"Weakest teams would be Bilibili Gaming and FPX": EG Boostio before facing FPX in Valorant Champions 2023 (Exclusive)

Valorant Champions 2023 kicked off on August 6, 2023, in Los Angeles, USA. The final Riot-sponsored event of the year, Champions LA, has 13 participating teams from the Americas, EMEA, and Pacific Leagues, as well as three teams from China. Each of them will compete for the title of world champion as well as a cash prize of $1,000,000.

Before the tournament kicked off, Riot Games organized a pre-event press conference. This was attended by players and coaches from all participating teams. Evil Geniuses' in-game leader (IGL), Kelden "Boostio", was among the attendees. Sportskeeda Esports' Abhipsito Das had the chance to ask Boostio about who he thought were the strongest and weakest teams coming into the tournament.

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Evil Geniuses' Boostio picks his best and worst teams coming into Valorant Champions 2023

Pre-event press conference (Image via Riot Games)

While it may be argued that all teams that made it to Valorant Champions are strong, by making it to this stage, it is also true that there are differences in the quality of gameplay exhibited by each of them throughout the season.

Although skills and strategies play a significant role in seeing a team through success, factors like luck and form can also have a swinging effect. To paraphrase what NAVI's IGL said during the same conference, it is about being good on the day. Nothing else matters.

That said, when Boostio asked to pick his strongest teams coming into the tournament, and the teams he wished to face off at Valorant Champions 2023, he went with the obvious picks. He said:

"We want to play against Fnatic again, or Paper Rex. I think they are the best teams coming into the tournament. Maybe [NRG Esports], if they are able to pull it together a little bit. Top two have to be Fnatic and PRX."

This is not surprising, considering these teams have occupied the top-most positions on most power rankings coming into the tournament.

Commenting on the weakest teams in the tournament, Boostio said:

"The weakest teams would be Bilibili Gaming and FPX. They just have the least experience."

This is, once again, not a very unpopular opinion, considering the reasoning he provided. That said, the community had massively underestimated EDward Gaming going into Valorant Masters Tokyo, and they proved everyone wrong.

It will be interesting to see how well Boostio's picks age, as Evil Geniuses takes on FunPlus Phoenix in their Group B matchup in Valorant Champions 2023 on August 7, 2023, at 3:00 pm PT / 12:00 am CEST (next day) / 3:30 am IST (next day) / 7:00 am JST (next day).