PGC 2022 Preview: Americas

After a year of crazy games across the world, the 2022 PUBG Global Championship is here! Thirty-two teams from across the world have assembled in Dubai to fight for the title of PUBG Global Champion. With the event just under a week away, it is time to preview the event, its teams and the players in it. The opening group stage play will be streaming live on YouTube and on Twitch at 9 AM EST, Monday, March 31st. The next region getting broken down is Americas, home to a former world champion and rising stars.

Soniqs

Roster: TGLTN, Shrimzy, M1ME, hwinn

MVP: TGLTN

Drop Spots: Pochinki (Erangel), Pecado (Miramar)

After a nightmare PGC 2021, public sentiment around the Soniqs standing in the NA scene was brought into question. If this year showed anything, it was that PGC 2021 was just a blip on the radar. This past year yielded two PCS wins and two ESL Masters top-three finishes, including a dominant PCS7 win. Heading into PGC, the former world champions are looking to exorcise their 2021 demons in Dubai.

There is not much to say about this historic roster that hasn’t already been said. TGLTN is in the conversation for the best player in the world, if not one of the best players ever. Behind him, the ever-present and consistent core of Shrimzy, M1ME and hwinn. Their base performance level is equivalent to some teams’ ceilings. No matter what, they are a top-ten team at PGC easily.

The opening group draw presented Soniqs with a challenge though. Both of their drop spots are contested by Overpeekers and ShuaiGeDui (SGD). Soniqs historically have been willing to hold onto their drop spots and win them, to their credit. Something tells me SGD will not give up the spot either, which would create some intense fights for sure.

eUnited

Roster: Fludd, Kickstart, Relo, Snakers

MVP: Kickstart

Drop Spots: Mylta Power (Erangel), Minas Generales (Miramar)

The other dominant force of Americas PUBG in 2022 was eUnited. After a disappointing 12 place finish at PGC 2021, the team decided a change needed to be made. Balefrost exited eUnited and in his stead, the young, talented Australian fragger Fludd joined the team. His flexibility, on top of the entire roster’s flexibility, created an immense threat to the top Americas teams. That change resulted in 2 ESL Masters titles and two top-four finishes in PCS events, including a 2nd place finish at PCS7. Hungry and ready, eUnited are ready to prove that they belong at the top of the table globally.

This roster, much like Soniqs, is filled with immensely talented players. Kickstart and Snakers commonly spearhead the attack, while Relo and Fludd are more supportive. Yet, if Kickstart or Snakers are having a bad tournament, the other two are more than capable of producing star-level stats. That is part of what makes eUnited great. This team is scary with any two-player combination. They can never, ever be counted out of a game as long as they have at least two alive. They could win it all at PGC.

First, they’ll have to survive their opening group. While their Minas Generales is uncontested, there is a potential point of contention on Erangel. Buriram United share a similar affection for the Mylta Power region. The possibility of a potential clash exists, but whether it will happen is a different story.

Luminosity Gaming

Roster: luke12, Penta, Purdy, aLow, CherryFPS (sub)

MVP: luke12

Drop Spots: South Georgopol (Erangel), Hacienda Del Patron (Miramar)

Much like FaZe, it really isn’t a global event without the STK core is it? They almost did not make it to the event, as shocking as it sounds. Everything fell into place for them though. After a strong ESL Masters Spring and PCS7, they looked primed for PGC qualification. However, when they failed to make ESL Masters Summer the math became much harder. With some good luck a great play, they made it and are looking to extend their global LAN grand final streak to four in a row.

Luminosity is one of the best teams in the world playing as four because of how they fit together. Penta came into the roster and slowly shaped himself into a strong secondary, even sometimes primary fragger. Meanwhile, luke12 is still one of the best players in the Americas region. Then, closing out the roster is the close-range king aLow and the nade-father Purdy. Their biggest faults historically are snakes in the grass and ending up losing a player early. If they can prevent that from happening, there is no reason they can’t match their 4th place finish from 2021.

Aside from their usual issues, they aren’t 100% safe regarding drop locations. While South Georgopol is clear on Erangel, Hacienda is very much a point of contention. Both Donuts USG and The Expendables call Hacienda home as well. Luminosity has a history of changing their drop spots to suit the lobby, so if any issues arise they likely won’t be stubborn enough to continue losing points in the event of a clash.

Yaho

Roster: sparkingg, Balefrost, Poonage, Shinboi

MVP: sparkingg

Drop Spots: Shelter (Erangel), Junkyard (Miramar)

Yaho had to sweat through PCS7, but in the end, they made it to PGC. The free-agent team put up strong performances through the middle of 2022 during PCS6 and ESL Masters Phase 2. Their failure to qualify for PCS7, however, left a doomsday scenario very much in the cards. With it avoided through, this team will look to improve from their disappointing PGC 2021 result under the Dignitas banner.

Yaho is a true Americas roster at its core. It stars sparkingg, the young Brazilian fragger who helped lead Team Brazil to a third-place finish at PNC 2022. It also features the Canadian fragger Shinboi who also competed at PNC. Around them is the American duo of Poonage and Balefrost. For those who forget, Poonage was on the Zenith Esports roster that took 2nd at PGI.S in 2021. This roster possesses immense talents, it has always been a matter of consistency. It is a question of if they will achieve consistency though.

One thing going in their favor heading into the event is their drop spots though. Heading into PGC 2022, they are one of the few teams to be uncontested in both of their preliminary drop locations heading into the event. If they can consistently loot in peace, that is a massive benefit for them

Wildcard Gaming

Roster: Adam, niccos, GregShotGG, Ykikamucoww, Maji (sub)

MVP: Adam

Drop Spots: Novo & Severny (Erangel), Power Grid (Miramar)

After a strong 2021 campaign where they missed PGC by 80 PGC Points, there was room for growth in 2022. A large part of that growth came in the addition of the immensely talented Australian and fan favorite Ykikamucoww. His addition played a major part in their eventual 3rd-place finish at PCS6. That combined with three other top-seven finishes across the other three major events helped secure their spot at PGC 2022.

While the first thing to talk about with most teams is their fraggers, with Wildcard the man to talk about is Adam. He is the IGL and the reason this team works so well. Every team Adam has been an IGL on has performed immensely well compared to others’ expectations. An average IGL would not help Wildcar reach the level that they do with Adam.

Alongside Adam, is a trio of multi-talented fraggers. There is the aforementioned Ykikamucoww, the talented GregShotGG and the star of the team niccos. He was the top-performing player on the team in three out of four major events, with a second-place finish in ESL Masters Phase 2. During ESL Masters Phase 1, he was the second highest-rated player in the entire tournament, behind Kickstart. Simply put, it is a talented team from top to bottom.

In terms of their drop spots, Wildcard may yield a mixed bag of results. While their Erangel drop spots remain uncontested, their Miramar drop spots will likely end up as points of contention. Petrichor Road, the three-time PCS Champions, also will be dropping there. If that sticks, at least one of those teams will leave Miramar unhappy.

22 Esports

Roster: Haven, guizeera, v1n1, hazeteN

MVP: guizeera

Drop Spots: Ferry Pier (Erangel), Hacienda del Patron (Miramar)

The stars from South America made their way to PGC after an eventful 2022. Their ESL Masters results were less than stellar, but they more than made up for them during PCS events.

They finished fifth during PCS 6, only to best it with a 3rd place finish at PCS 7. The latter result played an important role in their qualification given how well Synergy Esports, their rival, played during PCS7 as well. Ultimately, they made it to Dubai and are looking to give South America its best PGC result.

Evaluating 22 Esports is a difficult task at the moment. A roster move needed to make a roster move mid year following the cheating accusations surrounding Balkkan. In Balkkan’s stead came guizeera, who immediately became the star of 22 Esports. Before guizeera joined 22 Esports, it was each player getting 25-35 kills with hazteN and Haven doing the vast majority of the damage. In their limited sample size with guizeera, things completely changed. He dominated PCS 7 to the tune of 62 kills and 9516.4 damage, good for 2nd and 6th in the tournament respectively. As a result, no one else on the roster had more than 29 kills, Haven took over the secondary fragger role while hazeteN and v1n1 seem to be operating on equal footing now. It is a titanic shift in such a short amount of time, which begs the question; it that the new normal or was that result an exception to the rule?

Luckily for 22 Esports, they will likely be able to loot in peace. Early declarations for opening groups appear to leave both of their drop locations free of any contention. The prospect of this team not facing contested very juicy, but nothing is certain in PUBG.