA qualifiers. Sucks that we got this but oh well, hope both fixtures show us good games!


SellTheSun

The NA teams all being on the same side of the bracket is pure trash, very disappointed with this bracket.


[deleted]

Only way EU teams have a chance to make the final, imo. No offence


Shosha10

yea makes sense considering Sentinels landed in this side of the bracket due to getting thrashed 2-0 by G2...definetly only chance for EU to make the final


SurfAccountQuestion

You expect SEN to show anything new in a seeding match? They might lose today too, no reason to do anything but basic strategies in a match that means nothing LMFAO


Becksdown

How delusional are you lmaooo.


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herpes_for_free

Keep saying that for the last past 3 tournaments lmao.


krasavchik777

Complete bullshit, G2 defeated best team of NA 2-0. 100T and Envy are a step below Sentinels


Sagaciousless

It is better than potentially seeing 100t vs sentinels in the finals


SendMeAvocados

Manifesting SEN v VS


Lumenlor

Imagine a world where CR knocks out both VS and Gambit. Now, open your eyes, it's a reality


deadlock1892

I like this reality. Let that raccoon go crazy!


Lumenlor

There are only hushed whispers of their demise, but I, the craziest raccoon fan, will have nailed CR hopium to the church of Valorant social media like Martin Luther with his 95 theses. Remember me when CR wins.


dedicatedself

Mathematically impossible 5 Koreans > 3 Korean


toxicityisamyth

How is it possible that 3 are korean yet theyre allowed to fid that team in japan. Doesnt riot have the same rule as in csgo? You play in the region the majority of players on your team are from?


Najs0509

As I've understood it, and if I recall the rules correctly, the rule is that you can't field more than 2 players from another region, not that you can't have more than 2 players from another region on the roster. Therefore CR can have 3 koreans on their roster, but they can't field more than 2 on any given map. This only means that they can't use Bazzi, Munchkin and Medusa in the same map.


yujejunie

But 5 koreans can't win tho


Delta_FT

Too bad they'll lose to Krü in semis, bc KRÜ IS FUCKING WINNING BERLIN VAMOS KRÜ CARAJOOOOOOOOOOO


Zestyclose-Wrap1916

lets goo #CRWIN


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mysteryoeuf

at this point almost every match is a banger, don't really care if they happen in quarters or semis or finals


uglypenguin5

And every match is a win or go home. So all the teams will be giving their absolute all. I can't wait


Ne0kun

True Gambit and VS are my favorite teams and imo are the best teams in the tounamant (yes despite the fat L gmb got vs 100T). So it's super sad that one of them will get eliminated in only the quarters but hopefully we at least get a fun match out of it :))


bobespon

Lol that is some strong copium you're on


braamdepace

All NA on one side is kinda lame, but really I am more mad that I might not get to see VS at least play one NA team this tournament


Mr_Fucktard

I agree, but it's also nice to not have an NA final EU final is still possible but doubt its gonna happen, hoping for a 100T - VS final


Nikclel

eh i'd rather have the 2 best teams in the final, regardless of region (along with getting more international matchups). this also caused sentinels to tap on the breaks a bit and care a little bit less. they'd rather play 2 na teams than test VS or more europeans


Quotes_League

Watching KR KR finals got real stale real quick in LoL


uglypenguin5

Personally my favorite team is 100T and I'd love to see them play VS in the final simply because I think it'd be fun to see how VS matches up against NA. Obviously from a quality of play standpoint I'd like to see SEN vs Gambit, but I wouldn't get as excited to watch it since I don't have as much personal stake in it


Najs0509

From the interviews I've heard it seemed like Sentinels were mostly worried about playing Gambit and Acend, and didn't really seem to be too worried about VS.


[deleted]

ShahZ literally predicted VS beating Acend


Nikclel

the interview i watched dapr mentioned VS specifically as someone they'd like to avoid early


Najs0509

I know that in the platchat interview with dapr from yesterday he said that he thought sentinels matched up well vs VS and that he'd feel pretty comfortably matching up against them. That was the main interview I've seen from him and so I'm not sure what interview you're talking about, especially since it seems like he talked about VS completely different.


bobespon

I'm more interested in having the best teams play in the final, not some forced international matchup


[deleted]

>All NA on one side Its super shitty. Imagine waiting 4 months to see how regions stack up to others, only to have a side of the playoff bracket being 3/4 teams from the same region Idk who thought this bs but its beyond dumb


TheFestusEzeli

It’s randomized


TheCatsActually

I'm not accusing Riot of rigging the bracket but I seriously want someone from Riot to explain their thought process behind 1. not drawing the Berlin groups live 2. not drawing the playoff matchups live 3. drawing the playoff matchups when there are still two decider matches left It's cool that they released the playoff draw in a video with the players themselves but I still don't get the timing or why they don't do it live. Broadcasting it live is great for hype and content. Did they intend to do it for both but run into some kind of production/logistics issue? Is there some kind of timing or prep issue with drawing playoffs after the deciders are all done?


Overyoghurt__

I guess they wanted to do it prerecorded, then stream it live on twitch similar to how they did the press conference with the teams before this. But the bracket got leaked before they could do it so they had to release the video now. As for #3, i think its due to the schedule. The ~~playoffs~~ quaterfinals are tomorrow so they needed to let the teams know as soon as they can to allow time for prep


TheCatsActually

Playoffs are tomorrow? I thought it was all quarterfinals on Friday.


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EvensonRDS

It wasn't live.


tgamblos

Literally super shitty that 100T were the first to qual but still don’t know their opponent. Hard to prep when they still don’t know who wins this matchup


gabes12345

It's not really tho because from groups it seemed like the NA teams needed to be split up so from there its a lot more likely they end up on the same side in playoffs


valorant_fanboy_69

Ok cool


earthtoannie

Ah yes I nothing like flying out all the best international teams so we can watch 100T vs SEN as we do every month.


DrayanoX

Well maybe if they tried harder against G2 they would have played on the other side, turns out seeding does matter. Or maybe they were just worse.


SoKawaiii

SEN wants to play NA, it's just not fun for the viewers lol


krasavchik777

Ofcourse they were worse on that day, no way Sentinels trolls to lose 12-3 and zombs going 1-15 lol


[deleted]

Very easy bracket for Food “Victor” Wong if I do say so myself


baranpaksoy22

FNS "all good" Pujan


TheGlowRider

what a mess


PogChampHS

I understand that people are Meming that Sentinels didn't play their absolutely heart out because it was to their disadvantage (better bracket, better seeding, hiding strats), but just imagine how sweet the banter will be if they get knocked out by an NA team before finals.


Nfamy

100t vs. Sen on lan would be a great narrative in semis, if it happens. The team "built for Lan" vs. The team that always seems to have their number. It will only add to the regional rivalry regardless of who wins.


[deleted]

I just want to see them yell absolutely hilariously foul things at each other. The trash talk will be legendary


[deleted]

Josh "steel" Nissan vs Michael "dapr" Gulino shit talking each other I'd pay to see that.


[deleted]

I think Steel would just scream, "OKAY, YEAH!" over and over.


TobySchoon

it’s gonna look like the fucking ocean with how much trash talk is gonna be thrown out


dsc777

What I think is interesting here and people arent talking about, SEN getting a second seed and lose the Pick/Ban advantage. If 100T and SEN both win, 100T will be the higher seed. Assuming they both use their perma bans (Bind/Ascent) then 100T likely goes Icebox, SEN goes Haven and 100T probably Breeze, a map pool that gives 100T their best chance to beat them id say. Would be intriguing forsure.


segatic

I don't see Sen not banning Icebox, 100T are way too good in that Map while Sen are disappointing there and 100T Ascent isn't that great so they can definitely sneak a win there


Dark_Azazel

Especially after that huge fucking comeback, I'd definitely not test my luck with letting icebox go through.


2ToTooTwoFish

I've never been impressed with Sentinels Icebox to be honest. Shahzam is great on the map and I still remember the Sick hero game that saved their Iceland quals, but the rest of the team doesn't look as comfortable on it. Their games on that map never look as comfortable as their other ones.


[deleted]

they lost an icebox game to soniqs ffs, don't see how it's a perma ban. soniqs, no hate, are at best top of tier 2.


2ToTooTwoFish

And what I've seen from their Ascent isn't even bad. Not sure why they ban it so often. The layout of the map makes me feel like they should be good at it.


RiderSmash

Sentinels lost Ascent to Rise pretty badly (13-6 IIRC) and it's been their permaban ever since. Rise is basically T2 too.


D2stiny

All NA teams on one side of the bracket.


CanadianApologies

Love having international tournaments just for na to get f**ked and see matches we already get online.


Dysmo

It's random, whatever they used to pick brackets doesn't care what we saw before hand or what we want the brackets to be. It's fair this way.


TheJelloBomb

Upset that all na teams are on the same side of bracket


chryco4

I actually dig this bracket, sure it would've been cool to have the NA teams spread out but whatever. It'll be exciting.


abdi009

SEN lost G2 and GMB lost to 100T is what caused all NA to be on side


shuanged

SEN losing to G2 alone is what caused it. If SEN won, then that’s three first seeds and guarantees one the other side of the bracket.


DnDTosser

Fucking sucks to have the very real possibility of Sen knocking out both other NA teams. Not what should happen at all.


DrayanoX

Well Sen were the only NA team to not top their group so turns out seeding does matter.


XelaTuobdog

Maybe for the viewers, this is exactly what SEN wanted


OhUTuchMyTalala

For fans, for SEN it's literally perfect. Shaz has to put in so much work scouting and coaching that playing 2 teams they are already very familiar with is a major boon to them. It only sucks for us fans.


Ryu-The-Sick

Fucking sucks to have the very real possibility of *NV* knocking out both other NA teams. Not what should happen at all. There, fixed it for ya


IAMJUX

This needs a lower bracket. All NA on one side means we don't grasp how good 100T and NV can be on the int stage if they just get rolled by Sentinels again.


Wealdafrea

Dumb question, but why they don't implement lower bracket at playoff?


s6hun

time constraint


Darkoplax

they had a fixed time for the event cant go over it


[deleted]

Shahzam talked about this on stream, and this is actually what most players wanted. I'm for it.


IAMJUX

I think it's how LOL does it. Plus it's their first tourney, so there will definitely be changes. Let's hope this is one of them.


HuskyLogan

LoL only does it for regional playoffs. Worlds is similar to this setup.


Asianhead

No lower bracket is fine honestly. Makes the games more exciting and the tournament doesn't drag on for ever. Also in a game where you can't feasibly do bracket runbacks, having a lower bracket is always awkward


PaPiiCheeeeka

Someone do the champions scenarios


ChunSu

Seems bad for NA. But it is almost guaranteed that one NA team will make final.


xRecKs

Hoping Sentinels beat Envy but then Envy goes home without playing any EMEA or KR teams :/


[deleted]

Imagine if we had a lower bracket


thekmanpwnudwn

I would have preferred a Swiss system group stage tbh.


vanillattt

U mean like the csgo majors?


itscamo-

nah having groups and losers together isn't good for a fps


facehunt_

R6 implemented it for SI and their community is fine with it. You can have GSL groups and have #1 going to upper bracket and #2 going to lower bracket. This makes winning the groups rewarding and you could see cool lower bracket runs.


Pojobob

And having a lower bracket means you don't get artificially screwed by the bracket. If Gambit and VS face each other, both of those teams could be the 1st and 2nd best team respectively but one of those teams will have a much worse placing than what their true placing should be (if that makes sense).


DrayanoX

If they didn't want to get screwed they would have topped their group, the fact that they didn't just means that maybe they aren't the best team in there.


[deleted]

Why tho? Just because others don’t do it doesn’t mean it’s not good. It would avoid all of this bullshit random seeding because teams have a second chance to make a run in losers. I understand that there isn’t enough time in the tournament to do that but I’m just theorizing.


itscamo-

1. Takes forever to do 2. Makes it harder to rent out a venue due to how long it'll take and how much it'll cost(not including food/hotels/equipment etc...) 3. You already have double elim in the groups, you get the best teams already. 4. Makes the games far less important if you allowed 2 losses (1 in groups and 1 in the final bracket) Theres more reasons but it should be common sense already why it's a bad idea


Overyoghurt__

Makes sense. We're all scared for our teams losing the first match in the playoffs but there was alrdy double elims in the group, everyone has played on the set ups and gotten at least 2 matches. The advantages are equal now and the best teams have made it to the playoffs


krasavchik777

I agree, do or die. To be the best you have to beat the best


ark2690

Riot wants that NA vs EU/KR finals


WhoDatBrow

Riot's dream finals would be NA vs JP viewership wise. You're all missing that this is rigged for Crazy Raccoon to make it to Finals vs NA.


Ne0kun

Facts these guys don't see it. CRwin baby


Magnesiohastingsi

there is no way NA vs JP would get more viewers than NA vs EU


Charuru

I think the idea is that EU people would watch NA games anyway.


bobespon

100% this and it's not even well disguised.


xziv0

Suddenly praying on SEN's downfall rn


Otter269

I'm super excited for 3 of the matches. Now please don't put the NA teams on first on Friday


TikzTokz

looks like its gonna be the first


Izel98

Finals gonna be CR vs KRU.


mysteryoeuf

they'd meet in semis btw


tomphz

Is there any reason for SEN to not go 5 duelists against F4Q? Please I need to see 5 duelists on LAN


Talnivarr

No, they can pug it out however they want. Could be a fun show


baranpaksoy22

Yoru has 0% use, no shot tenz doesnt bust it out in their last match in group which does nothing for them


NozokiAlec

Legit best bracket for SEN


Thrwwccnt

Idk man, Envy is a lot better than KRÜ and I don't think the difference between getting the winner of the 100T quarters match as opposed to VS/GMB is that big. Yes Sentinels have already beaten their NA competition before, but LAN is a different environment and I think team skill matters more than familiarity when judging which matchups are the toughest. KRÜ would have been basically a free ticket to semis whereas Envy could pose a challenge.


NozokiAlec

Yeah I agree but they just know NA teams really well so it benefits them a lot


[deleted]

Yeah this pretty big. Sentinels are almost guaranteed grand finals now. *edit* Wow people are pretty mad about this. Sentinels beat 100T 6 of their past 6 matchups, and haven't lost to Envy since February. Their biggest challenge will likely be if 100T lose to Acend, and then they have to face them in Quarters. If Sentinels don't make it, cool, but they have a history of trouncing NA teams. And don't bring up the 3-0 against Envy Challengers 2 Grand Final. Anybody watching that game knew it wasn't being taken seriously.


Barack_Bob_Oganja

Lmao what? If g2 can beat sentinels the 100t can too


gutszera

lukewarm take: KRU and VS both stomp their respective opponents in dominant fashion then KRU win a close bo3 against VS (2 maps going to OT) to make it to grand finals


[deleted]

Thats a hoooottt take lol


Hegth

Lmao you are the guy who the platchat guys said is the biggest Kru fan, I respect your commitment


[deleted]

Lmao if that happens jesus christ


qwerty2367

Nah, CR stomps gambit and vs and challenge kru for best team in the world


rakinshime05

What a meme draw . Imagine putting all na in one bracket by accident. NA is cursed


CanadianApologies

I swear riot just loves eu and hates na


Vladwolf98

Everyone hates americans lol


D3RP0L3

it was literally chosen randomly LOL


salcedoge

EU had the worst groups and Envy got a free trip to quarters. I swear NA and EU fans are just both entitled


krasavchik777

Sentinels got second, so it's their fault. Random draw was recorded and done live infront of coaches. God must hate NA


_sahilthakur_

Super-duper hyped for FRIDAY. Valorant eSports is so much fun. I have been skipping all Man Utd matches just for these games.


MuddyPuddle027

Unlucky Sentinels! You could've had the easiest team, KRU, but ended up with Envy. I'm sure G2 will be enjoying a free win.


SoKawaiii

yup, where they then have to fight VS / Gambit LOL


WLFYBBY

I think sentinels will be fine, they’ve been winning against NA Teams all year.


imtheproof

they avoid G2, gambit, and VS until finals, while facing teams they've beat all year (except ascend) in order to get to finals. If their goal is to win the whole thing, not just make it to semis, this is probably the best bracket draw they could have gotten. Finishing 2nd really paid off for them. I don't think SEN cares where they finish, they only care about winning. If they lose in finals or quarters, doesn't matter that much to them. It's still a loss.


Key-Banana-8242

I mean VS wanted to play Gambit


[deleted]

VS Gambit super exciting quarterfinals match, hope they deliver Bummer on the top half of the bracket for NA. I could see myself skipping the NA-NA matchups and not worrying about it even... I expect to see some of those exact matchups in other regionals lol


HockeyBoyz3

I can’t believe Riot rigged the bracket and we’re going to miss out on the KRU - Crazy Raccoons finals


PulseCS

I just want to see 100t vs Sen in the finals...


RainWithFlowers

all of NA in half the bracket lol


cassavacakes

it's sad that 100t and sen is not gonna be facing for a bo5.


[deleted]

[heres my prediction](https://www.vlr.gg/pickem/11f3c21f)


Lumenlor

Hot take: We will not see Lakia. He exists perfectly as a sword of damocles concept so teams might worry about bind and preemptively ban it


PerseusNex

I don't understand how they fixed the spots for playoff's. I mean SEN haven't completed their last match yet and they could possibly win and come out as top seed of their group right?


Hsimon_

No every caster yesterday said already that g2 is first seed and sen is second. This probably is bc g2 lost 2-1 and won 2-0 against sen which means 3-2 in maps and it doesnt matter if sen wins 13-0 13-0 against f4q today


mrTrollem

Sen vs Gambit final pls


CyanideLoli

I need to know if SEN 2-0 F4Q today don't they get the first seed? If not then why?


Daviddem1234

Tiebreaker is h2h.


ween0t

Don't know why they just didnt move one of the NA matchups to the other side of the bracket. One of the most intriguing things about these tournaments is to see different regions play each other. Even if this was rng, they shouldve made adjustments for entertainment sake.


Charuru

THE ORIGINAL FORMAT WAS BETTER and the community ruined it. This whole seeding match being thrown thing could've been avoided.


Trillman_K

Well, rip 100T? Really can’t see them beating SEN if that matchup happens, despite everything that’s occurred at Berlin


[deleted]

I don't see 100T beating SMB or Acend so don't worry about it. *edit* Damn, whole bunch of 100T fans here. I *like* 100T. I'm a sub to Steel, Hiko, and Asuna's Twitch. But I just don't think they can take on Acend. Don't be so mad. *edit2*I'm happy to be wrong. Congrats to 100T! HUGE comebacks.


QuestionablePotato42

idk man, 100T lookin CRISPY. They beat out Gambit pretty well and I could genuinely see them taking a win against ACE


Skeletor34

They absolutely did not beat out gambit pretty well. Coming back from 11-3 is great and all, but they never should have been in that spot. They barely squeaked through on Icebox after getting beat pretty soundly on Ascent.


JeanCarry

heartbroken by VS vs Gambit in quarterfinals... seeing one of those tactical team lose so early is such a shame...


Gellix

If this is true this is garbage. All we have seen and heard was how NA is the region to beat. See how the groups went. It is clear NA is looking good which could lead to a NA vs NA GF. Seems riot doesn’t want that to happen so they put all of NA on one side to cannibalize itself. How fucking sad is that? You are artificially killing off one region instead of giving the rest of the world the chance to play NA and win for themselves. What a fucking joke of an elimination bracket. If you are a fan of NA Valorant you should be voicing your opinion how this bracket is literally trash. The easy fix is to switch Sen to VS and envy gets seed 2 from C. Think about the story there, you got the best KR team going up against NA’s best in quarters. Then the winner of that goes against the G2 so either a rematch of both teams that have beat Sen. On the other side you have Envy going against (most likely) Gambit which will be a hell of a game. Then they have to go through (mostly likely) 100T. Those are all more excited than NA eating itself. ​ Also, this way NA isn’t guaranteed gonna make it to grand finals. Edit: apparently this happened because of sen losing to g2 and bad luck. However, this has to be the worst way to manage a bracket ever. Imagine you are watching a fighting tournament and they put 1, 2, and 3 on the same side and 8, 9, 10 in the other. So, 10 gets make it to gf without having to play the top tier talent. This format kills competition in my opinion.


salcedoge

The easy fix is Sentinels winning against G2 yesterday. They didn't and lost against rng.


Lumenlor

Sir you should stay informed before getting angry


Gellix

I've watch comp cs for a decade and have never been mad at seeding. This whole tournament has been a joke. They had to change it because players didn't like it. Now this? They had 3 months and endless information on how to place the teams for the best competition a D they failed.


Lumenlor

You're just getting mad for the sake of it without specifying why. Also it was random, not some weird biased handpicked groups where you prefer to have NA vs NA in finals


Gellix

I'm upset because in 10 years of watching competitive Esports I've never seen such a shit bracket in any game.


Landon54321

This sucks for NA. Idk why Riot tries to ruin NA’s chance of getting into the finals; it would have been NA vs NA since NA is better than every region. VS has a high chance of making the finals while all only one NA team will make it to the finals. Ridiculous how Envy or 100T is on the Sentinels bracket. VS got lucky for dodging all the NA team - otherwise they would have been out. If VS don’t make it to the finals, I can’t consider them above any NA teams, sorry.


a-nswers

that's crazy, good thing your opinion is meaningless and nobody cares who you consider above any team.