It is finally coming back! After three years, the PUBG Nations Cup is making its grand return. The event, which changed potential locations multiple times, will take place in Bangkok, Thailand from June 16 to June 19. Over the last three weeks, the rosters of the 16 attending teams were announced by the official PUBG Esports page. Now that they are all public, it is time to rank the rosters that will be attending the event. These rankings will be based on player performance and the regional playstyles from the players at PGC and in PCS events. So who is the number one team? Time to find out.
Indonesia serves as a surprising addition to this year’s PUBG Nations Cup. With 4 nations from each PCS region, Indonesia slipped in as what could best be described as the fourth seed out of APAC. While the nation produced two rosters for PCS6, they finished twelfth and thirteenth respectively. Additionally, no player from Indonesia finished with above 24 kills in that tournament. Anything higher than a bottom two finish should be considered a victory for Indonesia.
The ugly duckling of the selections, Germany was not expected to be returning to the PUBG Nations Cup after their global presence disappeared in 2020. Yet, here they are looking to defend their country’s valor. Thunder’s Myca will spearhead this team of mostly unknown players to a solid PNC performance. Sadly, that performance likely won’t end up higher than the bottom four at best.
PNC will serve as an interesting testing ground for this new crop of Japanese talent. Since the last PNC, DGW and Sunsister have either disbanded or brought in new talent in place of the classic talent. During PWS: Phase 1 and PCS6, USG’s Kein and Sunsister’s Poly looked like potential breakthrough talents for the country starving for new faces. A strong performance here could signify a major step forward by the new homegrown talent.
The Chinese Tapeian scene took a major step at PGC when GEX finished a surprising seventh place in the grand final. Savior and YanLi will join the likes of MaoRush and oeL as they attempt to match the country’s seventh place finish in 2019. With the latter two players being rather unproven talents, that task feels far out of reach, unfortunately.
Just like in 2019, Argentina’s guiding light SzylzEN will look to lead his country to glory. At his disposal will be young talents like mArtins4n from AKM Gaming and f1sherr from Synergy Esports. While it is not the best roster the country could put together, this roster still has a chance to make some noise. Matching their ninth place finish in 2019 is not out of the question.
Brazil’s PNC roster for 2022 looks wildly different from 2019. They are led by one of the superstars from the Americas, Yaho’s Sparkingg. The young superstar is surrounded by other younger talents like Acreche’s lfp1 and 22 Esports’ Haven. Lfp1’s Acreche teammate vhz rounds out this roster that will be thirsting for blood. That lust for blood may consume them like Deacon Frost, though.
The fourth-place finishers from 2019’s PGC will bring a totally new look roster to this year’s PNC. Led by BN United’s explosive duo of Sapauu and Clories, this roster could very well pop. Unfortunately, APAC teams are historically so volatile. Given how much the west has improved in the last three years, some regression feels inevitable.
The host country for PNC 2022 put together a roster that sends mixed signals. Nourinz was absolutely dynamite in PCS6 APAC. He not only won the event with Daytrade Gaming, but he made the All-PCS Team. His teammate and PCS6 APAC MVP Flash was not selected though. Instead, PuuChiwz was selected. On top of that MiTH’s Ezqelusia and AAA’s J4nku2of were selected over other potentially more deserving candidates on their own team. The latter three could step up and help the team match their 6th place finish in 2019, but they could just as easily fall short in front of the home crowd.
Turkey’s roster for PNC 2022 is both exciting and unfortunate. While BBL’s Quetpa and Smash made the team because of performance invites, their invitations meant that Codemarco could not be on the roster because of the two-per-team rule. They made up for that though by including Futbolist’s xLyron and Howl Esports’ Esqui. With this event following a monumental PCS6 for the Turkish scene performance-wise, they will look to continue that momentum to a PNC best finish.
In the three years since PNC 2019, the Canadian scene has gone through a massive evolution. The likes of Kaymind and Meluke have taken a step back, but new champions have arisen. This year’s roster is headlined by the young superstar Shinboi from Yaho and the veteran IGL Adam from Wildcard. With BBB’s Keenan and Dodge’s f1nna filling out the roster, the baseline for this roster is very high. The ceiling of this roster is the biggest question though.
In 2019, Team UK ended in a disappointing 15th place despite fielding a very talented roster. Now in 2022, that roster features some new faces. Team Liquid’s Vard and XPDLZ’s mykLe will be in the server, while mykLe’s teammate Miracu will be the resident coach for the event. The new blood Team UK brought in includes FaZe Clan’s Fexx and Heroic’s TeaBone. The continuity of this team remains a question, but if they can put it together they are a massive threat.
Much liked Canada, the US scene has evolved immensely since PGC 2019. Sharpshot will look to continue the legacy of 2019 Tempo Storm this year as the lone remaining member from the roster that sent two-player to PNC in 2019. Behind him are three of the USA’s best talents, Eunited’s Kickstart and the Soniqs’ Shrimzy and hwinn. Team USA has the talent to potentially win PGC, the biggest question is will they have the consistency. They will finish better than their 10th place finish in 2019 though.
Following a disappointing last-place finish in 2019, Finland revamped their roster almost entirely. Team Liquid’s Mxey is the only remaining member of that team. The replacements around him provide immense firepower though. FaZe Clan’s D1gg3r1 is new to the roster this year, in addition to Heroic’s Pag3 and curexi. This ceiling for this team is to be the PGC Champion. This roster is filled with some of the best talents in Europe. Their biggest question though is will they have the game-to-game consistency?
The country where esports players have become global legends has yet to claim a PUBG Nations Cup title. After falling painfully short in 2019, South Korea is pushing all their chips into the center to claim this title. Gen.G’s Inonix and Damwon’s Loki return to the roster with revenge on the mind. Joining them are two highly talented individuals: Danawa’s superstar fragger Seoul and Freecs IGL LashK. The player that could sink this roster is Loki. Yes, he is still talented, but he is nowhere near the player he was three years ago. Someone like EEND would have provided more fragging power to this roster. If Loki turn back the clock though, South Korea will be a force for the title.
Likely the most controversial ranking on the list, but there is sound reasoning behind it. Over the past three years, Australian players received more opportunities than ever before to face top global competition. That time paid dividends and helped create the roster the country fields this year. The roster is helmed by the three of the four Australian terrors in North America: Soniqs’ superstar TGLTN, Eunited’s fiery new import Fludd and STK’s resident LANimal Luke12. The last player on this roster could find himself in North America in a year as well. That final member would be Team Bliss’ Monty. He joins the team following an immense PCS6 APAC. While it sounds crazy to some people, Australia potentially winning PNC 2022 is very much in the cards.
The country home to the reigning world champions and PCS Asia champions claims the top spot in the rankings. This year’s roster is leaps and bounds better than the 2019 roster China put together. MMing and ZpYan1 join the squad from the reigning world champions NewHappy. xxxLu will provide his signature fragging power he has become famous for in 4AM. Last, and certainly not least, back-to-back-to-back PCS champions Aixleft is looking to stamp his name as the best player in the world. After a disappointing 8th place finish in 2019, China will be looking to add their first PUBG Nations Cup trophy to their ever-growing trophy case.
What do you think? Tell Christian about what you think about these rosters rankings on Twitter at @TheWiz_SPM.
Follow The Game Haus for more sports and esports coverage.
Twitter: TGH Esports
Facebook: The Game Haus
“From our Haus to Yours”
