Week three of Pacific Stage 2 has wrapped up, and three playoff spots are still yet to be claimed. While Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Ash Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Efina Kim Nak-yeon (김낙연) Raxcal Kim Min-seok (김민석) continued its hot form with another victory to advance to 4-0 and become the first team in the region to bypass the Play-Ins, it has been all-out chaos in Group Omega.

This week was one to catch for fans of Japanese Valorant, as, in addition to FULL SENSE FULL SENSE Asia-Pacific Rank #12 Killua Tanate Teerasawad primmie Papaphat Sriprapha JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam seph1roth Chinnakrit Phoojaroen Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut , ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #10 Absol Kazuki Fujinoki SyouTa Shota Aoki SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe eKo Yeom Wang-ryong (염왕룡) Xdll Yuto Mizomori , DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #3 Meiy Ibuki Seki SSeeS Tomonori Okimura yatsuka Kazuya Ikeda Caedye Amon Mateus Okakura Akame Yu Gwang-hui (유광희) , and VARREL VARREL Japan Rank #1 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) all had double-match weeks due to the tighter schedule.

Here's how week three played out:

Here are the standings for each group heading into the final week of play:

Group Alpha

1. Gen.G (4-0)

In an all-out brawl with Global Esports to claim the top seed of Group Alpha, Gen.G remained undefeated, taking down GE in a three-map thriller that was separated by just one round. After stumbling on GE's pick of Breeze, Gen.G fought off a Raze-Yoru counter-comp on Sunset and then went head-to-head to decide who had the better Summit. In the end, Gen.G's double-Sentinel comp had the edge, as the Tiger nation won out three straight rounds to close out the series with t3xture the MVP. With its playoff spot already secured, Gen.G will take on a struggling FULL SENSE to close out its group stage.

Raxcal and t3xture combine forces to pull off a critical 2v4 in OT.

2. Nongshim RedForce (2-2)

After starting the group stage 0-2, Nongshim has properly bounced back. Against a ZETA DIVISION side that is looking more in form than it ever has this year, the Masters Santiago winners continued with their evolved look, involving Rb on Yoru duties. The IGL-turned-Controller and secondary Duelist shined for a second-straight week, dropping a series-high 61 kills across three maps, which ended with a 13-0 on Haven — Pacific's first 13-0 in over two years. Next week, Nongshim's task is simple: beat Rex Regum Qeon and secure a playoff spot. If it loses, it will fall below either ZETA or GE, whom they have both beaten this stage, but will advance to 3-2 above a would-be 2-3 Nongshim.

"PAAACK IT UPPP" -Achilios

3. Global Esports (2-2)

Opposite to Nongshim, Global started the stage 2-0 but has since slipped, losing two straight. In a narrow loss to Gen.G, GE will have considered themselves unlucky, but must bounce back. Next week, GE will go up against a ZETA side that has shown growth throughout the year. While there is currently a three-way tie between teams with 2-2 records, the winner of that match will claim the second seed with a Nongshim loss.

4. ZETA DIVISION (2-2)

The third 2-2 team in Group Alpha survived its double-week with a 1-1 record, picking up a critical victory over FULL SENSE but then falling to Nongshim. The FS win highlighted ZETA's resilience. After dropping its map pick in overtime, ZETA stole FS's Sunset and then closed out Haven using its Yoru-Neon comp. In its second match though, Haven became a sore subject for ZETA fans. A 13-0 stomping by way of Nongshim undid the good that it had done earlier in the match and in the week, dooming ZETA to third place. Next week against GE, ZETA has a chance to bypass the playoffs. Both teams in next week's match have already earned a bye from the first round of the Play-Ins.

5. Rex Regum Qeon (1-3)

After sleepwalking to an 0-3 record, Rex Regum Qeon finally showed signs of life, picking up a crucial win over FULL SENSE. The win gave RRQ a head-to-head advantage over FS, but also gave it something to fight for in the final week of play. With a win next week over Nongshim, RRQ would hold a head-to-head advantage over the Santiago winners, meaning that in a group of 2-3 finishers, RRQ could finish as high as fourth place should FULL SENSE beat Gen.G. If RRQ loses, it will be locked into a bottom-two finish in the group, meaning it will go up against a Challengers team to kick off the Play-Ins.

6. FULL SENSE (1-3)

After starting the FrosT era with a win over Nongshim, FULL SENSE has stumbled to a 1-3 record. In its double-match week, FS lost to both ZETA and RRQ, conceding head-to-head advantages to both teams in a group that is separated from second to sixth by just one game. Even with a win over Gen.G next week, FS will need an RRQ loss to retain any hope of earning a first-round bye from the Play-Ins. In that scenario, FS would still need some luck, as in a three-way tie with NS and ZETA or GE, it is at a severe disadvantage.

Group Omega

1. Paper Rex (3-1)

After suffering an opening loss to T1, Paper Rex has not looked back, going a perfect 3-0 without a single map dropped across those three wins. Last week against Team Secret, the team could not have looked any more in cruise control. With its Champions Shanghai slot already secured, PRX showed off one of its weirdest comps to date, featuring something on Viper, invy on Harbor, and f0rsakeN finally on Gekko to complete his quest to play every agent in the game. Next week, PRX is up against VARREL in a match that will decide who takes the top spot in Group Omega. A loss and a T1 win could see PRX fall as far as third.

It doesn't matter if he's on Viper, something's still clutching it up.

2. VARREL (3-1)

In its double-week, VARREL bounced back from a loss to DetonatioN FocusMe by downing KIWOOM DRX in three maps. After experimenting with a six-man against T1 and DFM, VARREL brought on Controller player Klaus for all three maps in the win over KRX. In both series, Initiator player XuNa finished with the highest rating on the team, while a revitalized-looking Foxy9 was the kills leader in both. In its matchup against PRX next week, VARREL will secure the top seed of Group Omega with a win. A loss and a DFM win over Team Secret could spell trouble, as VARREL could fall as far as third in the group.

3. DetonatioN FocusMe (2-2)

DetonatioN FocusMe escaped its double-week scot-free, turning around an 0-2 record into 2-2 by picking up wins over VARREL and T1. In both series, DFM used yatsuka as the secondary Duelist to complement Meiy , which opened up the door for Akame to walk away from both series as the match MVP. Both wins could have massive implications once the group stage is over, as DFM could surpass the Play-Ins with a win over Team Secret next week and a VL loss to PRX.

10 HP? No problem for yatsuka .

4. T1 (2-2)

After showing promise to start the split with a win over Paper Rex, T1 has looked fragile. In true red light, green light fashion, it has alternated wins and losses over its last four, falling to third and losing head-to-head advantages to VARREL and DFM. This means that, even with a win in a Korean derby over KRX, T1 needs both VL and DFM to lose in order to bypass the Play-In. If T1 loses, it could fall as far as fifth place in the group. If it wins but does not have results elsewhere, T1 will enter the Play-In as the third or fourth seed.

5. Team Secret (1-3)

Up against off-meta comps, Team Secret lost in two maps to Paper Rex last week. With just one round won in its three losses, Team Secret currently has the lowest number of rounds won in all of Pacific with just 84. However, TS does possess a head-to-head advantage over KRX that could be crucial at the end of the group stage. With that in mind, a win over DFM next week would earn the Filipino org a bye from the first round of the Play-Ins, while a loss and a KRX win would mean it finishes sixth in the group.

6. KIWOOM DRX (1-3)

After coming out with a wacky, outrageous triple-Duelist approach to open Stage 2, KRX has lost three straight, losing to VARREL last week. After picking up 18 rounds total across four maps in losses to Team Secret and PRX, KRX showed signs of life by picking up a map over VARREL, but it did not result in a series victory. Against familiar faces T1, KRX may need to reinvent itself once more. A win over its Korean counterparts will give KRX a crucial head-to-head advantage. A loss will lock KRX into sixth place, meaning it will go up against a Challengers side to open the Play-Ins. A win with a DFM win would catapult KRX into fourth place, above T1 and TS, and earn a bye from the first round of play.

Up next

Every team has won a match this stage, but not every team has its plans for the next few weeks finalized. Only Gen.G enters this week knowing it will not have to play until the playoffs begin, while the rest of the region will be vying for the remaining three playoff spots in the final week of action.

VCT Pacific Stage 2 will wrap up its group stage next week with the following matches: