The upper quarterfinals of the VCT China Kickoff are over, where Trace Esports Trace Esports China Rank #18 LuoK1ng Zhang Zhanpeng (张展鹏) Kai Lu Zhinan (卢智楠) FengF Song Xuefeng (宋学锋) FKEY deLb Delbert Tanoto faced off against Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Rank #5 Flex1n Lo Rui (罗瑞) Life Qu Donghao (瞿东豪) vo0kashu Ilya Ushakov Nicc Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群) Verse Zhou Zijun (周子钧) SpiritZ1 Lin Dingyu (林定宇) while recent champs EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) Jieni7 Zhang Juntai (张君泰) played against Nova Esports Nova Esports China Rank #6 qiutiaN Bijan Moeinzadeh (慕英毕强) cb Wang Qingchuan (王庆川) Ezeir Zhao Zejun (赵泽骏) GuanG Guang Honglin (光洪霖) swagzor Mikhail Vaniushin . Trace continued its form after an unexpected run at Champions 2024, while Nova failed to upset the team that won it all at that same event.

Trace Esports vs. Dragon Ranger Gaming

For Trace's debut in VCT 2025, its challenger was DRG, who took down JDG Esports JDG Esports China Rank #16 jkuro Yong Haochong (杨浩聪) zhe Niu Zhe (牛哲) Yuicaw Huang Yung-chieh (黃湧傑) crownfisher Li Ao (李翱) BerLIN Zhang Bolin (張柏霖) in the first round of the upper bracket. Starting on Pearl, both teams had slight variations of a similar composition, with Trace opting for a double duelist using Neon and Yoru while DRG ran the double initiator with Fade and KAY/O. DRG's defense side struggled against the explosiveness of FengF on Yoru and Kai on Neon, and some smart thinking from Trace snuck a pistol win out of a tough situation.

Trace sneaks a post-plant defuse with some good teamwork.

Despite losing that pistol round, DRG fought back thanks to big plays from both TvirusLuke and Nicc before Trace secured the map 13-8 thanks to an early collateral from FengF with the Operator.

The teams then went into Abyss with a similar situation to the previous map, as both teams ran similar teams with one key difference. Trace opted for the more defensive composition using Cypher this time, while DRG ran the more traditional double smokes composition. Biank started hot on the attack half, as his Guardian skills helped convert a bonus round. The half was all Trace, as LuoK1ng and Kai took sites with confidence to lead 9-3.

DRG won the pistol round to start a potential comeback, and Nicc cleaned up on DRG's anti-eco. Yet, LuoK1ng was in his element on the retake, hitting some clean shots to not only stop his opponent's momentum but to secure the map 13-7 and a series sweep.

With this win, Trace secured a spot in the upper semis, facing off against the winner of the next game of the day for a chance at qualifying for Masters Bangkok. As for DRG, their path continues in the lower bracket against TYLOO TYLOO China Rank #3 splash Moses Christophe Jonathan Scales Zhang Zhen (张震) Erv Shen Zhiwei slowly Kelun Sun (孙科伦) SiuFatBB Pong Gaa Hei (庞加曦) xihe Peng Wenbo (彭文博) .

EDward Gaming vs. Nova Esports

Starting the game with flair, EDG began their debut for the 2025 season with S1Mon playing new agent Tejo on Split, while Nova decided to throw unique picks in Vyse and Deadlock. EDG won the pistol round but lost their anti-eco soon after. The rounds started a bit back and forth, with EDG shaking off some rust while Nova won some impressive rounds. S1mon showed off the fragging potential of Tejo, as EDG entered the half up 7-5.

Just like the previous half, EDG won pistol and struggled on their anti-eco, but managed to secure the round on the second attempt. ZmjjKK was getting a lot of value off his teammate's utility, especially the near impeccable Tejo play from S1mon, as the lead widened. After converting a round down 2v4 just after, EDG held off Nova and took the map 13-8, also getting Tejo his first map win in the region.

ZmjjKK completes a four-piece thanks to S1mon on Tejo.

Fracture was next, with both teams running Neon and Breach, but Nova decided to add Raze and Cypher while EDG selected Fade and Killjoy. Switching from Tejo to Breach, S1mon continued his strong form to help EDG win pistol and not only get EDG's first clean anti-eco win of the day but their first bonus round win. Up 6-0, EDG started to wane as Nova fought back, notably off the Operator play of cb . Just as quickly as it looked like Nova could end the half even, EDG caught fire and was up 9-3.

CHICHOO had a hero round to win EDG's fourth straight pistol round, and that extended the lead to 11-3. It looked to be in the bag for EDG, but Nova won seven rounds in a row thanks to a great run from SWERL on Raze. Just about to lose their lead, S1mon got three from a desperate position on site to get EDG up to 12, then Smoggy had a highlight reel ace in a similar situation. EDG wiped the sweat off their brow as they won the map 13-10 and swept the series to reach the upper semis of Kickoff.

EDG will face Trace in their upper semifinal matchup, while Nova will face Wolves Esports Wolves Esports China Rank #19 glacier Liang Zhekai (梁哲恺) yosemite Wang Lei (王磊) Spring Liu Jiunting (刘俊霆) Deryeon Derrick Yee aluba Zhong Haojun (钟皓钧) in the lower bracket.

The next group of lower bracket matches at the VCT China Kickoff are: