This article is part of our Call of Duty series.
EMEA has one spot left to play for in VCT Champions and some of the best teams in the world are fighting for it. Team Liquid, G2, Guild, and M3 Champions, among others are all competing for a single spot at VCT Champions, putting everything on the line one last time in 2022. Here's a look at some players to target and fade in the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier.
Players to Target
nAts
For most of 2022 and the end of 2021 nAts was considered by many, myself included to be among the three best players in the world. Putting together the numbers he does while playing a role as a Sentinel is simply unheard of. nAts is a Viper/Cypher player sitting with a 1.41 rating and 279 ACS; that is as ridiculous as it sounds. M3 Champions have had a mixed year and who can blame them with their organization sanctions and their home nation wracked by war. Despite all of that this is a team that is the favorite for that final European spot and truly has the potential to win yet another world title.
Soulcas
When you think of the carries on Team Liquid it's easy to look at ScreaM, Jamppi and Nivera, but Soulcas is a special player in his own right and currently has a 1.30 rating for Team Liquid. It's uncertain how long he can keep that sort of form going, but Team Liquid is certainly a positive fantasy environment with the potential for a very deep run in the last chance qualifier. Soulcas playing at this sort of level could be the push they need to get over the line and make it to VCT Champions.
feqew
Look I never thought I would see the day I'm putting an OG LDN UTD player in my "Players to Target: section, and yet here we are. feqew, the Chamber player for OG LDN UTD, popped off in his first match with a 1.56 rating and 301.5 ACS. Frankly I don't believe that is sustainable, but what I do believe is that this is a roster that has been on the come up for a long time. Easily the worst team in Split 1 to a far more competitive second Split and receiving praise from various teams all over Europe, this is a roster on the rise. Whether that makes feqew the best player in the tournament? We'll have to wait and see, but at the very least he could be a solid fantasy option, especially on Chamber
Players to Fade
Yacine
Guild replaced the much maligned Russ, bringing back Yacine to complete their roster heading into the Last Chance Qualifier and it has been less than ideal. This team has fallen from grace shockingly fast, attending VCT Masters in Split 2 to now sitting in the lower bracket of the Last Chance Qualifier fighting for their 2022 seasons in each match from here on out. Yacine has been at the heart of the problems and has raised questions if Russ' poor performance was due to role more than anything else, with Yacine putting up similarly poor numbers. Currently Yacine sits with a 0.72 rating putting him at the lowest tally of anyone not yet eliminated from the Last Chance Qualifier.
Jady
M3 Champions finally replaced d3ffo, the clear weak-link in this world-class team, with Jady. The new man in the squad hasn't had a great time of it though, with a 0.73 rating on Skye and Fade so far in the Last Chance Qualifier. The positive twist to this is of course the fact that D3ffo's departure opens up the Jett role elsewhere on M3 Champions with the superstar Chronicle thriving on the more aggressive agent. Opening up a prime agent for a teammate doesn't show up on the stat sheet though, so Jady finds himself firmly in the red as he continues to work on gelling more with his new team.
hype
Everything positive about feqew gets flipped on its head for hype. hype isn't a bad player by any means but it's easy to argue he is playing closer to the level expected of OG LDN UTD, struggling mightily and sitting with a 0.84 rating so far in the Last Chance Qualifer. This roster struggled for firepower throughout the season and it's hard to project a massive breakout in the Last Chance Qualifer. hype hasn't been playing particularly poorly compared to his regular season level, he just hasn't exploded the same way MOLSI or feqew have. That shouldn't be a surprise to fantasy managers though with hype's roll on Breach and Sage knocking him down the pecking order naturally. There is some upside there with hype, but the floor is too low with OG LDN UTD's poor form and lack of consistency throughout the regular season.
Stats courtesy of Thespike.gg
