1. Showdown Shoguns (dcae, tko, ninjadog)
Yes I am putting my own team first, but I really don't think there's any arguing with dcae's undisputed #1 status in this field. Despite a poor game in the finals he dominated Snake last year putting up a 8-3 record, and has done well in LCWC (5-3) and LCPL (7-2) since then. He's also one of the most experienced in the field, with this being his 4th official. With support from both managers as well as from Xizaaa, it'd be a major shock if dcae didn't put forth one of the best records.
2. Indigo Platoon (kythr, starmaster)
Kythr is probably the most hyped player in LC right now, and for good reason. He recently went 8-1 whilst winning LCPL, and if you combine his LCPL, LTPL, and LCWC records it reads an extremely dominant 20-3, not to mention he's the current circuit champion. He's also regarded as one of LC's best builders and is capable of building a lot teams quickly, so this in conjunction with Star to look over them should be a recipe for success. The only doubt surrounding Kythr is that this is his first time playing at this level, but I wouldn't expect this to slow him down.
3. Technical Machines (LilyAC)
Lily returns for her 4th consecutive official as an LC starter, the most out of anyone in the field; she's gone positive in all three attempts previously and I'd expect this to continue here. She doesn't have any support but Lily is one of LC's most innovative and capable builders so I don't imagine this will be an issue. She hasn't been as strong in recent team tours (3-5 LTPL, 5-4 LCPL after starting 3-4) which is why I rank her below dcae & kythr, but nonetheless we should expect another good season from Lily.
I think there's a pretty sizeable drop-off after the top 3, the next 7 could really be argued for in any order.
4. Circuit Breakers (daunt vs, Serene Grace, Fille, Osh)
I'm a huge believer in dvs, he put up a really solid 6-3 record in LCPL en route to winning the title. He also has the best support in the tour in the form of Serene who worked with him in LCPL, whilst Fille & Osh are also capable of providing input. One thing I like about dvs' gameplay is that he has a really good feel for the game and making reads, and many of his losses come from poor risk assessment trying to predict every turn which is something I think he can easily improve upon with experience.
5. Orange Islanders (boulicrok, tazz, pdt)
Boulicrok has been a pretty consistent good albeit not great player for a while now, making the finals of several circuit tournaments and putting up marginally above .500 records in pretty much every team tour he plays, and in this field I think that should be enough for him to secure a respectable record. tazz will undoubtedly tryhard in helping him prep which should be a big help, and from what I've been told pdt was very involved during LCPl so I'm sure he can contribute as well.
6. Studio Gible (teal6, Luthier)
Teal is the lone non-mainer in this field, though did go positive the last time he played LC in an official back in Snake II. Honestly despite what people say he always seems to go around or just above .500 in officials no matter what tier he's playing, and I expect him to do likewise here amongst competition where his experience and lack of nerves is going to be a major advantage. Luthier will be supporting him, and although he hasn't been playing LC much himself recently, I do know he has be keeping up to date with the meta so I don't think poor teams will be an issue here.
7. Arena Spartans (Laroxyl)
Laroxyl is an interesting one, after breaking onto the scene with a really strong season in LCPL last year that arguably should have seen him drafted for Snake IV he has put up back-to-back negative records in LCWC and LCPL since then, probably not helped by a couple activity losses. In spite of this I think he's generally a pretty solid builder though I'd hope he can get some help from outside the chat as I know from experience it's pretty isolating by yourself especially your first time starting. I do love his attitude and confidence though, he actively requests to be slotted vs the opposition's best player in LCWC/LCPL so I'm sure this strong mindset will help him.
8. Uncharted Terrors (KSG)
KSG is perhaps the highest variance player on this list. He's only really broken through recently, with his 4-2 in LCPL this year including a win over Serene in the playoffs his only good team tour performance ever aside from winning the LPL MVP playing LC UU last year. He's certainly shown he's capable of beating top players at his best but I worry about his consistency, I think he's probably more like to pop off than anyone ranked 5th or lower but equally I think he's one of the most likely to flop. No support looks super concerning at first but I'm told he has Shrug, who was by the far biggest snub, in chat to help him. Let's hope we see more of the good KSG this SCL.
9. Mt. Silver Foxes (Toadow, Expulso)
This may seem low for a player of Toadow's calibre and with Expulso as support who honestly I think is pretty solid when it comes to building, but there is really one glaring issue here. Toadow has done pretty well in individuals, winning LC Majors which is still solid despite being a lesser importance tour, and making R6 of the LC Open*, the furthest of anyone in the field - this sounds deceptively good though as he received three straight act wins to start the tour into wins against Amukumara and Xiri before losing to tko. The glaring issue though, is the fact that he never plays SS in any forum team tour, instead choosing to play SM where he's hardly set the world on fire, going 9-12 across the past three tours. Even in LPL he chooses to play LC Doubles over SS. If this was back in SM he'd be ranked higher but I can't in good faith rank him well when he's pretty much never played SS in a bo1 setting.
10. Power Plant Dynamos (Wail Wailord)
This may be a controversial one given last Snake, but by his own admission in his LPL signup "They literally shouldnt. I just went negative in the last 2 lc teamtours. My all time lpl is also terrible.", he has struggled in everything he's played since, going 8-13 across LCWC, LPL and LCPL and failing to make any impact in any individual. It's also worth mentioning that his 6-3 last year was somewhat inflated by getting to play two absolute farms in CyberOdin and Shogarth in the final two weeks of the season. He's definitely capable of recapturing last year's form but he's been well and truly off the pace recently, and being alone without support doesn't fill me with much confidence given he was using stuff like Shelmet in LCPL. Hopefully Wail can get back to his best as it'll make for some interesting games.
