The VCT Pacific Stage 2 playoffs have played their final-ever matches at the Sangam Colosseum in Seoul, with the field of four teams to make up Finals Weekend in the southern coastal city of Busan now set.

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) claimed its second straight win over Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #2 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov in a stunning 2-1 win that went the distance. In the second match of the day, the latest Korean derby took up the stage as T1 T1 Korea Rank #2 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) DH Kang Dong-ho (강동호) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) sent Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #3 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) home in two maps, with the final map seeing an at-the-buzzer finish to prevent overtime.

Here's a look at how both matches played out:

VARREL defeats Paper Rex once again in three-map thriller

After defeating Paper Rex in its final match of the group stage to claim Group Omega's top seed, VARREL retained its step above the dinos, claiming a 2-1 victory in a back-and-forth series. Both teams lost their map picks, which set up for an all-out brawl in the win-or-go-home decider map.

The series started on Paper Rex's pick of Lotus. Both teams went with the Omen-Viper double-Duelist comp with Fade, but the difference was held elsewhere. While PRX went with a Yoru-Raze double-Duelist comp, VARREL opted for Vyse and Raze. To start the map, Paper Rex's defense seemed superior. An early 4-1 lead seized on defense saw Paper Rex take an early lead, but VARREL quickly steadied the boat, evening the score at 6-6 entering halftime. It wouldn't be a bad question to ask if six on attack is enough entering halftime, but VARREL showed off its strong defense. A run of four straight rounds saw VARREL out-duel the opposition and close out the round soon after, 13-6.

After stealing PRX's map pick, VARREL looked poised to close out the series early on Split, arguably one of its best maps throughout its Stage 2 resurgence. Both teams again went with the Omen-Viper-Fade trio, but while VL went with oonzmlp 's Sage and Zexy 's Raze, PRX went with something on Yoru and Jinggg on Raze.

Split could not have been any more back and forth. Neither team won more than three rounds consecutively, trading blows and keeping each other's economies from fully snowballing. That VL-PRX pattern seemed to be near its end when PRX reached map point, but a run of three straight rounds saw VARREL equalize and force overtime. VARREL threatened to close out the series then and there after winning its attack round, but PRX claimed three straight in relatively clean fashion to force a third map. Despite zexy's best efforts in a 28-kill showing on Split, VARREL did not do enough.

Sunset, the decider map, could not have been any more different for the two sides. While VARREL went 2-0 on the map in Stage 2, including one 13-11 win over PRX, PRX was 0-2. Both teams stayed with the same comps they had previously used, with PRX using an Omen-Viper double-Controller pair with Jingg's Raze the lone Duelist, d4v41 's Sage, and something's Sova. Meanwhile, VARREL brought Klaus off of the bench in the Controller role in a double-Sentinel look with Foxy9 's Chamber and oonzmlp's Sage.

Foxy9 gets his clip shut down in one of the most chaotic rounds we've seen all stage.

What started like a runaway map from Paper Rex quickly turned into a well-recovered attack side for VARREL. From down 4-1, the side managed to even out the score by halftime. If zexy was the hero on Split, Foxy9 was the hero on Sunset. He had nine multi-kill rounds, including one ace that could have become a 6K, totaling up 29 kills in the map to help VARREL ride off into a Busan-bound sunset.

Foxy9 had a proper bounce-back from the Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #1 PatMen Patrick Mendoza UdoTan Go Kyung-won (고경원) Kr1stal Savva Fedorov xavi8k Xavier Juan Autumn Kale Dunne , dropping a match-high 65 kills with a 1.16 rating, while Jingg's 59 was not enough.

VARREL head coach TK9 shared in his postgame media scrum that he had stayed up until 10 a.m. to prepare for the match, a serious gamble on his sleep that has now paid off. TK9 and his former SLT Seongnam SLT Seongnam Inactive players will now head to Busan, the same city where they were victorious in the Korean Road to Ascension event last year.

T1 claims its third-straight 2-0 win with elimination victory over Gen.G

In what could be regarded as Korean Valorant's El Clásico, or at least one of them, T1 and Gen.G went head-to-head with survival on the line. While T1 was bringing in some good form after surviving through the Play-Ins and winning its opening match of the Playoffs' lower bracket, Gen.G showed signs of rust against Nongshim, letting a few tight rounds slip to lose in three maps.

T1 picked Lotus a day after beating KIWOOM DRX KIWOOM DRX Korea Rank #5 MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) Flicker Kim Tae-hee (김태희) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) on the map, and continued to wreak havoc with its Omen-Viper-Chamber comp. Meteor , granted what is essentially a "get out of jail free card" with his Rendezvous, was sharp on the map, often poking the first engagement on both sides. T1, which has enjoyed a lot of success on Lotus's defense side with its current comp, entered halftime up 7-5, and was flawless on attack, closing out the map with a smooth 13-5.

Between maps, Gen.G head coach solo shared that the team had struggled going up against comps with Viper and Chamber on Lotus, which may have hinted at what went wrong. T1 opted for a switchup of its comp from earlier in the stage, going with a Yoru-Raze Duelist duo with Fade, Omen, and Jett as opposed to a Raze-Jett comp with Skye.

BuZz's 4K spells the beginning of the end for Gen.G.

Heroics from BuZz, who wrapped up a 4K to reach match point, were followed up by a Gen.G round that was built from nearly scraps due to a decimated economy. While Gen.G did claw back one round, it was ultimately too little, too late, as T1 punched its ticket to Busan and kept its Shanghai dream alive.

iZu finished with a 1.37 rating, the highest in the series, while BuZz and Meteor's 38 and 37 kills carried the fragging load for T1 in the win. t3xture's 32 kills across both maps were not enough on this day, as was Raxcal 's team-high 0.97.

For former Gen.G players Munchkin and Meteor, the quest to return to Shanghai, where they lifted a Masters trophy two years ago with the Tigers, is still alive. Qualification is yet to be secured, with a finish above Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #1 PatMen Patrick Mendoza UdoTan Go Kyung-won (고경원) Kr1stal Savva Fedorov xavi8k Xavier Juan Autumn Kale Dunne required to guarantee qualification on points. T1 will take on VARREL in the Lower Semifinal in the second match on the first day of action in Busan, and will take on the losing team between Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #1 WoohyuN Moon Woo-hyun (문우현) Xross Jeonghwan (정환) Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) and GE in the Lower Final if it wins.

Up next

After three years, VCT Pacific Stage 2 wraps up this chapter at the Sangam Colosseum in Seoul, but will now head to the southeastern city of Busan for finals weekend.

Stage 2 will continue next week with the following matches: