Part I of the Americas Power Rankings will include the eight teams ranked between seventeen and twenty-four in a post-PGI.S look at our region. Considering that only six teams from the region competed at PGI.S, these rankings will also take into account the regional online events that were played during and since PGI.S came to a close.
The Americas region has been enjoying an exciting start to the year following the region’s outstanding performance on the global stage at PGI.S. Claiming the top two spots on the final leaderboard, the Americas region showcased its talent playing against the best teams in the world. Now, the six international representatives have returned home to a region that’s undergone many changes since our last official PUBG Esports event. Changes to rosters, teams, and most recently the ruleset, will require everyone to acclimate as we begin the ESL Masters.
The battle through open qualifiers has already begun with a variety of notable teams competing for a spot. Before we get too deep into the ESL Masters, it’s best that we get out the first Power Ranking of the Americas region before the new season gets underway. This list includes a couple of teams who have played a very limited number of matches, as well as, numerous teams who have made drastic changes to their roster — making it an interesting challenge to accurately rank our teams.
24. ORION
(DirtyZinn, Skazk, TehDe4n, FireFighta)
Orion will consist of DirtyZinn and Shazka, who both played for Pros Don’t Snake during PCS3 NA, along with TehDe4n and FireFighta, who have already begun to make their mark on the ESL Master Open Qualifiers. The players on this roster didn’t spend much time competing on the region’s biggest stage last season, but could this new lineup result in an improvement on their most recent PCS showing? Absent the one “big-named” player that you can point to and expect major contributions from, Orion is a team that fights as a unit to collect their points and the late game on a consistent basis.
23. THREE HUNDRED
(headkick, Lataa, Neferhor, Voxsic)
Three Hundred are a combination of North American and Australian players who are aiming to put themselves on everyone’s radar with a strong performance in the ESL Open Qualifiers. Neferhor, headkick, and Voxsic have been playing together in OCE PUBG Series 5, but they’ll add Lataa to this team for ESL Masters Spring Open Qualifiers here in the Americas region. Lataa was playing for the Comets towards the end of last season, including the DreamHack Winter Showdown and PCS3 Grand Finals.
22. GRAVITY
(Baddylul, DRich, Zoveren, JRhead/GuaB)
After a successful run through the PCS2 Challengers Cup, Gravity entered the lobby for PCS2 and PCS3 where their best placement would be nineteenth. A rough performance in the PCS3 Group Stage would result in another trip to the Challengers Cup, where they finished in first and secured a Round 3 invite to ESL Masters. The team’s two carryover players Zoveren and DRich, have picked up Baddylul and GuaB to round out the team.
21. ASCENDANCE
(Zealot, Zrayven, Maji, Tsok)
Consisting of four players we watched a lot last season, this particular Ascendance roster will play in their first event as a four-man squad during ESL Masters. Maji and Zrayven played together under Carnage Gaming for PCS1, while TsoK and Zealot player under a couple banners during last season. This team is a combination of players who never quite found their home during 2020, but I like each of them enough individually to rank them at No.21.
20. INQUISITION
(TomiL, Caden, Soup, Fudge)
This roster has a ton of potential considering the experience between all four players. Caden, Soup, and Fudge should all be familiar names for fans of NA PUBG Esports. The trio that competed as LiViD Gaming during the PCS: NA Charity Showdown will team up with TomiL to form Inquisition for ESL Masters. This roster has already started strong in Open Qualifiers, but their real test waits ahead of them.
19. FABLED
(hellaaaa, Haxete, SneakAttack, SimplyMatthias, feyee)
Fabled produced a handful of notable matches during PCS last season, primarily during PCS1 when the team finished sixth in the Grand Finals. This is practically a new roster with SneakAttack, feyee, and SimplyMatthias joining hellaaaa to form their team for ESL Masters. While it may be a new roster for Fabled, SimplyMatthias and SneakAttack are no strangers to regional play and should slot in nicely alongside hellaaa for the team’s first outing together.
18. DODGE
(Finna, Hikerman, Lampalot, Hallosenpai)
Through their numerous roster changes between PCS events, Finna remains as the nucleus of Dodge. He’s been the roster’s one constant going all the way back to the start of last season during PCS1 . Dodge saw their best placement this past year following the addition of Adam who helped the team achieve a top-eight placement in the PCS3 Grand Finals. After that, the team carried over the same roster to the DreamHack Winter Showdown and placed sixteenth in that Grand Final. Now, they will be without ‘Adam’ and welcome in two new players, Hallosenpai and Hikerman.
17. FURIA
(rustyzera, killdemo, raspu, NecroAQN)
Looking back, it’s safe to say that PGI.S didn’t quite unfold the way Furia would have liked. The team had scarce moments of success but would often run into teams early and find themselves eliminated before the late game began. That said, this roster still has plenty of talent at its disposal and could see a return to success when the objective is bigger than the chicken dinner. It’s tough to rank them any higher than seventeen when you look at their performance internationally and compare it to the rosters they’ll be facing in the Americas.