Gen.G Crowned VCT Pacific Kickoff Champions after beating Paper Rex
Gen.G emerged as the champions of the VALORANT Champions Tour 2024 Pacific Kickoff, clinching a 3-1 victory over Pacific Powerhouse Paper Rex in the best-of-five Grand Finals.
Paper Rex, the runners-up of last year's VALORANT Champions, entered the tournament as the top contenders. However, Gen.G's upset victory secured their place as the champions of the Pacific region's opening tournament this year.
Road to Victory:
Gen.G faced a challenging journey as underdogs in the fiercely competitive Pacific scene. After initially placing second in the Group Stage with a loss to Paper Rex, they fought through the Play-ins, defeating Team Secret and ZETA Division to earn their Playoff berth.
In the playoffs, Gen.G managed to pull off a huge upset over Korean giants DRX. Thus securing their spot in the Grand Finals. And also for VCT Masters Madrid.
Dominant Performance:
Map One: Gen.G dominated on their pick of Ascent. Showing off a flawless attack side, they secured a convincing 13-5 victory.
Map Two: Paper Rex retaliated on their own pick, Split, dominating with a 13-4 win. Paper Rex also had a flawless defense side to counter that of Gen.G in the previous map.
Map Three: Despite an early lead by Paper Rex on Lotus, Gen.G staged a comeback. Even though it was Gen.G’s map, it was very close for a long time, with both teams trading rounds, before Gen.G managed to close it out at 13-11.
Map Four: Paper Rex picked Bind as the next map. However, Gen.G maintained their momentum, and closed out with a commanding 13-4 win to claim the championship.
Find more information about the match HERE.
Watch the full game HERE.
Rewards and Accolades:
With their triumph, Gen.G not only secured the lion’s share of US$250,000 but also earned three championship points towards qualification for VALORANT Champions.
Both Gen.G and Paper Rex will represent the VCT Pacific League in the upcoming VCT Masters Madrid, further solidifying their presence on the international stage.
Newcomer Kim "Karon" Won-tae was named the MVP of the tournament. He put up some stellar performances when his team needed him most and provided maximum impact for Gen.G.
Post-Match Press Conference:
After the game, the entire Gen.G team, along with coaches Kang "solo" Keun-chul and Kim "HSK" Hae-seong, sat down with the media to answer a few questions in a press conference.
After giving and opening statement, Head Coach solo had some interesting picks on who he thinks are going to be the main threats for Gen.G going into Stage 1.
"I would have to say Team Secret or RRQ because I think teams like DRX, T1, and Paper Rex will continue to be as good as they've been, whereas a team like Team Secret or RRQ will I think be a lot better coming into Stage 1."
When asked about converting Meteor to a Sentinel role, Coach solo didn't want to take all the credit. He gave credit to Coach HSK on helping transition Meteor to the Sentinel role. Meteor was reluctant to do it at first, but he has now developed into an excellent Sentinel, and can still play as a Duelist.
"He's now developed into an excellent sentinel player and he's still very good on duelists, so I think he's become an extremely versatile player."
According to Meteor, the transition to Sentinel was definitely hard at first. But with the help of his teammates, he feels like he has gotten much better at the role.
We then asked munchkin about the dominant game Gen.G had on Ascent. According to him, Gen.G don't have any specific strategies for specific opponents. Rather, they relied on their own fundamentals and playstyles, and adjusted accordingly with the opponents.
Going on to Bind, t3xture was extremely confident that they were going to win the map. He said that although Paper Rex are very good at skirmishing, so do Gen.G. So, there was no doubts about the map.
"At the end of the first half, I thought, 'We are going to win'."
-t3xture
Before ending the press conference, Coach solo was asked one final question about his plans for Masters Madrid, and what fans can expect from them.
He responded by saying that because Gen.G have played so many matches, they have given a lot of information to the opponents. So fans can expect some changes in strategy in the upcoming tournaments, especially on maps that Gen.G have struggled on. He also mentioned that Gen.G are going to aim for the trophy in Madrid.
"Honestly, I would like to shoot for the stars and try to win the championship there too."
Looking Ahead:
Gen.G's unexpected victory over Paper Rex marks a significant moment in VCT Pacific 2024. With the landscape of VALORANT esports shifting, all eyes are now on the upcoming Masters Madrid to see if Gen.G can maintain their momentum on the global stage.
Featured Image Source: @VCTPacific on X (formerly Twitter)
Read More: