Trail of Valor Normal and Heroic came out today and next Tuesday will be the mythic release of the raid.
EDIT: Trial of Valor might actually last more than a day on mythic, as the fights seem to be considerably more difficult than Emerald Nightmare on all difficulties so far.
Q and A.
Who are the favorites to win this race?
Any of the three to be honest, not going to be biased and I wish all three the best of luck. Or a new winner could potentially be crowned?
How long is the mythic race going to last?
Realistically 1 day. Gear is high enough now from Emerald Nightmare, legendaries and titanforged items considering the gear from this raid will only be 5 ilevels up from EN. Expect it to be full cleared VERY quickly.
So since the US gets a 1 day head start and assuming Limit or other US guilds full clear 3/3 mythic does that mean they won the race?
Not necessarily, the timing of the kill will mark the world first kill. For example, if Limit or a US guild full clears within 3 hours of release and a EU guild clears the next day on their release 2 hours after raid release they will be the champions and world first. EDIT: Nevermind, apparently they would win.
Since this is a filler raid (not really though) will the top guilds care about world first?
Of course they will, they want to be the best in the world. Every race matters and bragging rights are supreme.
Why is this raid so easy?
Well item levels are currently very high from mythic+, EN mythic, titanforged, legendaries, etc.
What held guilds back from full clearing within one day or week in previous expansions was gear and dps checks. Now in this expansion mythic+, legendaries and titanforged items has made gear easier to acquire; especially if grinded through mythic+10.
Where is bozel progress?
Bozel has not been as active in this expac sadly.