The VCT Pacific Stage 1 group stage has wrapped up. While the field of eight playoff teams was already set entering the final week of group stage play, results from the weekend finalized seedings for the playoffs, with the world's best team to start the year beginning its run in the lower bracket and one team making its playoff debut in the upper bracket.
Here are the results from last week:
-
Team Secret
Team Secret
Asia-Pacific
Rank #172
kellyS
Kelly Sedillo
JessieVash
Jessie Cuyco
Sylvan
Go Young-sup (고영섭)
BerserX
Rizkie Adla Kusuma
Rimuru
Dwine Enriquez
2-1
Gen.G
Gen.G
Korea
Rank #5
Lakia
Kim Jong-min (김종민)
KiTae
Park Ki-tae (박기태)
stand-in
Ash
Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철)
Karon
Kim Won-tae (김원태)
t3xture
Kim Na-ra (김나라)
-
ZETA DIVISION
ZETA DIVISION
Japan
Rank #11
Absol
Kazuki Fujinoki
SyouTa
Shota Aoki
SugarZ3ro
Shota Watanabe
eKo
Yeom Wang-ryong (염왕룡)
Xdll
Yuto Mizomori
2-1
VARREL
VARREL
Japan
Rank #5
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)
-
T1
T1
Korea
Rank #2
stax
Kim Gu-taek (김구택)
Meteor
Kim Tae-oh (김태오)
BuZz
Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철)
iZu
Ham Woo-ju (함우주)
Munchkin
Byeon Sang-beom (변상범)
2-1
FULL SENSE
FULL SENSE
Asia-Pacific
Rank #6
Leviathan
Thanyathon Nakmee
Killua
Tanate Teerasawad
primmie
Papaphat Sriprapha
JitBoyS
Jittana Nokngam
Crws
Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut
-
Global Esports
Global Esports
Asia-Pacific
Rank #7
PatMen
Patrick Mendoza
UdoTan
Go Kyung-won (고경원)
Kr1stal
Savva Fedorov
xavi8k
Xavier Juan
Autumn
Kale Dunne
2-1
Nongshim RedForce
Nongshim RedForce
Korea
Rank #1
Xross
Jeonghwan (정환)
Rb
Goo Sang-min (구상민)
Francis
Kim Mu-bin (김무빈)
Dambi
Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규)
Ivy
Park Sung-hyeon (박성현)
-
Paper Rex
Paper Rex
Asia-Pacific
Rank #1
invy
Adrian Jiggs Reyes
Jinggg
Wang Jing Jie
f0rsakeN
Jason Susanto
d4v41
Khalish Rusyaidee
something
Ilya Petrov
2-0
Kiwoom DRX
Kiwoom DRX
Korea
Rank #3
Hermes
Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱)
yong
Kim Ho-yong (김호용)
MaKo
Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관)
free1ng
No Ha-jun (노하준)
HYUNMIN
Song Hyun-min (송현민)
BeYN
Kang Ha-bin (강하빈)
-
Rex Regum Qeon
Rex Regum Qeon
Asia-Pacific
Rank #3
Monyet
Cahya Nugraha
xffero
David Monangin
Jemkin
Maksim Batorov
Kushy
Bryan Carlos Setiawan
crazyguy
Ngô Công Anh
2-1
DetonatioN FocusMe
DetonatioN FocusMe
Japan
Rank #1
Meiy
Ibuki Seki
SSeeS
Tomonori Okimura
yatsuka
Kazuya Ikeda
Caedye
Amon Mateus Okakura
Akame
Yu Gwang-hui (유광희)
The first day of action saw no playoff teams in action, but saw the lowest-placed teams in each group battle it out for fifth place in their respective groups. To start,
Team Secret
Team Secret
Asia-Pacific
Rank #172
kellyS
Kelly Sedillo
JessieVash
Jessie Cuyco
Sylvan
Go Young-sup (고영섭)
BerserX
Rizkie Adla Kusuma
Rimuru
Dwine Enriquez
captured a 2-1 win over
Gen.G
Gen.G
Korea
Rank #5
Lakia
Kim Jong-min (김종민)
KiTae
Park Ki-tae (박기태)
stand-in
Ash
Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철)
Karon
Kim Won-tae (김원태)
t3xture
Kim Na-ra (김나라)
, highlighting a fall from grace for the Korean giants, who were the first Pacific team to ever lift an international trophy. Rookie Duelist
Zeus
looked stellar in the series, dropping a match-high 66 kills. After each team narrowly claimed its own map pick, Team Secret proved to be the better of the two teams on Breeze, a rather weak map for both squads, thanks in large part due to a 7-0 run to open play.
In Group Omega,
ZETA DIVISION
ZETA DIVISION
Japan
Rank #11
Absol
Kazuki Fujinoki
SyouTa
Shota Aoki
SugarZ3ro
Shota Watanabe
eKo
Yeom Wang-ryong (염왕룡)
Xdll
Yuto Mizomori
defeated
VARREL
VARREL
Japan
Rank #5
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)
2-1 in a matchup between two winless teams to claim fifth place in the group. Similar to the earlier series in the day, both teams claimed their map picks before play came down to the decider map, Fracture. Both teams fielded double-Duelist comps, but while VL went for a Breach-Tejo look, ZETA's Cypher-centric comp gave them the upper hand on attack, leading to a 13-9 win — ZETA's first win of the stage and second of the year. While ZETA walked away the winners,
oonzmlp
's performance was second to none.
In a fight to secure its top seed and earn a first-round bye,
T1
T1
Korea
Rank #2
stax
Kim Gu-taek (김구택)
Meteor
Kim Tae-oh (김태오)
BuZz
Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철)
iZu
Ham Woo-ju (함우주)
Munchkin
Byeon Sang-beom (변상범)
captured a win over
FULL SENSE
FULL SENSE
Asia-Pacific
Rank #6
Leviathan
Thanyathon Nakmee
Killua
Tanate Teerasawad
primmie
Papaphat Sriprapha
JitBoyS
Jittana Nokngam
Crws
Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut
, but showed signs of mortality, dropping its first map of the stage. Play opened with each team losing its map pick in blowout fashion before Breeze played host to an
iZu
masterclass. From Controller to Sentinel to Yoru main to now being arguably one of the world's greatest flex players, he dropped 27 kills in his first map on Sova since Pacific Kickoff. His flexible agent pool has allowed for T1 to become flexible depending on the map, leading to a perfect 5-0 run through Group Omega.
In arguably the most consequential match of the weekend,
Global Esports
Global Esports
Asia-Pacific
Rank #7
PatMen
Patrick Mendoza
UdoTan
Go Kyung-won (고경원)
Kr1stal
Savva Fedorov
xavi8k
Xavier Juan
Autumn
Kale Dunne
claimed a 2-1 victory over
Nongshim RedForce
Nongshim RedForce
Korea
Rank #1
Xross
Jeonghwan (정환)
Rb
Goo Sang-min (구상민)
Francis
Kim Mu-bin (김무빈)
Dambi
Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규)
Ivy
Park Sung-hyeon (박성현)
, meaning the Masters Santiago winners will begin their playoff campaign with no room for mistakes in the lower bracket. Nongshim first got blown out on its pick of Breeze, and then used a dominant attack side on GE's pick of Bind as a cushion in a 13-11 win. On Haven, the decider map of the series, it was NS's double-Duelist up against GE's double-Sentinel comp. Both teams, not quite strong-suited for retakes, were dominant on attack but left more to be desired on defense. Haven exposed some of the shortcomings of NS's decision to move Dambi off of Neon and Francis onto the slide-heavy agent. Francis, as the team's best Operator user, found fewer opportunities to use it, while Dambi continued to frag in other Sentinel roles. Eventually, GE had the edge in overtime, clinching a 14-12 win and a spot in the upper bracket.
On the last day of action,
Paper Rex
Paper Rex
Asia-Pacific
Rank #1
invy
Adrian Jiggs Reyes
Jinggg
Wang Jing Jie
f0rsakeN
Jason Susanto
d4v41
Khalish Rusyaidee
something
Ilya Petrov
made quick work of
Kiwoom DRX
Kiwoom DRX
Korea
Rank #3
Hermes
Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱)
yong
Kim Ho-yong (김호용)
MaKo
Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관)
free1ng
No Ha-jun (노하준)
HYUNMIN
Song Hyun-min (송현민)
BeYN
Kang Ha-bin (강하빈)
, dropping just 10 rounds to hand the Korean squad its first loss of the stage while also claiming a first-round bye in the playoffs.
something
was stellar in the series, picking up a match-high 38 kills on his comfort agent of Jett.
In the final match of the weekend,
Rex Regum Qeon
Rex Regum Qeon
Asia-Pacific
Rank #3
Monyet
Cahya Nugraha
xffero
David Monangin
Jemkin
Maksim Batorov
Kushy
Bryan Carlos Setiawan
crazyguy
Ngô Công Anh
shut down
DetonatioN FocusMe
DetonatioN FocusMe
Japan
Rank #1
Meiy
Ibuki Seki
SSeeS
Tomonori Okimura
yatsuka
Kazuya Ikeda
Caedye
Amon Mateus Okakura
Akame
Yu Gwang-hui (유광희)
's attempt at qualifying for the upper bracket for the first time ever by defeating them 2-1. DFM, needing a 2-0 win to qualify for the playoffs as the second seed, claimed its map pick with a close 14-12 win, but fell short of stealing RRQ's Lotus, losing 14-12. The decider map of Fracture, now having no impact on where DFM finishes, was a swift 13-8 for RRQ.
Up next
The field of eight playoff teams is now set, with PRX and T1 earning first-round byes and NS and DFM entering the playoffs from the lower bracket.
The matches for the first weekend of the playoffs are as follows:
- Rex Regum Qeon vs. Global Esports (Upper Round 1)
- Kiwoom DRX vs. FULL SENSE (Upper Round 1)
- Paper Rex vs. RRQ/GE (Upper Semifinals)
- T1 vs. KRX/FS (Upper Semifinals)
- DetonatioN FocusMe vs. RRQ/GE (Lower Round 1)
- Nongshim RedForce vs. KRX/FS (Lower Round 1)

