With NCS season 3 just around the corner, the seeding is now established, and there is no doubt about who is taking the lead.
Invicta has secured the top spot as the top-seeded team, thus carrying the heavy burden of being the favorites going into the tournament. Invicta's dominance is not without reason - the team boasts an impressive average elo of 3,505 on Faceit, making them the highest-ranked team in the competition.
With the victory in NCS Summer behind them and two players from the winning team still on the roster, expectations are naturally sky-high.
The two new additions, vigg0 and -AVJ-, bring serious experience with them - vigg0 has played at a high level for both Astralis Talent and Sashi with a 1.12 rating this season, while -AVJ- impresses with a 1.21 rating in Powerleague. Avanti Esport takes second place as the second-highest seed and comes with a strong background.
The team won the first season and followed up with a fourth place in season 2, but now they field an almost entirely new lineup.
Only Lynch and BlocH remain from the previous successes, while Finuiii and Superflik bring international experience to the table - both players have HLTV pages and experience from world-ranked teams. Evo Novo secures third place with the highest average rating of 1.36.
The team has just won the 1st division in Powerleague's 3rd division and is now moving up to the 2nd division next season.
With Borsty and Blamz, both of whom have NCS experience from Multihunters Elite, the team has both the experience and the numbers to back up their high placement. Ølgod Efterskole rounds out the top-4 as the last high-seeded team.
The school fields a composite squad from their best players across their three Powerleague teams.
Although their first team was relegated from the 1st division, they still have the third-highest average elo of 3,274 and play in ESEA Intermediate, where they rank 48th-50th. In the lower half, we find Future Gaming as the fifth seed - a team facing disbandment after the tournament.
This could, however, trigger the famous 'Dead Team Buff,' where teams without pressure often surprise.
The team was relegated from the 1st division in Powerleague and has the lowest stats both in elo (3,099) and rating (0.99), but tr1lle brings HLTV experience from CPH Wolves Academy. PowerStats takes sixth place and returns to NCS for the second time.
Bloody is the only remaining player from their first NCS participation, but he proved his worth with a 1.26 rating back then.
The team played under Frogiz Esport in Powerleague, where they secured a sixth place in the 2nd division. Unsigned comes in as the seventh seed with a rich NCS history.
The team has participated in all previous seasons under different names and reached third place in NCS Summer 2024.
The core of Unsigned Fraggers is intact, reinforced by MeSterLund from Team Eclipse and the impressive Troski, who delivered a 1.32 rating in the 3rd division of Powerleague. eSpuma finishes as the eighth and lowest seed, but don't be fooled by the placement - they have the second-highest average elo of 3,442.
The team lost their relegation match and moves down to the 3rd division in Powerleague, but with b1zjr, who helped win NCS Winter 2024 with Avanti NXT, they still have the potential to surprise.