Armory Gaming ( AG )

Roster : “Thanawat”, “P1scezPRO”, “dmggg”, “DUCKMANZ”

Thailand’s Armory Gaming have made their themselves known as one of the best teams in the world throughout the 2019 season with their aggressive, in-your-face playstyle, making to the top 5 of Faceit Global Summit and MET Asia Series while not finishing lower than at 2nd place in each of the three SEA Championships.

What makes those results look even better is that AG have done them even with roster changes that happened throughout the year — in PSC Phase 1 and Faceit, they were forced to play with “HoN_BoYa” as a substitute. After AG weren’t able to sign him to a full-time contract, he ended up being replaced by a returning “Thanawat”. Heading into the PGC they’ve been forced to make yet another roster change, as “General_Gaming” had to step down due to military service, with “Sceat” taking over his fragging position. That being said, with “Duckmanz” — “ThanawatTH” duo on their roster, AG will be considered as one of the deadliest teams on the battlegrounds, and they’ll be aiming to finish their year at least a another top 5 finish.

FaZe Clan ( FC )

Roster : “Fuzzface”, “Ubah”, “Aitzy”, “Mxey”

For FaZe Clan, their road to the PGC started in the summer of 2018, when they’ve missed their spot at the PUBG Global Invitational ( PGI ), the precursor of the PGC, with a 4th-place finish in the PGI EU in Leicester. With FaZe being considered as the best team in the world at that time, not qualifying to the PGI was a huge upset and a disappointment for the team.

After that result, FaZe have rebuilded their roster, signing Ludvik “Aitzy” Jahnsen from Method and Ivan “Ubah” Kapustin from Natus Vincere to join the team’s captain-IGL duo of Anssi “Mxey” Pekkonen and David “Fuzzface” Tillberg Persson. And while FaZe haven’t started the 2019 as they hoped to, finishing 7th in the Europe League ( PEL ) Phase 1, they have been unstoppable since, securing the victories at the PEL Phase 2, PEL Phase 3 and the GLL Grand Slam.

With three consecutive titles under their belt, an all-rounded roster, with all players known for their abilities to step up and carry the team when needed, and “Ubah” coming as arguably the best PUBG player in the world in the eyes of many, FaZe is considered as the main favourite to win the Global Championship, and anything but that will be considered as a failure for the team.

G2 Esports ( G2 )

Roster : “Braexco”, “Itzz_ChrizZ”, “Yannis”, “nELLOZ”

All-German squad representing G2 Esports have been performing well in the first two phases of the 2019 season, finishing 5th in the PEL Phase 1, 4th in the PEL Phase 2 and 5th in the GLL Grand Slam. Those results however weren’t satisfying enough for the organisation, and ahead of Phase 3 they’ve decided to move Alexander “Caint” Syukrin to a substitute position and to say goodbye to Magnus “UdyrR” Hartmann.

To make up for their void, the G2 have signed fellow Germans in Niklas “NELLOZ” Weber and Yannis “derYannis” Hodapp. And while both players have quickly adapted in the new roster, a weaker performances coming from team’s IGL René “Braexco” Rehling and leading fragger in Christian “Itzz_ChrizZ” Blank and a lack of consistency have led to only a 7th place finish for G2 in the Phase 3 of PEL, making to the PGC thanks to a lot of Championship Points being scored by them in the Phase 2.

That being said, PGC is a different beast than the PEL, and with a lot of time between those two events G2 should be able to find and improve their issues from the past, and prove their place as one of the best teams in the world.

Gen.G ( GEN )

Roster : “Pio”, “Esther”, “Loki”, “Taemin”

After winning the TPP championship at the Global Invitational and deciding to merge their Black and Gold rosters into a single team shortly thereafter, Gen.G have entered a prolonged period of mediocrity due to a mix of roster changes, instability when it comes to the shotcaller role and players overall underperformance. By the end of the 2019 Phase 1, it came clear that Gen.G needed to sign a great fragger and IGL in order to become a competitive team once again.

Enter Cha “Pio” Seunghoon. Taking over both IGL and main fragger role in the team, “Pio” have made his impact quickly with 70 or more kills (>1.45 Kill per game ) in both Phase 2 and Phase 3 of Korea League, and have led Gen.G to both the PKL Phase 2 and MET Asia Series championship and to a spot in the PGC.

However, as Gen.G showed throughout the year, Pio alone will not be enough to win it all — while he could count on Go “Esther” Jeong-wan and Park “Loki” Jung-young backing him up during teamfights throughout the team’s dominant Phase 2 run, both of them haven’t been doing well later in the year, and their performance will be crucial in Gen.G’s run for the Global Championship.

Ghost Gaming ( GG )

Roster : “Miccoy”, “DrasseL”, “Shrimzy”, “Vegas”

Ghost Gaming’s story so far this year is very similar to the one of G2 Esports — Team’s best results so far came earlier in the year, finishing 3rd in the Phase 2 of National PUBG League ( NPL ) and 7th in the GLL Grand Slam — the highest placement of the NA teams in that tournament. And similar to G2, they’ve made a roster change ahead of the final phase of the season, replacing Sebastian “BALLOC” Berendt with Jaden “Vegas” James, coming to the team from Ghost’s Cadetes system.

While “Vegas” have performed strong and consistently throughout the NPL Phase 3, the team led by Kevin “Miccoy” Linn had a rough Phase 3 overall, especially when it comes to their placement finishes ( average placement of 8.7, worst of all PGC qualified teams ) and their performance on Erangel ( 4.6point per game, the weakest Phase 3 average of all the qualified teams ), finishing 9th overall and advancing to the PGC only due to the Championship Points they’ve scored in previous phases.

On the biggest stage of the year, Ghost will hope for the in-form return of their star player and one of the best snipers on the proscene in Cedrik “DrasseL” Lessard ( only 0.78 Kill, .78 knocks and 138.70 damage per game average in the Phase 3 ) in order to represent their NA region well at their home turf.

Global Esports Xsset ( GEX )

Roster : “ChiaWei1031”, “Kane”, “sophiya666”, “Leo”

Formed ahead of the Open Qualifier for PML Phase 1, GEX have quickly became one of the best teams in Taiwan / Hong Kong / Macao region, finishing 4th in the Master League ( PML ) Phase 1, and 3rd in the Phase 2 and the Phase 3 with a offensive-based roster, featuring two of the region’s best fraggers in Alex “sophiya666” Tan Boon Keung and Chang “Chiawei1031” Chia-Wei, further backed in the Phase 3 with an addition of Chang “Leo” Ming-Shin from MP5 Esports.

Even with that , GEX have made it to the Global Championship only as a replacement team for Team Zadak, the winners of PML Phase 3 that had to forfeit their PGC spot due to underaged players in their roster. Nonetheless, with a ton of firepower in their roster, GEX have a potential to surprise everyone at the Global Championship and upset some of the stronger teams.

Infantry Clan ( iFTY )

Roster : “Boliang”, “LongSKr”, “Jiaoyang”, “L1nnnn”

Over the last few months, Infantry Clan have marked their place as the best team in China, winning the Huya PUBG League in July, the PCL Summer’s Regular Season in September and the China Masters in October, losing only in the PCL Summer Playoffs to 4AM on a kill tiebreaker over that time.

Throughout all of those tournaments, entire iFTY roster have proved themselves as a strong and consistent fraggers, all around or above the kill per game average, but there’s one player that stays out of the pack in the team — the MVP of PCL Summer, Lin “LongSKr” Xin. In each of iFTY’s dominant performances, LongSKr finished as the best fragger of the tournament ( 47 kills in Huya League, 182K in PCL Summer ) or amongst the best ( 31K in PCM Finals ), reaping out every enemy that have been in his sight.

There may be some doubts about whether iFTY can win the PGC, mostly due to PGC being their first international event with the new roster, but in the eyes of many Infantry will be the China’s biggest hope to defend the Global Championship won by Oh My God last year at the PGI in Berlin.

Natus Vincere ( NV )

Roster : “ADOUZIE”, “Bestoloch”, “Ceh9”, “Pokamolodoy”

After a disappointing 14th-place finish in the Phase 1 of Europe League, Na’Vi have went through a huge roster rebuild, with only Vadim “POKAMOLODOY” Ulshin remaining from the old squad, even though he had to give up the IGL role to Arsenii “Ceh9” Ivanychev. Since then, Na’Vi have returned to the top ranks of EU proscene, finishing in the top 4 of PEL Phases 2 and 3, and at the GLL Grand Slam.

That being said, that results came up with a bit of a disappointment for the CIS squad — in the PEL Phase 2, Na’Vi lead the league for the majority of the phase, falling behind FaZe only in the final week. At the GLL they started with a 14-kill Chicken Dinner only to score 2 points in next 3 games, forcing them to chase the top teams throughout the rest of the event. And while Na’Vi finished 4th in the PEL Phase 3 as the league’s best Erangel team ( 314pt, 8.1pt per game ), and Roman “ADOUZ1E” Zinovev looked as sharp as ever ( league’s top fragger with 138 kills, top 3 in Knocks and Damage dealt ), their weaker performances on both Miramar and Sanhok have kept them away of the title race, and NaVi’s chances at the PGC podium will be dependant on whether we’ll see Na’Vi improved in that regard.

OGN Entus Ace ( ENA )

Roster : “Alphaca”, “Joy”, “Mickey”, “Raeng”

One of the historically best teams on the Korean proscene, OGN Entus Ace had a rollercoaster ride to the PGC — the team have suffered a heartbreak in the Phase 2 of the Korea League ( PKL ), finishing just 5 points short of the 4th place and a spot in the MET Asia Series, and have said goodbye to Lee “CRISTIS” Joon-su, one of the team’s top fraggers and Ace’s mainstay even since the team debuted as CJ Entus in the late 2017. In Phase 3, OGN Ace had a slow start to the season, finishing 11th at the end, and had to qualify to the PGC through a one-day, six-match Korea Qualifier, locking their win with a 9-kill Chicken Dinner in the final round.

While OGN Ace’s roster doesn’t have a one player that can change the outcome of a fight, like their Korean colleagues in Gen.G for example, they rely on their steady and consistent players, with their captain in Bang “Alphaca” Ji-min and Kim “Raeng” Seong-jin on the front, and on the occasional rushes to the centers of the mid-game circles, and their ability to play the places they’ve secured with those. Those sudden decisions are making OGN Entus Ace a bit unpredictable to the other teams, and this may be their trump card heading to Los Angeles.

RED Canids Kalunga ( RED )

Roster : “Raspu”, “and1FPS”, “ps1co”, “rustyzera”

Formerly playing as Brazilian Crusaders, Red Canids Kalunga have booked their place at the Global Championship as the champions of the GLL LATAM Masters Phase 3 and the #1 seed coming from the LPPS.

Returning to the global stage once again this year, after finishing 19th in the Faceit and 13th in the GLL Grand Slam, the team possesses a strong fragging roster, will all of their players in the top 10 of LPPS Phase 3 in terms of kills scored ( each with 73+ kills / 1.2 kill per game ), and the team’s shotcaller in Andrey “and1FPS” Henrique finishing 2nd overall in the ranking with 93 kills and 84 knocks. The biggest factor in their PGC run however will be how they’ll adapt to being loot contested by the stronger teams, especially on Erangel.

Rascal Jester ( RJ )

Roster : “SeaKingJaws”, “MUSHAMARU”, “CinVe”, “Wesker”

Rascal Jester have been one of the teams knocking to the top of Japanese proscene, finishing 6th in the PJS Season 1, 5th in the PWI 2018 and 7th in the PJS Season 2 before finishing 2nd in the PJS Season 3 and representing their region in the MET, finishing only second-to-last ( 15th ) in Bangkok. Heading into the Phase 3, RJ have went through roster changes, trading Yoshihisa “Kendesu” Yamada to SunSister’s for Hiroto “CiNVe” Takahara and replacing a leaving “Maron” for “MUSHAMARU”.

The team lead by Takuma “SeaKingJaws” Arayama didn’t looked back since, as they took the top spot of PJS Season 4 in the first matchday and controlled their lead throughout the season with a more move-focused, position-based playstyle in comparison to their more heavy-hitting and offensive style that RJ showcased in the past, and all players contributing with a strong individual performance.

As Rascal Jester is heading to the PGC, they have a single goal in their sights — advance to the Grand Finals, and become the first Japanese team to finish a global event in the upper half of the standings.

SK Telecom T1 ( T1 )

Roster : “Akad”, “Jefflocka”, “Adder”, “Hellen”

When SK Telecom T1 entered the competitive PUBG scene over a year ago, there was quite a lot expectations laying on their shoulders. After all, this is the most successful organisation in Korean Esports history, with no less than 14 national titles and 3 World Championships under their belt, and a team that was represented by some of the greatest players of all time — Faker, Bengi, MaRin, SlayerS_Boxer, Iloveoov, Bisu, Fantasy, Innovation just to name a few.

However, instead of going straight for the top, T1 have took a different approach. Instead of picking experienced players, they decided to build their roster entirely with talented but raw players, all training under the command of SKT’s coaching icon — Choi “CCarter” Byoung-hoon. It took the team a while to become a contender, but they’ve stepped up in the PKL Phase 3, finishing 2nd overall with a aggressive and heavy-kill plays throughout the phase ( PKL’s best 5.1 kill per game ).

Heading into the PGC, many of the fans eyes will be focused on SKT, especially on their rising star — Lim “Akad” Gwang-hyun, a long-time consistent fragger for the team have bloomed in the PKL Phase 3, finishing with league’s best stats in kills ( 1.85 per game, 89 total ), knocks ( 1.63 PG, 78 total ) and damage dealt ( 293.3 PG, 14080 total ).

Team Envy ( NV )

Roster : “PRIDE”, “PAT_KAPS”, “Interrogate”, “Moody”

Team Envy qualified to the PGC as NA’s #4 seed after finishing 3rd and 4th in the Phases 1 and 3 of NPL respectively, with a win in the NPL Phase 2 Royale and a 16th-place finish in the Faceit Global Summit between those.

While Envy’s playstyle is similar to what we see from the other top NA teams, they’ve been slightly less dependant on heavy killing ( 4.2 per game in the NPL Phase 3, top 3 teams have all averaged over 4.50 ), making out for it with a top of great placement finishes ( 144 placement points, 5 Chicken Dinners, 19 top 4 finishes — second-best stats in the NPL Phase 3 after Tempo Storm ). That doesn’t mean we can underestimate Envy’s fragging power however, as Mehmood “Moody” Askar and team’s IGL in Patrick “PAT_KAPS” Kaplan are amongst the best fraggers in NA, with Nick “Interrogate” Raposo and recently joined Alfred “PRIDE” Choi providing a consistent support fire to them. This should be enough strong cards in Envy’s deck to at least make it to the Grand Finals, but that’ll be verified on the battleground.

Tempo Storm ( TS )

Roster : “Sharpshot”, “Meluke”, “Zanpah”, “Sharky”

The Storm have marked their place as the dynasty of the North American PUBG throughout the 2019 season, picking up the National PUBG League championship in each of the three phases. However, they’ve been disappointing the NA expectations on the international stage, finishing 11th in the Faceit Global Summit and 12th in GLL Grand Slam.

Tempo Storm’s goal for the PGC will be to overcome their demons and challenge for the Global Championship on their home field — in order to achieve this goal, they’ll rely on the team’s dominant performances on all three maps and a strong performance from their fragging core of Logan “Zanpah” Heckman, Mike “Sharky” Gariti and Tempo’s recent acquisition in Daniel “Sharpshot” Hernandez, backed up by their shotcaller in Luke “Meluke” Laing.

VC Gaming ( VC )

Roster : “Summer”, “DJBOY”, “Tide”, “DouM”

Thanks to their championship-winning run in the PCL Spring Season, VC Gaming have qualified to the Global Championship as the very first team back in June. However, they haven’t been performing well since then, finishing 9th in the MET Asia Series, 20th in the PCL Summer and 8th in the China Masters.

As VC is heading into the PGC, in order to be competitive at the biggest stage VC will have to play around their strengths — having all their players play on a solid and stable level, with Yu “Summer” Chuan and Li “Tide” Qingwu often picking up a higher gear as for their personal performance, and scoring points consistently on both Erangel and Miramar — with 2.6pt per game on Sanhok, the less games will be played there, the better things will look for VC Gaming.

Vendetta ( VEN )

Roster : “eDGe”, “kritikalmotion”, “iCoN”, “nonreg”

Vendetta have made a quick impact on the OCE proscene since their formation just six months ago with their aggressive plays on the edges of the zones, qualifying to the ESL Champs in Phase 2 before winning it all at the Regional Qualifier and getting their place at the PGC, beating the long-time #1 team in the region, Athletico, in the process.

While the team has been builded by a experienced duo of Andrew “eDGe” McLaren and Nikolai “kritikalmotion” Seth, both returning to the global stage after representing OCE and Chiefs Esports in the PGI, the player to watch from Vendetta is Singaporean Dickson “iCoN” Loh, arguably one of the best Beryl M762 riflers in the game right now, no matter whether he played on LAN or online with over 100 ping. And while PGC will be Vendetta’s biggest challenge to date, getting all the way to the Oakland Arena is a realistic goal for them.

Tune in to the PGC through the official PGC streams on twitch.tv/playbattlegrounds, youtube.com/pubgesports or to the PGC Watch Page, and support the event by buying the PGC in-game items through the duration of the event ( with 50% of the revenue being distributed to the participant teams ), and by participating in the PGC Pick’Em Challenge.