BLEED secures VCT Pacific promotion
The VCT Pacific Ascension concluded on Sunday. With the original theme song and two of the best teams in the tier 2 APAC Valorant going at each other, the day was filled with excitement. After the showmatch concluded, it was time to crown the VCT Pacific Ascension champion. And as per the expectations, BLEED esports secured the VCT Pacific Ascension crown and a promotion to VCT Pacific League 2024.
BLEED esports - A tale of blood, sweat and strategy:
BLEED esports is a Singaporean esports organisation founded in 2021. The organisation ventured into Valorant in the same year and were amongst the top APAC teams behind Paper Rex and XERXIA for a long time. With their best competition in Paper Rex hailing from the same region, BLEED were seldom overshadowed by their rivals. The team spent much of 2022 just behind Paper Rex missing out on International events by an inch.
In 2022, Riot introduced VCT 2023 and the International Leagues. For the slots, the Riot requested the organisations to submit applications. Being a big name in MY/SG region, BLEED was amongst the top contenders to secure the said partnership. But due to some unforeseen circumstances, BLEED had to step away from the application process. But the setback wasn’t enough to shut down BLEED, instead the organisation and the Coaching staff decided to qualify via VCT Ascension.
With a big task at hand, BLEED started strengthening their roster, adding Sscary one of the biggest prospects in APAC Valorant. BLEED esports offered Sscary and undisclosed “never worry about finances” offer and locked him. With the coaching staff in LEGIJA and Analyst Ominous, BLEED was a force to reckon with. The organisation in March added Nephh of X10 Esports solidifying their roster further.
The Triumph over VCT 2023
With Nephh and Sscary with Daryeon, crazyguy and juicy from 2022, BLEED became the top team in MY/SG region. They asserted dominance over other teams in the region and won both the splits of VCT MY/SG challengers. With the dominant run, they came into the VCT Pacific Ascension as the heavy favourites.
Starting in Group Omega alongside Dplus esports, SCARZ and Bonkers, BLEED had some tough opponents. BLEED went on to win over the rest of the peers and lost only to Dplus esports to qualify for the playoffs.
VCT Pacific Ascension Semifinals:
As the first seed from group Omega, BLEED was seeded into the semifinals alongside NAOS. The first game for BLEED in the playoffs was a familiar foe in BOOM esports. The first map had BLEED start on a backfoot and despite a strong comeback lead to a 0-1 start for them. Pearl once again had BLEED going down in the first half but they came back stronger in the second half to force a third map. Despite BOOM’s attempt on Haven, BLEED held strong and secured the Grand Finals. With the win, they were one step closer to their dream of VCT Pacific League.
VCT Pacific Ascension grand finals:
Facing BLEED in the grand finals was SCARZ, a team who surprised everyone with their strong performance. But unlike the BOOM game, the SCARZ game was one sided with BLEED dominating SCARZ. The game also gave us one of the coldest clutches in VCT history when Sscary won a 1v4 clutch to deny SCARZ’s comeback.
With the domination 3-0 win, BLEED became the first champions of VCT Pacific Ascension. Unlike most other teams, especially in North America, BLEED worked on their team since post VCT 2022 season. They made necessary changes and worked hard to become the team they are today. The team made a lot of mistakes during their game but performed when it mattered the most to secure a much-deserved promotion to VCT 2024.
The promotion locks BLEED in the VCT Pacific for 2024 and 2025. We will see them competing in other exhibition events but majorly VCT Pacific 2024.
Along with the Guard, BLEED esports becomes the first set of team to get promoted to the VCT Leagues via Ascension tournaments. Along with the VCT EMEA Ascension winners, we'd get three new T1 contenders in 2024.
Credits: VCT Pacific // Riot Games