The first two matches of the VCT Pacific 2026 Kickoff lower bracket are over, with both ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #15 Absol Kazuki Fujinoki SyouTa Shota Aoki SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe eKo Yeom Wang-ryong (염왕룡) Xdll Yuto Mizomori and Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #5 Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) ZynX Kim Dong-ha (김동하) Ash Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) staying alive in a three-map series win. With these results, Team Secret Team Secret Asia-Pacific Rank #140 kellyS Kelly Sedillo JessieVash Jessie Cuyco Zeus Jhian Vega Sylvan Go Young-sup (고영섭) BerserX Rizkie Adla Kusuma and VARREL VARREL Japan Rank #6 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) C1ndeR Ko Jae-hyuk (고재혁) Klaus Kim Min-hyuk (김민혁) XuNa Kim Tae-geon (김태건) oonzmlp Shin Sang-beom (신상범) Zexy Jang Suk-hyun (장석현) are eliminated from Kickoff and Masters Santiago.

ZETA DIVISION eliminates Team Secret for its first 2026 win

Through the first match between ZETA and Secret, both teams lost on their own map picks. Starting on Bind, ZETA opted for a double-Duelist with Waylay and Raze, and Secret ran a double-Duelist comp with Yoru and Raze. Team Secret won the first pistol and converted the bonus round to get ahead to an early lead. After the economy finally balanced out for ZETA, the first half did reach a 4-4 tie, but that was the final round that ZETA won on the entire map. The Yoru from kellyS was outstanding as Secret reached the half up 8-4. Secret then won the second pistol and converted the second bonus, leading to a 13-4 win.

Moving to Split, ZETA needed to fight back. Both teams remained on unique double-Duelist compositions, but ZETA reached that perfect start that Secret had on Bind. Xdll led ZETA to an 11-1 lead at halftime with a 17/5/4 statline, frying his opponents on Fade.

Team Secret managed to win the second pistol, but a lost bonus conversion also put ZETA on map point. There just wasn't enough runway for Secret, as ZETA won Secret's map pick 13-4.

That meant it would all end on Abyss, and it was the first close map of the series. Again, both teams stuck to different variations of double-Duelist. ZETA won the pistol, but was unable to convert the bonus. Secret fought back to keep the half close, taking a small 7-5 lead at the half.

ZETA won the second pistol of the map, but once again lost the bonus to stay slightly behind Secret. After trying the map 8-8, the momentum swung to ZETA, as the Waylay from eKo was dominant on the defense side. Even as Secret brought the map and series win within reach, the win was closed out by ZETA 13-11 to take the series 2-1.

Gen.G squeezes past VARREL in a close 2-1 victory

Game two between Gen.G and VARREL was a lot closer, starting with a tight Breeze. Both teams ran mirror compositions of double-Duelist with Jett and Yoru, and despite a Gen.G pistol win and antieco loss, rounds were traded as Gen.G took a small lead. As Gen.G finally was able to pull multiple round wins consecutively, Karon popped off on Viper to pull his team to an 8-4 lead at the half.

Gen.G won the second pistol and, despite a bonus round loss, reached double-digit round wins and a prime position to win map one. VARREL fought back to reach double-digits too, but that was too late as Gen.G managed to convert Breeze 13-10.

Pearl was an entertaining map, starting with the continuation of double-Duelist, but the introduction of Sentinel agents like Killjoy and Cypher. Gen.G won the first pistol and converted the bonus, placing the team in a great position to close out the series quickly. Yet, VARREL fought back with Klaus on Cypher stepping up, closing the deficit to only 7-5 at the half.

Gen.G won the second pistol and after a failed bonus round conversion, reached a 10-6 lead. This was where VARREL started and eventually completed a big comeback against an experienced team. The star of the comeback was XuNa , who stepped up on Sova to force the map to overtime. With multiple overtime ties, C1ndeR redeemed himself after a rough regular time with an amazing OT performance, as VARREL won Pearl 20-18.

Haven was the decider, and VARREL looked to keep the momentum from the unlikely Pearl victory. Both teams ran mirror compositions yet again, with Jett and Yoru matched with Cypher. Gen.G won the first pistol, converted the bonus, and ran off to a 6-0 lead. That momentum from Pearl was gone, as Gen.G reached the half up 9-3.

VARREL won the second pistol, but lost the bonus round. After Gen.G reached an 11-6 lead, VARREL was unable to do another late comeback as Gen.G won the series 2-1 and kept its Kickoff run alive.

With these victories, ZETA will face DRX while Gen.G matches up against Global Esports in the lower bracket.