Claiming a spot at PUBG Esports’ largest event of the season is an incredible feat. Each year, teams from around the world strive to reach the Global Championship, and only thirty-two prevail. To reach this stage, teams compete tirelessly within their region against familiar opponents, former teammates, and archrivals for every point possible. If they’re fortunate enough, their season of preparation, hard work, and execution materialize into a ticket to PGC 2021 – where the opportunity to solidify themselves in history awaits on the international stage.
Of the thirty-two teams competing at PGC this year, six were invited from the Americas region. Five of those teams come from North America, the sixth representative from Latin America. The region’s most accomplished squads have arrived in South Korea, prepared to enter the battlegrounds against the world’s best.
Of late, the Americas has been proven to be a strong contender internationally against the heightened competition. During PGI.S, the region finished the tournament with two teams inside the top-three, including the Soniqs on top in first. Returning to the big stage against many familiar competitors, it’s easy to imagine another productive outing for the Americas in general.
Everyone’s aware of the Soniqs and the team’s potential heading into the PUBG Global Championship. They’re easily in the conversation for the world’s best team and aren’t far removed from a PGI.S championship earlier this season. Back into action with four of the game’s best players, the Soniqs’ journey to defend that recent global title begins with a strong showing in Rank Decision. If the team can manage a solid start to begin this stage of the tournament, it’s going to set up the Soniqs for success down the stretch.
When covering the Soniqs it can be tough to say enough good things about how they operate – because when they’re good, they’re really good. Even when they have something go wrong, it can still be corrected by one of the member’s exceptional play.
Having said that, the Soniqs aren’t the only team from the Americas deserving your attention.
Considering their recent PCS5 Americas Grand Final championship, it’s only fair we mention Oath next. Slowly but surely, this roster has evolved into the team everyone anticipated when they announced the addition of Kickstart following PGI.S. Since his arrival, Oath has been steadily improving their team play and appears to be a much more well-rounded squad than we witnessed earlier this season.
During the PCS5 Americas Grand Final, this team came together to produce six Chicken Dinners over the final two weeks – claiming first place in both to obtain the PCS5 title. Just behind them were the Soniqs and Dignitas.
To me, Dignitas has one of the best rosters on paper. Strong leadership from a dedicated IGL in Honeybadger, pure fragging ability in Sparkingg, and then a duo of experienced players who are familiar with competition on this level with Poonage and Shinboi. Despite an underwhelming performance in the PCS events prior to now, Dignitas has been getting better and the results are trending in the right direction. If this team strings together some victories during the early stages of this event, Dignitas could be a team we watch climb the leaderboard week after week.
Of course, placing inside the top-sixteen is every team’s primary goal during the Rank Decision. That ensures the top sixteen teams a spot inside the first match of Weekly Survival, where the winners of each match claim their spot in the Weekly Final. This format should be familiar to those who watched PGI.S except this time it features a points system instead of Most Chickens.
This scoring format certainly promotes a more exciting and enjoyable spectating experience, while also bringing out the best in players. Unlike the Most Chickens format, SUPER or a rendition of the format allows players to showcase their outstanding talent. Those who play PUBG regularly know as well as I do, the most interesting gameplay to watch is a skilled player pulling off something you didn’t think was possible. This time around, the PUBG Global Championship will feature the best players from around the world and we all have the pleasure of watching them execute what they’ve been preparing for all season.
The region is stronger than ever and the fight for supremacy is just beginning.
An excellent opportunity awaits the TSM FTX roster as they enter another major event together. This team has more synergy and in-game knowledge of one another than any other roster at the