“PUBG NATIONS CUP (PNC)” 2019 held in the Jangchung Arena, central Seoul, was a huge festival to the PUBG Esports fans. Representing their own countries, the magnificent players all over the world fought hard. Back then, Team Korea yielded the top spot in the last moment. Not just Korea, many other national teams that were once expected to outperform others ended up in disappointment. Three years later in 2022, world-class players gather in Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, once again to compete with each other in the second PNC. Who’s going to get the glory? Let’s take a look at the front runners.
※ This contribution is based on the personal opinion of “JISOOBOY,” a Korean PUBG Esports commentator, and is not KRAFTON’s official statement.
Team Australia, the infighters
Before digging into Team Australia, we need to highlight that TGLTN, the greatest infighter and technician in the PUBG Esports Americas region, was not aboard on Team USA. Since he has been playing in North America-based soniqs for a long time, many people might wonder why. But he’s an Australian.
Many PUBG Esports fans who support national teams other than Team USA that TGLTN is a member of Team Australia, not Team USA. As already mentioned, Team USA has established a very solid roaster. Should TGLTN joined them, Team USA must have become a formidable opponent for many other teams.
TGLTN is the only player who was the kill leader and named ALL-PCS in PCS4, PCS5 and PCS6 AMERICAS. Throughout 30 matches of PCS6 AMERICAS, he had 61 kills, which made him one of top three players in this alongside Entropiq’s Naylup in Europe and Daytrade Gaming’s FLASH in APAC. In the same period, this guy literally was the “king” in the damage dealt sector. He dealt 13,000 damage in total and about 9,000 out of 13,000 is from his DMRs, which means that he inflicted over 400 damage per match.
Not just TGLTN, all other members of Team Australia participating in PNC 2022 are well-known infighters. Therefore, it would be difficult for any other team to survive when they face Team Australia in a 4v4 situation. Shoot To Kill’s luke1, who joined Team Australia again following PNC 2019, has also built a successful career. With his profound experiences in global offline competitions, this player is a force to be reckoned with. He also has good eyes and sense in stealing kill points. When multiple players get knocked out in fierce combats, you should keep your eyes on the kill logs and see if luke12 is stealing the points again.
Fludd of eUnited, who once played in Fury, is likely to work in harmony with luke12 as they played together in Atletico Esports. Born in 2002, Monty of Team Bliss is considered as one of the rising stars as he has shown fundamental skills when he was chosen for ALL-PCS during PCS6 APAC.
Although Team Australia consist of players of excellent personal skills that may agonize other teams, their strong personality may result in unwanted results. Also, most of the players are main attackers in their pro teams but none of them are considered as a main order which may also lead Team Australia into a difficult situation in the game. Still, Team Australia would love to face tough close-range combats like all infighters do.
Team Korea, the expedition
Many Korean fans of PUBG Esports would still remember the outcry that this editor made during PNC 2019 as a commentator. Heavy rains were pouring down on the way back home. The moment when Team Korea was deprived of PNC 2019 title only by five points still remains like a scar. It’s been three years since then, but the wound is not gone. The Korean players are now more experienced with more scars on them. Team Korea’s expedition to PNC 2022 is still tough and hard like it was in 2019. Since the opponents are now stronger than ever, Korean players should have both world-class skills and profound experiences. It didn’t take long to set a lineup, though. The players of Team Korea are well-experienced with callused palms, and they don’t look like teenagers anymore. They’ve prepared for a revenge during the last three years and now it’s time to begin the expedition for the trophy.
The biggest reason why KWANGDON FREECS could win “PUBG WEEKLY SERIES (PWS)” Phase 1 2022 was this player, LashK. He’s a brilliant order. He’s the living proof of PUBG Esports in that only a few players in the world have continued their career since 2017.
His supreme weapons are a long career and profound experiences as a pro player, as well as various landmark systems he has established, which would not let him be seriously affected by flight path or blue zone variables. His experiences were resulted his data in this season which shows a sharp increase in timing and accuracy of shooting a DMR. He’s also good at inciting other squads to fight with each other and taking advantage out of it. He would show such advanced strategies and bold decision to move across the map in PNC 2022.
There is a player who decided to become a member of Team Korea while watching PNC 2019. And now he accomplished the resolution. It’s the story of seoul, the capital of Danawa e-sports and now the center of Team Korea. He nicknamed himself as “KOR_Seoul” when he first started to play PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and he finally made his dream true.
Whereas even many good players have strengths that are lopsided to a specific field, seoul doesn’t. His stats are well-balanced, and he can lead the team as a reliable field commander. He handles “M416” and “Mini14” so well that he can be called a master of 5.56mm rifles. When he targets a team that must be eliminated, he attacks them at the perfect angle, starting the combat with his kill feed. He’s going to stand in vanguard of Team Korea in PNC 2022.
It’s an honor to be selected for the national team once, but one player has been selected for Team Korea in a row. Inonix is a man of the hour. He made so many impressive moments against Brazil, Australia, Japan and so on back in PNC 2019 and has the greatest engagement techniques in Korea and even in the world now. Such an outstanding player put his name on Team Korea again.
He was on the top of kill steal sector in PCS6 AISA. He also succeeded in sniping from 707 meters away. In PGC 2021, he showed off his amazing handling of AR and DMR and was placed in ALL-PGC. It has been two years since he joined Gen.G and he’s the leader of the team now. He’s exceptionally good at 1v3 and 1v4 combats and looks so natural in producing jaw-dropping performances that deserve highlight reels. Except for his teammates, Inonix is on the top of every other player’s blacklist.
A man who has the world’s best tournament-winning record in PUBG Esports has made an excruciating effort for the revenge of PNC 2019. He has participated in many offline tournaments and saved his team from jeopardy for several times. Loki, the guardian of Team Korea, will play for the Korean national team alongside Inonix once again, joining the expedition for victory.
Loki is so well-experienced in major international competitions that he is capable of consecutively subduing his opponents without panicking even in the most emergent situations. In fact, he has dramatically managed to earn WWCDs for multiple times when he survived alone. He can also play various roles, supporting fire powers to anywhere needed, like a midfielder in football.
One of the advantages that Team Korea holds is that they would not be likely to parachute down on the same landmarks with the other teams. Even if the Korean players get to meet other teams while moving, they can quickly change their route to another farming point. Also, all the four Korean national team members are capable of acting as a field commander who gives orders, Team Korea will be able to quickly acknowledge possible contingencies and respond to them accordingly. Whereas many players from other teams are relatively less experienced with such major events like PNC, the Korean players are armed with rich experiences.
Yes, Team Korea is very skilled and experienced. But that doesn’t necessarily mean their expedition will be an easy one since the other teams are also very strong. Still, many Korean fans are hoping Team Korea would return home with the much-craved trophy in their hands.
Tiers and dark horses
Except for the five front runners, Team United Kingdom, Team Argentina, Team Vietnam and Team Thailand, the host of PNC 2022, can be considered as dark horses in this competition.
Team United Kingdom has TeaBone of Heroic, Fexx of FaZe Clan, and Vard of Team Liquid who are the best PUBG Esports pro players of the Europe region. Those three are showing the best performances, so the key is how much mykLe, who is selected for the national team in a row following in PNC 2019, got into shape.
Team Argentina has SzylzEN of KPI Gaming; he’s the only player in the world of PUBG Esports who has participated in all the five major global tournaments ━ PGI 2018, PNC 2019, PGC 2019, PGI.S 2021 and PGC 2021. Thanks to SzylzEN’s leadership, his team got a surprising win in the first week of PGC 2021 Weekly Final. As his existence alone is enough to entirely change a team’s atmosphere, Team Argentina has the great potential, although their high dependence on SzylzEN can be considered as a vulnerable point.
Led by local superstar Sapauu of Bao Nam United, who has joined the national team for the second time following in 2019, Team Vietnam must not be ignored. In fact, they were placed on the fourth place in PNC 2019. They also have Clories of Bao Nam United who was the kill leader in “PUBG Vietnam Series 2022” and chosen for ALL-PCS in PCS6 APAC. As Sapauu and Clories are a powerful duo in combats, others should take extra caution when they meet the duo at a close range.
Last but not least is Team Thailand, the host, consists of the elites, too. Nourinz and Puuchiwz of Daytrade Gaming are the two pillars of the team. J4nku2of of Attack All Around is a veteran who has taken part in several offline tournaments and Ezqelusia of Made in Thailand also joined PNC 2022. As they are very popular players in Thailand, they might be able to gain the unexpected result with the crowd at fever pitch.
As a PUBG global tournament is returning to an offline format for the first time in three years, it’s crucial for all players to acclimatize quickly to the stage. If the players can focus on the competition while enjoying the excitement of the arena with cheering crowd, any team can achieve victory regardless of the tier. Good luck to all the participants and all of you who predict the winner.