Day two of VCT Pacific saw ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #7 Laz Ushida Koji yuran Yushin Hato hiroronn Hiroki Yanai Dep Yuma Hashimoto SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe beat Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #65 blaZek1ng Gary Dastin Lightningfast Abhirup Choudhury Polvi Niko Polvinen Benkai Benedict Tan Russ Russel Mendes 2-0, Talon Esports Talon Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #21 Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam Surf Thanachart Rungapajaratkul lenne Lim You Xiang Lionel ban Joseph Seungmin Oh Governor Peter No upset Team Secret Team Secret Asia-Pacific Rank #6 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes BORKUM Jim Timbreza JessieVash Jessie Cuyco Jremy Jeremy Cabrera NDG Noel De Guia with a 2-0 of their own, and DRX DRX Korea Rank #1 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) BuZz Yu Byung-chul (유병철) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) cap off the day with a 2-0 against DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #4 Medusa An Min-cheol (안민철) neth Yusuke Matsuda Meiy Ibuki Seki SSeeS Tomonori Okimura Anthem Yoshitaka Enomoto . ZETA will next play T1 T1 Korea Rank #3 Sayaplayer Ha Jeong-woo (하정우) Rossy Daniel Abedrabbo Carpe Lee Jae-hyeok (이재혁) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) xccurate Kevin Susanto and Talon will play DRX, respectively, to determine which team advances to playoffs. Their opponents are now in their group's elimination match. Global will play against BLEED BLEED Asia-Pacific Rank #8 sScary Nutchapon Matarat Zest Kim Ki-seok (김기석) Retla Jorell Teo Deryeon Derrick Yee yay Jaccob Whiteaker and Team Secret will face off against DetonatioN FocusMe.

ZETA debut with 2-0 over Global Esports

The day began with yesterday's postponed match, ZETA vs. Global Esports. The latter picked the first map, Bind, with ZETA opting for Icebox and Sunset left as decider.

Both teams feature fairly different squads compared to last year. Global underwent a full rebuild, promoting substitute Lightningfast and adding four new players. Spin moved to the head coach position following Eraser 's departure. ZETA, meanwhile, replaced two with hiroronn and yuran , and brought in Carlao as head coach.

Laz was optimistic about the new additions. “It's easier with the new members,” he said. “It works really well; they understand what we're trying to tell them.”

ZETA won the opening pistol round, courtesy of an early defuse. A failed forcebuy attempt by Global saw ZETA taking the next two rounds, delaying their bonus into round four. The South Asian org was then able to win three of their own, taking advantage of ZETA's passive defense on A.

A well executed retake led by yuran and quad kill from Dep put them back in the lead, however. Those two rounds were enough to make a difference, ending the half 7-5 in favor of ZETA Division.

Dep and Laz, team veterans, were definite standouts in the first half. They were able to keep Global's ideas in check, controlling either side of the map between the two.

Despite a pistol win from Global to close the gap, they were unable to string together enough rounds to take their map. Ultimately, ZETA closed out the scoreline 13-10.

Moving onto Icebox, both teams had orthodox team comps, with the only difference being ZETA favoring Harbor over Global's KAY/O.

The map appeared to be as close as Bind, both teams equalizing 6-6 by the half. Polvi had a standout half, with a 1.45 rating and 5 first kills. hiroronn and Laz helped mitigate the damage, however, with 11 eliminations apiece.

Dashing any potential for renewed hope from Global, ZETA showed that their past expertise and comfort on the map paired well with their new additions' raw skill. They were able to leverage their opponent's aggression against them, taking advantage of their impatience and positioning.

Dep and yuran completely took over the match, their combined 23 kills easing the team into a nearly flawless attack and eventual 13-7 win.

Talon upset Secret in dominant fashion

The second match featured Team Secret facing off against a newly restructured Talon Esports. The first map of the match was Breeze, selected by Talon. Secret picked Ascent, and Sunset was left as the final map, should it be needed.

Team Secret, who peaked as finalists of the LCQ last year, made few roster moves in the off-season, replacing DubsteP with NDG and releasing their substitute, lenne , who played a single official map for the team in 2023.

The newly available Singaporean player found himself on Talon as their in-game leader. The Hong Kong org went for a more drastic off-season compared to Secret's. They released three players and their head coach, and Patiphan decided to move to the inactive roster. As replacements ban , previously on T1, and North American Challengers player Governor joined lenne for the 2024 roster. Finally, Surf joined as sixth, reuniting with Crws after one year.

“We knew how much it meant for lenne,” Governor said regarding his history with Team Secret. “I really wanted to win this one [for him].”

The first half of Breeze was highlighted by Talon's aggression. Spearheaded by their double duelist composition, they took an early defense lead. Notably, Governor was able to avoid dying at all in the first five rounds.

He kept the momentum going the rest of the half, ending with a 2.10 rating and 19/4 KD. This performance, paired with ban's Yoru, helped the team end the half 9-3.

Secret managed to put up more of a fight in the second half, winning the pistol and an additional three rounds. Unfortunately for the Filipino team, Talon's lead proved too large to handle, as they only needed four more rounds to win the map.

The match continued on Talon's map pick, Ascent. Both teams mirrored their decision to play the standard composition.

Once again, Talon started with an early defense lead. Equally dominant, Governor was able to take control of the half with another 19/4 KD statline.

Just like Breeze, the first half ended 9-3, with JessieVash contributing two of those rounds. Unlike Breeze, however, Team Secret were unable to answer back in the second half. Talon won the pistol and next three rounds to close the map with a resounding 13-3.

“I was definitely nervous,” Governor said regarding his feelings prior to the match. “For the first two rounds, a bit,” he later clarified.

Although he ended Ascent with 399 ACS and a 2.16 rating, lenne was just as impressive. The debutant IGL was able to anticipate Secret's every move, all while earning a 2.00 rating of his own and his fair share of highlights.

DRX breeze past DetonatioN with 2-0 win

The final series of the day pit DRX, the first place team in the Pacific 2023 regular season, against DetonatioN FocusMe, the tenth place team in the regular season. The teams picked Breeze and Lotus respectively, agreeing on Bind as the decider map.

Heading into the season, DRX made significant changes to their roster. While keeping a core of three players and their coaching staff, they let go of Rb and Zest , both players who have been a part of the team since 2020. Flashback and Foxy9 were promoted from DRX Prospects DRX Prospects Korea Unranked Leviathan and the team's bench, respectively, as the players' replacements.

DetonatioN FocusMe, meanwhile, went for a more drastic route. Only Anthem stayed from the previous squad, as the org acquired the core of Crazy Raccoon Crazy Raccoon Inactive to complete the roster and coaching staff.

DRX got off to a strong start on Lotus, setting a 6-1 scoreline in their defense. In-game leader stax contributed heavily to the streak, with three first kills and 12 eliminations.

DetonatioN was able to claw back to a 7-5 half, thanks in part to Meiy 's entrying. His aggression was assisted by their double controller setup, as SSeeS and neth provided the necessary followup.

The Korean team took the second pistol, further extending their lead to a comfortable 9-5. A cautious retake from DFM granted them the bonus round. This began a back and forth between the teams, but in the end DRX's lead was too much for DetonatioN.

DRX went into their map selection of Breeze with a new double duelist and Cypher comp. The Japanese squad, on the other hand, preferred to play with double controllers rather than the Jett-Yoru.

The two teams traded rounds initially, but, as with Lotus, DRX went on a slight win streak. Once again Meiy was his team's best performer, but the other side showed off their secret weapon: Flashback. The Cypher player had 16 eliminations by halftime, with his timings and anchoring being pivotal to DRX's successful defense.

With his Breeze performance, Flashback ended up at the top of the scoreboard for the match, achieving an overall rating of 1.23 and 37 total eliminations.

DetonatioN tried to keep the game going in the second half, winning another four rounds. Unfortunately for them, DRX had other ideas, as another pistol round win added to the insurmountable scoreline gap. In the end, an attempt by Medusa at sticking the defuse was canceled by stax, ending DetonatioN's effort to win the map.

Rookie player Flashback assured fans that the team changed beyond roster moves. “We'll be more aggressive, more attacking,” he said in the post-match interview. “We'll be a better DRX.”