Battle for Pacific: VCT Pacific League 2023 Playoffs Recap

Riot Games announced the partnership program in Valorant and forever changed the Valorant competitive ecosystem. After the introductory VCT LOCK//IN tournament, which introduced all the 30 partnered teams, the regional VCTs were launched. The three regions, Americas, EMEA and Pacific, with ten teams each, played a round-robin league-style tournament to determine the top teams in each region. Out of the playing ten, the top six teams played in the playoffs, and only one lifted the VCT Pacific trophy. 

VCT Pacific League 2023 Playoffs recap:

With ten games to recap, let's tackle them stage-wise and what the result implies. The six teams that qualified for the playoffs are DRX, PRX, T1, Zeta, GenG and Team Secret. The top two seeds, DRX and Paper Rex, are directly seeded in the Upper semifinals and need a single win to secure VCT Masters Tokyo.

Upper Round 1 recap:

The two games in Upper Round 1 saw the ZETA division taking on Team Secret, followed by the Korean Derby in GenG vs T1. The TS/ZETA match saw both teams fighting tooth and nail. Starting on Haven, TS secured a strong 9-3 half, but ZETA came back to force OT. In OT, TS prevailed to secure the map. Ascent was the same, with TS securing a 7-5 lead in the first half and ZETA tying up the second half. In OT, TS pulled through, winning the series 2-0 and moving on to face DRX.

In the GenG vs. T1 game, T1 made the first blow, taking their map pick fracture 13-8 after a decent 7-5 scoreline. GenG secured the second map despite the four-round deficit in the second half. The first half of Lotus had both teams matching blow for blow, but T1 pulled ahead in the second half and secured the game with a 2-1 score.

Upper Semifinals recap:

The Upper semifinals had DRX taking on Team Secret and Paper Rex taking on T1. TS previously defeated DRX 2-0 in the superweek. Starting on haven again, TS secured a strong 8-4 half and, despite the bite back from DRX, converted it to a 13-9 win. DRX dominated Split, Winning ten rounds in the first half. They easily converted this into a dominant 13-5 win. DRX again dominated Bind with another 10-2 half to secure a 13-4 map win. With the 2-1 win, DRX secured the first of three VCT Masters Tokyo tickets of Pacific.

In the second Upper Semifs, T1 took on Paper Rex, the newly strengthened PRX started the first half of Lotus strong, but T1 equalised. T1 could not consistently break the Paper Rex defence losing the game 10-13. PRX's defence once again proved tough to deal with on Fracture. As it helped PRX secure an 8-4 half. In the second half, PRX converted the 8-4 lead into a 13-10 victory after shutting down a comeback attempt. With the swift 2-0 win, PRX became the second team from Pacific to go to VCT Masters.

Lower Round 1 recap:

In the first lower round 1, T1 took on ZETA. On Haven, T1 secured a strong eight-round lead, but ZETA fought back in the second map to secure a 4-8 half. In the second half, T1 secured an early map point and later converted it into a victory despite ZETA's attempts. Now playing T1's Bind, ZETA secured a 7-5 lead in the first half, but T1 equalised in the second half to force OT. In OT, ZETA won the two rounds to force a third map. Fracture saw ZETA starting slow but eventually securing a solid 7-5 first half. T1 dominated the second half, letting ZETA's defence only win three rounds and securing the map 13-10 and game 2-1.

In the second game, GenG took on TS. GenG started Ascent strong, but TS came back to equalise the first half. GenG's defence was completely annihilated in the second half as TS secured a 13-8 victory. TS's haven has become one of their strongest maps, and things looked grim for GenG. GenG secured a strong 10-2 first half and, despite the attempts from TS, secured the second map 13-8 to secure a third map. Split was an all-out brawl, with both teams winning seven defensive rounds. GenG pulled through in OT, winning the series 2-1 to face T1 for a chance at Masters Tokyo.

Upper Final Recap:

In the upper finals, DRX and Paper Rex took on each other. Paper Rex has failed to defeat DRX multiple times in the past. Starting on Fracture, DRX controlled the first three rounds, but PRX answered back to secure a strong 7-5 half. The second half of the Fracture was PRX taking down the DRX defences to win the first map 13-5. The PRX attack worked wonders in the first half of the Bind. The attack with Reyna and Raze allowed them to secure an 8-4 half. They extended the lead to six rounds in the second half. PRX converted the lead into a victory, defeating DRX for the first time.

Lower Round 2 Recap:

The Lower finals result will determine the final team representing Pacific at Masters Tokyo. Till now, GenG has won one game, and T1 won another. On Fracture, GenG secured a strong eight-round offensive half. But they could not convert the lead as the T1 attack penetrated the GenG defence to secure a 1-0 lead. On Ascent, T1 defence limited GenG to five rounds. And with their attack converted the small lead into a strong 2-0 win to secure VCT Masters Tokyo.

VCT Pacific Lower Finals:

The Best of Five lower finals had T1 taking on DRX. Despite the strong 9-3 half on Ascent, DRX lost Ascent to T1's comeback. T1 won the game with a 13-11 score. Fracture saw T1 capitalising on the Ascent momentum and securing an 8-4 lead in the first half, but DRX returned to secure a 13-11 win. On Haven, DRX secured a 9-3 attacking half. The lead helped them secure the second half with a 13-11 scoreline. On Bind, T1 secured a strong 8-4 defensive half and easily converted it into a 13-6 win. With the scores tied up 2-2, DRX won the first half of Pearl 8-4. They converted the lead into a win securing a rematch against Paper Rex.

VCT Pacific Grand Finals:

With the top two teams representing Pacific in the Grand finals, The grand finals saw Paper Rex losing the first two maps and coming back to win the series 3-2, securing the first reverse sweep in VCT history. You can read the complete recap of the finals here. 

VCT Pacific will return for the Last chance qualifiers. Follow VCT Pacific's Twitter for all the updates regarding VCT Pacific.

Credits: Riot Games // VCT Pacific

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