The first ever Asia Nations Cup presents itself with 9 countries competing to secure a top placing in the tournament. But what countries have entered? Who are these players? What is the likelihood of them toppling over the entire competition to reign supreme as the best country in the region? Let’s run through the teams.

South Korea

• Pocket Scout: Vinea
• Flank Scout: Stryker
• Roamer: Huey
• Pocket: ChoWon
• Demo: h3kf
• Medic: song

For the vast majority of Asian TF2 history, South Korea has always produced championship-calibre teams and players, a perennial contender for the title of the strongest nation. Alas, the legends of old have all but retired or moved on to other esports, and it's now up to the new generation of South Korean talent to continue on their legacy.

Vinea, Stryker, and Huey are exceptionally talented players in their own right, having attained a runner up placing in Division 1 in Season 17 of AsiaFortress. ChoWon and h3kf possess less experience at the top level, but more than make up for it with solid, and consistent gameplay. Finally, song will be captaining Team South Korea on Medic. While known for his good crossbow aiming mechanics, his uncanny ability to escape from dangerous situations will also be an important asset to his team.

Vietnam

• Pocket Scout: DeDstar
• Flank Scout: Teehee
• Roamer: Raiz
• Pocket: Sync
• Demo: Ghosty™
• Medic: Cry

You've seen his streams, you've heard him scream, the Demoman of Team Vietnam is none other than the one and only Ghosty™! His occasional cerebral approach to the game, coupled with his incredible piping mechanics, make him a rather dangerous opposition to any who dare to walk through his chokepoint. Soldier shooting responsibilities fall onto DeDstar, the star Pocket Scout who found his niche in the movement category, and also with the ability to manifest backcaps with ease. Teehee and Sync have been playing together for many years as the core of many iterations of the Vietnamese team, with Raiz and Cry as more recent additions but nonetheless also showing great potential to be remarkable players.

Team Vietnam, unlike most other teams, was not formed specifically for the Nations Cup. Vietnamese teams have been a mainstay of Asian TF2, their synergy and coordination having been honed through many years of playing together and will be put to the test against the rest of Asia.

Philippines

• Pocket Scout: Time
• Flank Scout: cj31
• Roamer: Fruit
• Pocket: Ifun
• Demo: Bobby
• Medic: Bacon

Aside from having inconsistent internet connection and interesting dishes such as balut, Team Philippines boasts one of the best Medics in the region in the form of Ifun, who currently appears to make an interesting switch onto his former main of Pocket. The Medic mantle is then passed onto Bacon, a fairly new player to the scene with a championship placing in Division 3 the previous season. Time joins in on the Combo Scout role, a semi-inexperienced player who last played in 2015 looking to test his skills in the upper echelons of Asian TF2. Bobby is an up-and-coming player, whose solid DM makes up for his lack of experience in the competitive scene. Rounding off the roster is cj31 and Fruit on the Flank Scout and Roamer role respectively. The pair is no slouch when it comes to raw DM. Their proficient aiming mechanics will surely be an asset to their team despite being on a flank role.

Thailand

• Pocket Scout: Luv
• Flank Scout: Birdfly
• Roamer: Dowwy
• Pocket: heria
• Demo: Crusky
• Medic: Array

Widely recognised as the DM Lords of Asia, Team Thailand will hope to utilize their dangerous mix of 80%+ scattergun accuracies and deadly airshots to secure a top placing in the tournament.

The infamous Birdfly, whose smurfing in a lower division cost that team a championship, will be scouting alongside Luv, a decidedly less controversial, though no less talented, aimer. heria will be leading the team as the Pocket Soldier, with his star studded resume including wins in both Division 1 and 2 of AsiaFortress. Dowwy and Crusky have decent experience at the top level of Asian TF2, and are extremely capable players in their own rights. Together with Array on Medic with his expert crossbow aim, their synergy is a force to be reckoned with.

A top contender for the title, Team Thailand's exciting, DM-based playstyle is a must-watch.

Singapore

• Pocket Scout: ruee
• Flank Scout: jpd
• Roamer: Smily
• Pocket: n4ver
• Demo: RY4N
• Medic: K1lled

Whilst the core of Singaporean Xiao players is no more, the Little Red Dot's deep player pool still contains many champions of Asia to help fill in the shoes of the fallen.

ruee and n4ver form the foundation of the team, with the immensely valuable ability to maincall whilst fragging out. Smily makes his long awaited return, most famous for being a part of The Chess Foundation team which toppled Xiao at the AsiaFortress LAN in 2018. MGELord RY4N, a founding member of legendary team A Motley Crew, is able to keep up with his deep understanding of the game along with his spectacular pipe aim. Whilst historically a Pocket main, K1lled's made the switch to Medic in recent seasons, where his crossbow aim and experience is sure to shine through in teamfights. And lastly, jpd rounds out the roster on Flank Scout with his incredible DM and gamesense being a valuable asset to his team.

Japan

• Pocket Scout: Rebecca
• Flank Scout: Byte
• Roamer: Shogun
• Pocket: Roychi
• Demo: pozi
• Medic: metal

Revived from the ashes in the Land of the Rising Sun, whose last appearance in a tournament as an all-Japanese team was over three years ago in AsiaFortress Cup 15. Like Korea, Japan was once a predominant team in the early days of AsiaFortress. Having gone through several generations of notable Japanese TF2 players, this new generation of players may attempt to put Japan back in its spotlight.

pozi is a name that many players in Asia are familiar with. He was once one of Japan's finest Scouts, now curiously making his return to lead Team Japan on Demoman. Byte and Rebecca now take over the Scout roles on flank and combo respectively, both of them having little experience in 6s but will attempt to make up for it with their decent aim. Roychi is almost as green as grass, but his DM on the Soldier class may very well be an asset to his team. Assisting him on the other Soldier role is Shogun, having played several seasons of AsiaFortress previously and is now putting his skills and experience to the test against the top players in Asia. metal will be rounding out the roster on Medic while also being a fairly inexperienced player himself.

Hong Kong

• Pocket Scout: Joe
• Flank Scout: sir9
• Roamer: banana
• Pocket: Starling
• Demo: Konma
• Medic: Striker

Team Hong Kong boasts a truly stacked roster, featuring some of the best players that Asia's World City has ever produced.

Leading the team is Konma, a star Demoman who won 2 championships after getting picked up by Xiao. Joe joins him on the combo, whose unique maincalling style is sure to be an asset to his team, along with his great DM ability. Striker possesses years of experience, having won Division 2 twice and have made several appearances in Division 1 on the Medic class. Starling, a relative newcomer to the upper echelons of Asian TF2, makes a curious switch from his main of Scout to Soldier for the event, hoping to achieve what his Scout gameplay is normally capable of. Finally, legends sir9 and banana round out the flank, both having been ̶b̶r̶i̶b̶e̶d̶ coaxed out of retirement to compete for the Nations Cup.

Taiwan

• Pocket Scout: catwif
• Flank Scout: butterfly
• Roamer: ukk
• Pocket: Ayleks
• Demo: kosina
• Medic: Hopps

Hailing in from Taiwan is another DM proficient roster, with several of their players being particularly good at aiming mechanics.

kosina and Hopps have the longest careers among all of their players, with the former being very mechanically skilled and excelling at every class, while the latter had won a Division 1 championship several years ago. butterfly and catwif are both rapidly improving players, with their DM being an integral part of their skillset. Ayleks and ukk round out the roster as the turbo-feeding Pocket and Roamer respectively, both possessing decent rocket aim and experience to help put their team on the right path to potentially be one of the top contenders.

Malaysia

• Pocket Scout: apples
• Flank Scout: hezzy
• Roamer: altaria
• Pocket: teejay
• Demo: Veron
• Medic: farn

Dinosaurs roam the earth once more! teejay spent many years terrorising the Asian and Australian region, and has come out of semi-retirement to lead Team Malaysia on the Pocket Soldier role, hopefully without suffering an aneurysm. Assisting him on the Combo Scout role is apples, a rather familiar name in the Asian community. While being a Scout main at heart, he had recently made the switch to Soldier in recent seasons, but is now back on his former main for the event. Veron, apples and altaria all similarly boast long playing careers at the top level of Asian TF2, and have a wealth of experience playing at their roles of Demoman, Pocket Scout, and Roamer respectively. The same cannot be said of hezzy, whose recent rise to become one of the best Roamers in Asia makes him being on Flank Scout somewhat questionable. farn on the other hand had recently achieved a solid placing in Division 2, and will be hoping to prove his worth against more seasoned opposition.

This article was written in collaboration with K1lled.

EDIT: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Team Philippines is no longer able to participate in the Nations Cup.