In the third round of lower bracket games at the VCT Pacific 2026 Kickoff, DRX DRX Korea Rank #5 Hermes Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) swept FULL SENSE FULL SENSE Asia-Pacific Rank #8 Leviathan Thanyathon Nakmee Killua Tanate Teerasawad thyy Anupong Preamsak primmie Papaphat Sriprapha JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam while 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 fought past Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #13 PatMen Patrick Mendoza UdoTan Go Kyung-won (고경원) Kr1stal Savva Fedorov xavi8k Xavier Juan Autumn Kale Dunne in close fashion. These results confirm a match between DRX and Paper Rex in the fourth lower bracket match, as FULL SENSE and Global are eliminated from Kickoff and Masters Santiago contention.

DRX sweeps and eliminates FULL SENSE in lower bracket

The first match of the day between DRX and FULL SENSE was a battle between Thailand and Korea, with FS picking the first map, Corrode. FS ran double-Duelist Waylay and Yoru, but with Cypher as well. DRX instead opted for solo Waylay with double-Controller and double-Initiator, which paid off in the first half. DRX was in full control of its opponents' map pick, winning the first pistol, leading to a 10-2 half thanks to a masterclass attack from HYUNMIN and BeYN .

DRX won the second pistol to close out the map 13-3, making the start of this series very quick.

Abyss was map two, as DRX moved to its own map pick. Both teams ran near-similar compositions to Corrode, but FS won its first pistol to take its first lead of the series. The first half was close, and DRX were comfortable coming back from a 7-5 deficit at the half. DRX won the second pistol, converted the bonus, and styled out on the attack side to win 13-8.

MaKo was amazing on map one, but HYUNMIN showed off that Champions 2025 form in the final half of the series to confirm the sweep and stay alive at Kickoff.

Déjà vu as Paper Rex defeats Global Esports in a close loss

Game two was a lot closer, with the PatMen bowl officially happening twice at Kickoff. The match immediately started with an entertaining map one of Corrode. PRX ran double-Duelist with Phoenix, while Global ran the rare double-Sentinel. PRX won the pistol on the attack side, but after failing to convert the bonus, Global took advantage of its Sentinel-focused comp to hold an aggressive team back. Global reached a 9-3 lead at the half despite losing the pistol, with a stalwart defense against one of the most aggressive teams in VCT history.

PRX won the second pistol, but then converted the bonus to show off its version of a strong defense. The proactivity from PRX was evident, as the team went on a run, ending the game 13-10 with only one round lost on defense.

Breeze was the only one-sided map of the series, with Global running a different variation of double-Sentinel with Autumn on Chamber as Paper Rex ran double-Duelist with Jett and Yoru. Global won the first pistol, and despite failing to convert the bonus, pulled away after a 3-3 tie to take a strong 8-4 lead at the half. After a strong defense side, Global only improved on attack by winning the second pistol and converting the bonus. PatMen was outstanding on Viper on both sides, leading his team to a 13-6 win on Breeze to force map three.

Split was a game of momentum, with both teams running mirror compositions of Raze and Yoru double-Duelist. Paper Rex won the first pistol and converted the bonus, threatening a blowout. It seemed that was the case as invy and PRX stormed out to an 8-2 lead, with Global just managing to win the final two rounds of the first half to recover the half slightly.

PRX seemed to be in control when the team was up 11-4, after winning its second pistol and second bonus round, but Global fought back. It was another gutsy comeback from the new look Global roster to take the map to overtime, with Kr1stal stepping up and alecks showing some frustration.

Alas, overtime was anticlimactic, as Paper Rex won both sides quickly to end the map 14-12 and the series 2-1. PRX earned the right to face DRX next, while Global showed off a lot of promise at Kickoff to fight the regional favorites closely twice.